Topic: Death rattle?

[Boy named Suzi]

Hi all,
   My '78 550K started off yesterday with rattle that sounded like dragging a bag of marbles. She is fine at idle but makes noise pulling away in 1st and through 2nd. The noise seems to be coming from the lower/rear right. I checked and adjusted the chain tension, looked for loose parts and the obvious things.
   My next question is about the 'cushion' drive, does it have one? My Suzuki has a Cush drive but I havnt opened up the rear wheel on the Honda. Can they fail abruptly?
   What do the educated think is next?

[dave500]

they have a cush drive,checked you engine mounting bolts?swingarm slop?is the wheel aligned so the chain is tracking straight?are the chain and sprockets not wornout?i think a worn cush drive would only make a clunk on accel and decel.

[bollingball]

http://www.servicehondapsn.com/fiche_section_detail.asp?section=123296&category=MOTORCYCLES&make=HONDA&year=1978&fveh=2947

Yes it does have one. You can go to any on line Honda shop like the one above and look up what is on your bike.
If you have not taken apart your rear end it is a good idea look a t cush Brakes replace or repack bearings.
I don't know 100% but don't think a cush would fail abruptly
How log have you had the bike?


                     Ken

[Boy named Suzi]

Hey, thanks. I did look up an online fiche to see the cush drive component.

The noise is only with drive engaged, 1st through 3rd then road noise drowns it out. I will pop the drive sproket cover and look. It's not coming from the rear wheel. I expect to find transmission trouble.

[Boy named Suzi]

Hi Ken, I've had the bike 4 years. It has a lot of miles as a daily runner, at least 3 full seasons each year. The wheel bearings and rear brakes were replaced 2 years ago by a shop so I didn't look inside. The rest, I do, which explains the oil leaks and tatty seat cover!

[OldSchool_IsCool]

Do you have an O-ring chain by chance?

[bollingball]

Dave500 and OldSchool know the 550 better than I do good point about the oring chain mine has one and it is 630 but I have read space is tight on yours up front.

You could try getting up to speed with no cars around turn off engine then tap the brakes a few times if you don't hear or feel any thing report back.

                          Ken

[dave500]

without taking it apart you could by hand rock the rear sprocket back and forth(in neutral or chain removed)and also check any wobble side to side,there might be a little but if the cover can touch the hub it needs to come off,the locking ring nut(left hand thread) might have come loose,a punch can be used to turn it but its better if you have the gear to make a pin wrench tool for it.


left hand thread =counter clockwise tightens it,clockwise will loosen it,the front wheels alloy ring nut is a "normal" thread.

[Hush]

Does not sound like motor rattle, more like clutch so yeah I'd be taking the side casing off after draining the oil to check what has come lose.
As my Aussie mate Dave500 says, if the locking nut on the clutch basket has worked its self lose then all sorts of strange things could be happening in there.

[dave500]

i was talking about the rear drive hub hush,,sorry if i wasnt clear,,the clutch basket and hub is held on with a circlip,no nut,and has a certain amount of thrust/lash which can be shimmed up with genuine washers,under power the clutch shouldnt be rattling as any slack or wear will be taken up,,its not something dumb like the chain guard rubbing is it?they have a metal sort of hoop that keeps the  shape of the plastic,try and eye ball it on the centre stand,if the gears are shifting ok etc it might be something external thats so obvious once you spot it,have you a 4-1 exhaust and the centre stand is rubbing somewhere?

[ekpent]

You could also carefully run it in gear up on the center stand so you could get up close and look around without road noise etc to try and see, or hear that is, where the noise or problem is.

[Boy named Suzi]

Great advise as always. I meant to do the centre and listen but the kids wanted to go out on their bicycles.

I would love to find a loose part or bracket under the sprocket cover. This would alleviate my busted transmission concern.

'Once you eliminate the impossible, what you are left with, no matter how improbable, must be the' cause!

[Frostyboy]

I remember something dodgy happened with the centre stand stopper on my 550 & the chain was actually dragging on the stand. Of course you won't hear it if the bike is on the stand, but I thought I might just mention it.
Cheers,

[ekpent]

I had a worrisome rattle on my 82 900F.Happened when I was between 2500-4000 rpm and thought for sure it was a top end problem,cam or chain,maybe valve going to heck.Started the bike without my helmet and was super relieved to find out the rattle was actually the aftermarket right side mirror rattling in its plastic housing loudly at that rpm range. Whew----

[coldwave007]

I've had a couple of different rattles on my 650.  The first one was easy to find - the rear tire was adjusted wrong so the chain was "clicking" as it moved around the sprockets.  Adjusting the tire correctly fixed that.

The other noise drove me crazy for about a week until I found it.  I would never hear it at idle, only under motion.  Sometimes it would sound like it was coming from the left, sometimes the right, sometimes behind.  It drove me NUTS!  Eventually I just rode down an empty dirt road with my helmet off and leaned way down on both sides of the bike so I could hear.  Turned out it was one of the front brake shoes intermittently "tapping" the rotor.  Easy enough to fix once I found it but extremely aggravating until then. 

Good luck!

[Hush]

Cheers Dave, was thinking of a generic fix for the clutch, didn't realise the 500 was circlipped!
I had a similar rattle on my 650, only at certain revs while riding, not there at idle or faster speeds.
My mechanic found it for me, was the inner chain guide had been warped out of shape and was clicking on the chain as it passed, bit of metal bending and it was gone.