Rattling on neutral?

[invix]

bought a 2nd hand hornet and thought i give it a real good clean, washed and waxed, cleaned up the chains as suggested on KB. with some kero and motul.

But now noticed that when i put my bike on neutral, its harder to get it there, and when it does get to it, once i release my clutch, something rattles.

its the rattling im worried about? not gonna gradually become an expensive problem, i hope.

any ideas whats going on? any help much appreciated.

Cheers

[Macstar]

Unlikely to be from cleaning it. Best to have someone see/feel the problem i.e. mechanic or another hornet owner (like me!!). Sometimes the more in-tune we become with our bike the more paranoid we get with little noises and other bumps and grinds i.e. they were always there...

Also, it can sometimes be hard to find neutral if you are lazy and pull up to the lights with the clutch in but fail to downshift from 4th to 3rd to 2nd etc.

A tip: If you're stopped but in 3rd or 4th gear and your stomping on the gear lever but it won't shift down the gears anymore, try slightly releasing the clutch a smige and that should allow you to go down down a few more gears to neutral.

Anyway, let someone more experienced have a squiz - plenty of people on Kber.

[pete376403]

Clutch dragging (ie not fully releasing) will make it hard to find neutral. You only really notice this at standstill - when the bikes moving you hardly need the clutch anyway. Is the freeplay at the clutch lever correct? (assuming it's a cable clutch) Oil level in the engine correct? Changing the engine oil is often touted as a way of improving shift quality.

[Jimmy B]

once i release my clutch, something rattles.

its the rattling im worried about? not gonna gradually become an expensive problem, i hope.

any ideas whats going on? any help much appreciated.

Cheers

Hey Invix,

Dont woory too much about this, happens with the Blackbird and my X11 as well. Its Honda thing hey and wont do any damage. Something to do with the clutch basket.

I noticed it after I changed my Cam Chain Tensioner which quietened the right hand side nicely, did some reasearch and a possible solution for you that works for me is to pull the clutch lever in before you start the bike (Suzuki style), its worse when its cold right? I use the fast idle to about 1500 rpm and then let the clutch back out, presto, silence.

Hope this helps

[Ragingrob]

Yep my Honda sometimes rattles just very slightly when in neutral with the clutch out... It's barely noticeable but it's still there, I don't think it's anything to worry about at all.

[jonbuoy]

Yeah I wouldn't be too worried at all. Carb balance might help to stop the plates a rattling.

[Jimmy B]

Yeah I wouldn't be too worried at all. Carb balance might help to stop the plates a rattling.

True that, with the X11, adjusting the balancer shaft and tweaking other internal interlacing gubbins will help as well. If you cant be phaffed , just tell everyone you've fitted a Ducati dry clutch, now there's an impressive rattle