Loud whine.

[SteveC]

My 2014 Valk, with less than 300 miles on it, has a very loud 'whine' up front.  Driving around town without a helmet, a have a hard time hearing the exhaust, as its drowned out be this whine.
Is this normal?
Steve

[Robert]

What speed, what gear, what rpm do you notice it the most. I have had a whine a bit of third gear noise that have both quieted down. But if its that loud there may be a problem.

[SteveC]

Ok, a little more detail.  No helmet required in Hawaii, so decided to leave it home for an in-town ride.
Then this morning, put the helmet back on. 
Can't hear the noise on the highway with helmet, but around town, 20-30 mph, 2nd and 3rd gear, whine is very pronounced.  First guess is the alternator(?).

Obviously the answer is 'wear the helmet' but I'm surprised that the whine is so pronounced.  Only previous experience with flat-6 was a Honda Rune.
Steve

[TallRider]

20w50 synthetic helped quite a bit. I think the issue is the Valkyrie has little cover like the wing has deflecting the sounds. I added a windshield which bounces road and engine noise toward the rider. Was less pronounced with it off. My VTX did the same with the front wheel noise adding the windshield.

[goldstar903]

Steve, you bought that bike in California? The dealer in Hawaii probably won't be your friend in this case.  I would call Honda USA and inquire as to what the cause could be. You could also tell the dealer that you just moved from the mainland and had your bike shipped. Will he remember you? Granted you should be able to bring your bike to him for a possible warranty problem! Years ago (1978) I bought a Kawasaki from a competitor that was 2 1/2 hours away. Saved me $600, which was a great savings in the 70's. I had a problem (regulator/rectifier) which was under warranty and the local dealer refused to repair. He told me to take it to where I purchased. The dealer that I bought the bike from sent the new part and I installed it myself. That was my initiation into learning how to maintain and repair my own bike.
I still would approach the local dealer to have it checked out!    

[Robert]

If I were you I would go to some websites that have the Valk and Goldwing running and listen to them what you may be thinking is a problem may actually be the normal operating sounds of the engine. I think I know the noise you are talking about and I think Mine also has that whine that sounds like the alternator and wondered the same thing till I pulled up some sound bytes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_seF8aBDv4 In this one you can faintly hear it then he revs it and you hear it pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBqjal8FBwM Really hear it in this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rifSWP6WWAQ  F6B

[goldstar903]

The soundbites that Robert has provided is quite normal. I believe that the sound is needle bearings. All my bikes make that sound. Hopefully that is the sound that you are hearing.

[SteveC]

Steve, you bought that bike in California? The dealer in Hawaii probably won't be your friend in this case.  I would call Honda USA and inquire as to what the cause could be. You could also tell the dealer that you just moved from the mainland and had your bike shipped. Will he remember you? Granted you should be able to bring your bike to him for a possible warranty problem! Years ago (1978) I bought a Kawasaki from a competitor that was 2 1/2 hours away. Saved me $600, which was a great savings in the 70's. I had a problem (regulator/rectifier) which was under warranty and the local dealer refused to repair. He told me to take it to where I purchased. The dealer that I bought the bike from sent the new part and I installed it myself. That was my initiation into learning how to maintain and repair my own bike.
I still would approach the local dealer to have it checked out!    

I will, good advice.  I think they still have the '15 on the showroom floor.  Yes, this is the bike I bought in Ca., shipped it here and finally got it last week.  My Councours is suddenly collecting dust.
Steve

[SteveC]

20w50 synthetic helped quite a bit. I think the issue is the Valkyrie has little cover like the wing has deflecting the sounds. I added a windshield which bounces road and engine noise toward the rider. Was less pronounced with it off. My VTX did the same with the front wheel noise adding the windshield.

Yep, very familiar with the downside of a windshield.  Rune didn't have one, this one will never see a windshield.  Living here in Hi. You want as much air as possible.
Steve

[SteveC]

If I were you I would go to some websites that have the Valk and Goldwing running and listen to them what you may be thinking is a problem may actually be the normal operating sounds of the engine. I think I know the noise you are talking about and I think Mine also has that whine that sounds like the alternator and wondered the same thing till I pulled up some sound bytes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_seF8aBDv4 In this one you can faintly hear it then he revs it and you hear it pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBqjal8FBwM Really hear it in this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rifSWP6WWAQ  F6B

Yep, the sound in the 2nd link is very familiar.  Gets much more pronounced in a sweet spot of low speed, higher RPM's. I hear it much less with the helmet on, which  is why I got surprised last night when I left the helmet behind for the first time.
Please tell me this will go away! 
Steve

[Robert]

If I were you I would go to some websites that have the Valk and Goldwing running and listen to them what you may be thinking is a problem may actually be the normal operating sounds of the engine. I think I know the noise you are talking about and I think Mine also has that whine that sounds like the alternator and wondered the same thing till I pulled up some sound bytes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_seF8aBDv4 In this one you can faintly hear it then he revs it and you hear it pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBqjal8FBwM Really hear it in this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rifSWP6WWAQ  F6B

Yep, the sound in the 2nd link is very familiar.  Gets much more pronounced in a sweet spot of low speed, higher RPM's. I hear it much less with the helmet on, which  is why I got surprised last night when I left the helmet behind for the first time.
Please tell me this will go away!  
Steve

Kind of thought that may be the sound, it does get less as time goes on. I have not taken the time to find out what it really is but it seems with the oil changes all the noises that were disturbing in the begining have mostly gone away. I remember that noise on the wings when standing next to them when running, it was very distinct and I wondered when I bought the Valk if it would make it.

Kind of a cool video of Deals Gap and wings really doing it but you can just catch the noise a bit along with the scraping of pegs on the corners. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nrMQ3QwyPo