Low speed howl?

[wired_af]

It's the chain. Tighten it the noise will get worse. Loosen it the noise will go away. If its within spec and your sure your checking the slack property I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[C Zer]

It was the chain

It's the chain. Tighten it the noise will get worse. Loosen it the noise will go away. If its within spec and you're sure you're checking the slack properly I wouldn't worry about it.

That's exactly what it was! I blew off wired_af's suggestion at first, because the bike had just been at the dealer for service. But it now appears that it was the dealer that screwed it up in the first place. I was lubricating the chain the other day, and realized the chain was taught, virtually no free-play at all. Looks like I paid them a couple of hundred dollars to hose the bike up. Last time I'm going to take it to the dealer for routine maintenance. God knows if they even changed the oil. :rant:

And yes, it's pretty easy to adjust the chain. If I can do it, you can. Don't worry so much about getting the freeplay exactly correct (there is a range), or getting both sides perfectly equal. You should be able to do as good or better a job than the dealer using the ruler, the marks on the bike, and your eyes.

For doing the the 2006 FZ6, just follow the directions in your owner's manual here's what your need:

1. ruler or similar measuring device
2. 12mm wrench or adjustable wrench.
3. torque wrench (probably a 1/2" drive to fit the socket)
4. 32mm Axle nut socket.
5. large adjustable wrench that will open up to 32mm (in case you have to grab the nut on the opposite side of the axle).

You can get all this stuff at the local PepBoys. And for God sakes, get a decent torque wrench, you can put it great use-- pick up a 1/2" female to 3/8" male adapter for the wrench so that all of your 3/8" socket will fit... now you can torque everything right when you're working on your bike, like those new sliders. :rockon:

 

[gmickey2001]

Interestingly, I just checked my chain last night, 3,100+ miles on the bike and the chain has just stretched outside of the 55 mm tolerance for chain slack. I don't have the right tools to tighten it, and am short on time, so I called a local mom&pop that is on the way home from work (been in business for like three generations). He says he can adjust my chain while I wait, on my way home.

He checks out the bike and is asking me how I like it. Then tells me he has an '07 Blue One. Says he wouldn't run the chain any tighter on that bike (even though it's 55+ mm of slack).

He's a motorcycle mechanic, owns the same bike, I have no complaints about the bike's performance/operation. Read post earlier about dealer making the chain too tight! So I am leaving my chain as is.

Comments??? Criticisms??? Suggestions???

:Flip: Sorry - I just love that emoticon

HEY WAIT A MINUTE - HE OWNS A BLUE ONE! CAN I TRUST HIM

 

[trailblazer87]

When my chain gets loose it starts to feel squirrelly in the twisties when I power out of the turn. Though it does make it easier to shift without using the clutch

 

[gmickey2001]

I have never tried speed shifting, I know it can be done. I just have this bad dream in my head about trying it for the first time, and breaking teeth off of a gear or something

 

[jfreakman]

you won't break teeth. you might wear them down a little, I'm really not sure of the difference in the R6 tranny and ours, but I know that the new r6's can take it just fine. If ours are softer (imagine the difference in the Katana and the gixxers) then they'll wear down.

1-2 is always clunky for me, no matter the chain tightness, RPM at shift point, or whether the clutch is used.

speed shifting is easy. put a little tension on the bottom of your shifter, roll off the throttle at a respectable RPM (above 6k), it will slip right into gear and you roll back on the throttle and take off...

fun stuff at the drag strip.

 

[trailblazer87]

Just be careful, I have had my front tire lift off the ground when going into second when wound out at 12k rpm. It can be a little unnerving the first few times.

 

[saddletramp]

The 'howl' sounds to me kind of like vehicles with mud grip tires. Sound seems to come from the front. Never had a bike that did that before. Replaced the front tire with a michelin pilot road, but didn't affect the sound at all. Guess I'll check into the chain adjustment this weekend. If that doesn't work, I'll either have to sell it, shoot it, or (worse) get used to it. Not too shabby a bike, but this is driving (riding?) me nuts!

 

[midnightfz6]

I returned my '05 FZ6 to my dealer when I first heard the whine after the first time my chain was adjusted, only to be told it's nothing to worry about and normal.
My new '07 has exactly the same noise.
The FZ6 is perfect is so many ways, but I'm sure lots of us agree the transmission needs some attention in the next generation.

 

[Nelly]

I returned my '05 FZ6 to my dealer when I first heard the whine after the first time my chain was adjusted, only to be told it's nothing to worry about and normal.
My new '07 has exactly the same noise.
The FZ6 is perfect is so many ways, but I'm sure lots of us agree the transmission needs some attention in the next generation.

Its a bit agricultural isn't it. I hate the massive clunk when selecting first for the first ride of the day. On the plus side I have been impressed with the quality of the chain and spockets. My previous bike needed nearly weelkly adjustments.