csnowden
New Member
Hi all,
Brand new motorcycle rider here after passing my Mod2 test a couple of weeks ago. My friend generously gifted me his unwell 2004 FZ6-S back in January before passing and said he suspects the final output bearing on the transmission has died.
The symptoms of it sound like a dying washing machine drum bearing when running at some speed on the road - it's not noticeable with it in gear spinning the rear wheel on the centre stand. He demonstrated this to me by riding past at a bit of speed, pulling the clutch and killing the engine so I could hear it. It happens on both acceleration and deceleration, the pitch of the whine increasing with vehicle speed not gear.
He said the noise started happening quite suddenly after he'd overtightened the chain by accident and then ridden a couple hundred miles before noticing and releasing some of the tension.
The rest of the bike is mechanically sound; it started on the second attempt with a fresh battery and some slightly old fuel after maybe 4-5 years of standing? And it seems quite rev happy too, we did have one hiccup during some garage tests where it would stutter around 4-5krpm but put that down to old fuel or moisture in the tank. Gear changes are all smooth and it goes through the gears happily - he never noticed that being an issue and hasn't been rough with the gears either. Suspension is all good, no leaking seals anywhere, just some rust spots and corrosion that you'd expect on a 21 year old bike run outside over UK winters! Wheel bearings all seem fine too with no lumpy rough spots in them.
My question is, how likely will it be that it is the output bearing just behind the sprocket? Especially with the chain being overtightened and ridden on. I'm happy to drop the engine and replace the bearing myself, it's just a bit of a faff and I would like a second opinion on it first before diving in and just doing it.
Thanks!
Brand new motorcycle rider here after passing my Mod2 test a couple of weeks ago. My friend generously gifted me his unwell 2004 FZ6-S back in January before passing and said he suspects the final output bearing on the transmission has died.
The symptoms of it sound like a dying washing machine drum bearing when running at some speed on the road - it's not noticeable with it in gear spinning the rear wheel on the centre stand. He demonstrated this to me by riding past at a bit of speed, pulling the clutch and killing the engine so I could hear it. It happens on both acceleration and deceleration, the pitch of the whine increasing with vehicle speed not gear.
He said the noise started happening quite suddenly after he'd overtightened the chain by accident and then ridden a couple hundred miles before noticing and releasing some of the tension.
The rest of the bike is mechanically sound; it started on the second attempt with a fresh battery and some slightly old fuel after maybe 4-5 years of standing? And it seems quite rev happy too, we did have one hiccup during some garage tests where it would stutter around 4-5krpm but put that down to old fuel or moisture in the tank. Gear changes are all smooth and it goes through the gears happily - he never noticed that being an issue and hasn't been rough with the gears either. Suspension is all good, no leaking seals anywhere, just some rust spots and corrosion that you'd expect on a 21 year old bike run outside over UK winters! Wheel bearings all seem fine too with no lumpy rough spots in them.
My question is, how likely will it be that it is the output bearing just behind the sprocket? Especially with the chain being overtightened and ridden on. I'm happy to drop the engine and replace the bearing myself, it's just a bit of a faff and I would like a second opinion on it first before diving in and just doing it.
Thanks!
