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Whining sound from front sprocket

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:19 pm
by CasperR
Hey

(my zxr is a L4 model, done 20000km changed the oil and filter 3000km ago to silkolene 10w40)
I bought a zxr400 5 month ago and everything was going great, until last month when the bike started to "whine" from the front sprocket. I thought it was the chain as it looked like the original chain, so i bought a chain kit, changed the front + back sprocket and though that would solve it, But no. :smt017
There are 2 sounds. The first is when you walk slowly with the bike and when you ride the bike, you can hear a kind of "dik dik dik" sound almost as if you can hear the chain fall into the front sprocket. This sound can be hear at almost all speeds. The second sound (not sure its the same problem) is when you ride the bike, its sounds like a loud whine from the front sprocket.
The sound gets louder the faster you go and at 80mph it sounds almost like a supercharger from a car.
I have adjusted the chain to about 14mm slack, as the "dik dik dik" sound gets worse when you tighten it to 5-10mm
Now does anyone have an idea whats wrong? I'm not sure I want to go fast on it while it makes that sound :smt009

Thank you in advance
Casper

Re: Whining sound from front sprocket

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:13 pm
by Gemini
is the rear wheel aligned correctly?

gem

Re: Whining sound from front sprocket

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:45 pm
by RedexRobB
the 'dik dik dik' sound sounds like a tight spot in the chain, but since you replaced with a new one maybe not? I would get it on a paddock stand and spin the rear wheel to see if you can hear exactly where its coming from.

May even be a wheel bearing or the sprocket carrier bearing, worst case scenario is that its the output shaft bearing but never heard of one of them go yet. But find out exactly where its coming from.

Re: Whining sound from front sprocket

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:52 am
by masterofinsanity
from what you've described i'd get the front sprocket cover off, get the bike on a rear paddock stand and turn the wheel and watch the chain engage with the sprocket, somethings not right and if you can hear the dik dik dik sound when you're walking it its certainly gonna get noisier when you're riding the bike.Check the rear wheel alignment as Gem says.

Re: Whining sound from front sprocket

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:42 am
by deviant
have you replaced the sprockets with OE kit or aftermarket stuff? I put renthal sprockets on mine and it whines a bit around 40-50 mph, then goes quiet again above that. I just put it down to either some sort of bizarre resonance in the ally rear or the lack of the rubber pad on the new front sprocket.

either way, my bike's done thousands of miles like that with no problems.

Re: Whining sound from front sprocket

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 3:19 pm
by will#224
i'd put money on the output shaft bearing

Re: Whining sound from front sprocket

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 5:55 pm
by rover220
almost no chance of that being the output shaft bearing.

Re: Whining sound from front sprocket

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:41 pm
by CasperR
Problem solved. It seems that the chain slack should be 30-40mm instead of what the sticker said "5-10mm", well so much for trusting kawasaki instructions.

Re: Whining sound from front sprocket

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:54 pm
by zimm
thats 5-10mm each way, at the chains tightest spot.. with the rider seated. Which is perfectly correct.. just a pain in the ass to set ..

30-40mm total slack at some point on the chain is the easy way to achieve the same thing

Re: Whining sound from front sprocket

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 8:18 am
by cloud9
i suspect chain is too tight.
chain should have 40mm of slack on the side stand at the tightest point.
also check to see if you installed the front sprocket the correct way, ( the correct side facing out)
or the offset will be wrong same with the rear .
when you sit on the bike the chain getts tighter which is why the 40mm is needed.
allignment is important too if your wheel is out of allinement your going to stuff everything as fast as with a overly tight chain.
5-10mm of slack will distroy the sprockets , chain , wheel bearings and the front output shaft bearing, and the swingarm bearings.

Re: Whining sound from front sprocket

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 8:35 am
by CaNsA
I'm pretty sure it would be fixed by now.....