Chronic whine.

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LesL60

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Anyone have a high pitched whine that is consistent regardless of RPM, speed, gear, or any other mechanical influence? Sounds close to my tinnitus, but isn't. Vacuum leak of some sort? My questions are obviously those of non-wrenching rider.

Love my 2004 FZ6.

Also have front tire howl between 50 and 60 mph. Not present outside that range. Too much tread left to replace, doesn't vibrate or shake, and pressure is right. Simple solution is to ride outside the range, especially faster.

Thanks.
 
Im just learning the mechanical aspects of motorcycle care myself. :D How many miles on bike? I know at some point you have to regrease the bearings on, what seems to be, almost every part of your bike. Also, since its an 04', have you replaced sprockets/chain? If its stiff chain or sprockets worn I guess it could make noise.
 
All mechanicals are OK. Whine occurs moving or not, fast or slow, it's pitch never changes. Spring and Fall in Wisconsin are the times for service interval work; Fall is coming and will have it gone over by my trusted wrench.

Thanks for your thoughts. All are appreciated.
 
LesL60 said:
Anyone have a high pitched whine that is consistent regardless of RPM, speed, gear, or any other mechanical influence? Sounds close to my tinnitus, but isn't. Vacuum leak of some sort? My questions are obviously those of non-wrenching rider.

Love my 2004 FZ6.

Also have front tire howl between 50 and 60 mph. Not present outside that range. Too much tread left to replace, doesn't vibrate or shake, and pressure is right. Simple solution is to ride outside the range, especially faster.

Thanks.
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I know the whine you're talking about. It's really high pitch enough that many people can't notice or hear it. I've heard it on a few FZ6's and I believe it's an oscillation from a solid state device. It sounds like the horizontal oscillator in an old TV set. It remains steady in frequency. I think if it were a vacuum leak it would vary at different atmospheres of vacuum but it doesn't change. I would say it's a common and normal FZ6 sound.

I've heard howl complaints and the last one I fixed was a chain adjusted to tightly and also a misaligned rear wheel.
 
I know exactly what you are talking about, my bike ('09) does this as well and has done it since brand new. I just assumed it had something to do with the fuel injection. My other bikes were carbed and didnt make this noise. Its really quite annoying lol. Id also like to know what this sound is...
 
Motogiro said:
I know the whine you're talking about. It's really high pitch enough that many people can't notice or hear it. I've heard it on a few FZ6's and I believe it's an oscillation from a solid state device. It sounds like the horizontal oscillator in an old TV set. It remains steady in frequency. I think if it were a vacuum leak it would vary at different atmospheres of vacuum but it doesn't change. I would say it's a common and normal FZ6 sound.

I've heard howl complaints and the last one I fixed was a chain adjusted to tightly and also a misaligned rear wheel.
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I must have been writing at the same time. Glad to know other people have heard this noise too! Ive had my dad, my brother and my girlfriend sit on my bike with it running and they couldnt hear it. Was beginning to think I was just hearing things lol
 
CBRF3RIDER said:
I must have been writing at the same time. Glad to know other people have heard this noise too! Ive had my dad, my brother and my girlfriend sit on my bike with it running and they couldnt hear it. Was beginning to think I was just hearing things lol
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Our bikes make alot of weird noises I've come to learn. When I first bought my bike it had a really loud howl which went away after getting new tires. I still have a variety of whines, ticks, and whirrs which I suppose I grow accustomed to. Oh and a big CACHUNK when shifting into first.
 
Mine has the same high pitched electrical whine. I can hear the pitch change with my blinkers going off and on. Very annoying, but only heard at a stop.
 
Motogiro said:
I know the whine you're talking about. It's really high pitch enough that many people can't notice or hear it. I've heard it on a few FZ6's and I believe it's an oscillation from a solid state device. It sounds like the horizontal oscillator in an old TV set. It remains steady in frequency. I think if it were a vacuum leak it would vary at different atmospheres of vacuum but it doesn't change. I would say it's a common and normal FZ6 sound.

I've heard howl complaints and the last one I fixed was a chain adjusted to tightly and also a misaligned rear wheel.
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Although my 08 doesn't do this here is something to try as a test. Unplug the head light and see if it goes away and/or flip on the Hi beams and see if it increases. If your bike cranks slowly I'd opt for a new battery if changing the load alters the sound much however it might come right back too.

Lastly - you imply it does it while stopped; does pulling the clutch in change it?
 
FinalImpact said:
Although my 08 doesn't do this here is something to try as a test. Unplug the head light and see if it goes away and/or flip on the Hi beams and see if it increases. If your bike cranks slowly I'd opt for a new battery if changing the load alters the sound much however it might come right back too.

Lastly - you imply it does it while stopped; does pulling the clutch in change it?
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I believe the whine is electronic. I would almost guess it's at near 18000-21000 hz. Some people can not hear those frequencies so their bike doesn't have the sound. :D
My first thought is the Regulator Rectifier. The frequency always seem to stay pretty much steady with no change regardless of clutch or gear and gets lost in wind noise. Not any kind of drive line noise. Not injector noise.

As some one posted the sound might change a little in frequency when the directionals blink. That's why I suspect it's probably the R/R.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, everyone, for the excellent dialogue. I'd add that it seems to change a very, very slight amount in pitch, not volume, at a stop when I pull in the front brake lever. If it were the fuel pump, would it vary with rpm or speed? Would it sound more mechanical rather than like the electronic whine others have noticed?

As to the tire howl, I see no uneven wear on either tire and the sound is almost surely from the front tire. Previous cupping from under/over inflation causing a howl at a specific narrow speed range? Loud at 55 mph and gone entirely at 60 mph - dead silent. Comes on at 51 mph.

I thought the first gear thunk was my fault.

Haven't had the missus on the FZ, so the whine and howl must be the bike.
 
Motogiro said:
I believe the whine is electronic. I would almost guess it's at near 18000-21000 hz. Some people can not hear those frequencies so their bike doesn't have the sound. :D
My first thought is the Regulator Rectifier. The frequency always seem to stay pretty much steady with no change regardless of clutch or gear and gets lost in wind noise. Not any kind of drive line noise. Not injector noise.

As some one posted the sound might change a little in frequency when the directionals blink. That's why I suspect it's probably the R/R.
Click to expand...

But wouldn't it change with loading? i.e. flipping on the hi beam or disconnecting both?

This is a good time to grab a paper towel tube and stick it to your ear. With this, you can pin point the source by aiming the other end at the suspect areas. The reason I site the battery is that although it may start the bike it could play a roll in the system load and how long it takes to recover from being drained. But I hear you about it being a fixed pitch.

FYI: my hearing tests good at all ranges except Ex wife. Somehow that's gone bad. . . :eek:
 
The whine or hum from an electronic device is caused by the freqency of the on/off switch. So on the rectifier/regulator the frequency is controlled by the RPM of the engine. Unless the alternator isn't driven by the engine, but that's rare. So the frequency would be the engine RPM * the number of coils in the alternator. So then nobody could hear it above 6000 RPMs or so, cause I think there's 3. (If the rotor has 3 coils and the stator has 3 coils that makes it a three-phase generator)

Loading won't effect the sound except to change the volume.

As far as the tire howl, it just seems to happen with certain tire tread designs and road surfaces. That's an accoustic deal, and I don't know much about that. I just know with some tires I've never heard that, and with some it's so annoying I don't drive 50 miles before I'm complaining at the shop. I don't hear it with my Pilot Road 2's but the stockers annoyed the heck out of me.
 
Ah, if it's more of a "buzz" than a whine, then my '07 does this as well, when slowing to very slow speeds using the front brake. I do get that buzzing sound, not always, but occasionally. I figured it was some electrical something or other, as my previous bike did the same thing.

18,000 miles and no real problems to speak of. I'd say you're OK unless you have any other issues that seem to be related.

My bike also makes a noise that I now believe is just the valve train noise ... I call it the Yamaha Snarl. :)
 
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