QuestionQUESTION: Hi mike, my name is mike. I recently purchesed a 1996 yamaha fzr 600.
The bike has little over 19000 miles. Bike has cracked fering but no huge
slide marks. May have tiped over, don't think it was crashed. Anywho. I
was told the bike jus had a basic tune up. After all they had to get the
bike to pass inspection to sell it to me. They put it on. Ok about 20 miles
in to my ride home I noticed a slight grinding noise. Normally I would
have turned around, but I got the bike cheap n figured there would be
work ahead. Jus not so soon. Well I also noticed that in between 1000
and 3500 rpm the bike kind of lurches and gives repeatedly. Figured it
might be old gas or somthing. 100 miles. And a fresh tank full of high
octane later it still dose it. The grinding noise has progressed. Sound
quickens as bike quickens. Not nessesarly louder. Sound is and off and
on sound. Hard to say were its coming from, but 1 thing for shure, I can
feel all this action under my feet while on the pegs. I have noticed on the
front right rotor thingy, that the brake calliper grabs. There is some black
stuff half way around it. Kinda like that's the part rubbing. But when I
shut the bike off, and roll it in neutral slow its almost undetectible. Again
hard to say were grinding its coming from. If I let the bike roll down hill
in gear its profound. Both lurching and grinding are easily detected
during regular riding. Are thy related? Could both sounds be coming from
the same area, near the pegs? What's going on? Hope I gave you enuf
info. I have spent days online looking for answeres. Heeeeeelp! Please
and thanks, mike.
ANSWER: Mike, there is no requirement for you to rate my responses at all, that is purely voluntary and has no bearing on how much I help you. But I am rather fond of beer. ;-)
Anyway, from what you have written it could be a couple of things causing the noise. It could be that the starter is sticking in the engaged position and the noise is caused by the motor forcing it to go much faster than it is supposed to. Carefully check to see if the starter motor is hot after you've ridden a few miles - best way is to touch it with a damp rag and listen for a hiss as the heat fries the rag. Carefully rap the starter a few times when the bike is idling to make the solenoid pull the starter gear away from the flywheel.
It is also possible that the drive sprocket bearing has failed, which would explain the vibration through the footpegs. That is a little harder to check, as you need to pull the outer cover off to inspect it - depending on your bike, that may require a lot of wrenching to get to it.
There's a remote possibility that the noise might be caused by something contacting the front or rear tire... check the tread on both tires to see if there are any unusual grooves or gouges and thoroughly check underneath both fenders to see if there are any bolts hanging down that may be grinding away at the tire.
You really should take the bike to a reputable bike mechanic to have it inspected if you can't find the source of the problem... it could get dangerous for your safety if you don't.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thanks for ur time mike. I can't have a beer with you but, I can meet you
at an AA meating. Jus the way I gotta live, no offence please. Any who. I
took the pads off, that wasn't the problem. I found out while messing
around that the chain seemed dry. I don't kno how greacy it should be,
but don't think it should be as dry as it was. Sooooo I put some cooking
oil on it and the grinding seemed to disapate. It started to rain so I didn't
really get a chance to switch gears. Plus id like to put the perfectly fine
brake pads back on. The only reason I took them off was to see if the
piston in the caliper might have been frozen closed, if that's possible. The
bronco rideing between 1000 and 3500 rpm is still very noticable. Any
ideas? I am gonna see a machanic. Do you think I should go to the shop
that sold it to me? Should I expect them to fix it for free? It been about a
week since I picked it up. Man I wish I could drink in safety...... but I kno
my limits. Thanks again mike. Mike
AnswerMike, I was only kidding about the beer. Kudos to you for going AA, it takes a lot to make a lifestyle change - I wish you all the best.
As for the bike, yes, I think it's time to take it to a shop. You can try the one that sold it to you, as they do have a responsibility to sell you a SAFE bike and yours obviously had problems when they sold it to you. They may not want to fix it for free, but they should. Especially when considering that they safetied the bike prior to its sale to you. You should also check the laws where you live to see what kind of buyer protection you have; some places have what is called a "lemon law" that gives you certain rights if you have purchased a defective vehicle.
