Walterg

Yeah Weegie. Now that I have reassembled the bike and was able to reproduce that sound again, I changed my opinion about what's causing the rattle and I don't think it's the clutch. The sound is not that "Metal plate jingling" kind of sound. It's more like gears just touching each outher when turned. My answers to Scud's questions: The rattle when pushing is only when the bike is in gear, and clutch lever pulled in. Answer>> Yes, that's correct. Is it safe to assume that the noise is absent when pushing the bike in neutral (whether clutch is activated or not)? Answer>> Yes. No sound whatsoever. Have you tested different gears? Does the noise speed up or slow down as you change gears? Answer>> Interesting. The sound is different per gear. In first gear the rattle is the loudest and has the highest frequenty (RPM). Going up the gears seems to make the rattle a bit quieter per gear. Do you have a way to lift the rear wheel? If so, you can bind the clutch lever in (zip-tie or bungee), then rotate the wheel while changing gears and listen for noises. Answer>> Besides making a few steps back and forth with the bike everytime I also lifted the rear wheel for testing. With the wheel up, it will also be easier to look for play in the driveshaft. Answer>> The drive shaft is fine. No play in any direction (I love lubing that thing ) and the bearing through which the splined shaft exits the gear box has no play at all. There's also no play on the splined shaft itself in any direction. Note: When I turn the drive shaft (the rear wheel) and change direction there is always a few degrees of play at first but I think that's normal as the gears change direction and change sides on the gear tooth. It looks like I will be draining and opening up the gearsbox soon again.

Sorry but I'm still/again having some doubts about whether I can ride my bike without making things worse so I made a 10 second video. The reflection on the painted wall shows what I'm doing and you may have to turn up the volume when you play it. Transmission rattle video with sound

Thanks guys. I finally had some time to dig into this issue and I started taking parts off and now I'm quit convinced it indeed has to do with the clutch. I never roll the bike with any of the gears engaged and the clutchlever pulled in simply because it's heavier and less easy to do. This time it just happened to be so and I heard the noice for the first time. The driveshaft looks fine. No play in any direction. It's also not making any noise. Took the side panel of the transmission off and everything looks and feels as it should. Also no play on any bearings. At this point I could cleary hear the sound coming from the rear side of the engine but as the crankshaft is not turning it has to be the clutch! Reading some of your comments about the noisy clutch I'm starting to think I am being worried about a problem that does not exist. So now i'm thinking that I just assemble my bike again, put in new transmission oil, do something about rainwater getting into the gearbox ventilation and go riding. On a side note: I must have moved my bike this way before in the past but I don't recall hearing any of this noise. It's allways the brakepads that make most of the noise. Could it be that the clutch is wearing out and that that's the reason it's making more of that metallic sound?

Thanks Docc. A good tip and great links! I replaced the spring in the gearbox a couple of years ago and that's a good place to start the search.

In the mean time I started taking the bike apart and the next step is to inbolt tje rear part of the gearbox. Do you wise men have any tips or links on how to do this?

Yeah. I noticed the sound when I pushed the bike into the garage. I had left it in gear when I came home so I grabbed the clutch en thus noticed the sound. The drive shaft is fine. I can hear the sound coming from inside the gearbox.

Hi all, Yesterday I noticed that when I have the bike in gear without the engine running and hold in the clutch lever and push the bike back and forth a bit, a slight rattling noise can be heard coming from the gearbox. It's very hard to hear where exactly it the sound is actually coming from. Any ideas or suggestions? It's a V11 Le Mans from 2003.

So our nylon tanks attract water and as the material absorbs water it swells and causes the tank to expand. But how do the bubbles develop ? With vinyl wrap I meant wrapping the tank with a wrapping foil. Not Plastidip. Something like this

i thought I'd post an update. The tank has still not been painted yet. From what I learned it's almost impossible to paint a plastic gastank without getting bubbled paint after a few weeks or a few years. The gastank allows fuel to vent or breath (sorry. I'm looking for words here..) through the plastic material and causes the new paint or the wrapping to let go and bubble. Does anyone have any experience with this ?

Leaking oil from the gasket which is at least 4 years old and I never had any issues with it.

i blew the left head gasket while going for a ride after I replaced the fork oil....

I can now see that there's only the original clear coat on the tank. I think that if I sand down the edges a bit you wont be able to see it after the bike has been wrapped. I chose to wrap it because I just want to try it out myself and I'm not sure about how I want to have the bike painted eventually. If I don't like the result I'll just tear it off. Not sure about fuel spillage etc but I'll see and find out.

Thanks Phil.

I want to paint or wrap my gas tank and was wondering how to get the damaged transparent plastic coating of the tank. The coating has come off here and there and I think I need to take it all off if I want to paint or wrap my tank. Any tips or experience on this ? Walter

Niceeeee !!

You can check this by looking through the hole on the right side of the clutch housing while the engine is running. Remove the rubber bung first

NICE !

I finally managed to remove the bugger !

The chrome MASS mufflers I have were a direct replacement for the originals. No changes to the bike were necessary so i could keep the original footrests. The guy at MASS also offered different options for shape, colour or finishing for the same price. I payed € 825 for the pair including postage.