Valkyrie Riders Cruiser Club

All,

My bike ('99 I/S with 172K miles) suddenly developed a strange noise.

The noise is very easy to reproduce. It happens at the no-load point between engine acceleration and deceleration. It sounds like a "chatter" in the driveline. When the engine is pulling, everything sounds fine. When there is engine braking, everything sounds fine. However, at the transition between pull and brake, there is a terrible chattering noise.

I replaced the rear wheel dampeners, along with driveshaft, pinion cup, o-rings, etc during a rear service, but they all have about 50K miles on them.

We pulled everything apart last night and the only wear (or slack) that I can find is with the wheel dampeners. They are all loose in the pockets, with a couple moving about an 1/8 inch and a couple moving about 3/16 inch. There is a fair amount of rubber dust in the pockets. I'll replace the dampeners, but am not certain that this is the cause of the chatter.

Should I keep looking for another issue, or do these dampeners cause a racket when they wear out?

Thanks, Allan

Just wedge (shim) them tight and if the sound goes away.

While it’s apart pull the u-joint. The sounds you describe do not match up to worn dampeners. I agree yours most assuredly need to be replaced the fact that they are not worse means keep looking. U-joint  is likely. How did the pinion cup look?

+1

Pinion Cup only has 50k miles on it and still looks as new as the day I installed it.
All splines on the driveshaft (also 50K miles) look great, with no signs of wear.

Opened up the differential and ring/pinion gears look beautiful.

I'll pull the u-joint later today, to get a better inspection of it.

Thanks for the input, so far.

Allan

Update:

U-Joint for the win (er, fail). It is completely trashed.
I'm surprised that the bike was still rolling under it's own power.

Should be a relatively easy and inexpensive fix.

Thanks for the suggestions and help.

Allan

 :o

That might hold a record, at least in my book it does.

Wow,,,   hard to believe the only noticeable symptom was the noise. You're going to think you got a new bike when it's back together.

You might need a new boot. A little more soft and pliable, for re-installation. Alcohol makes the rubber slide, and dries completely.

Those three beers I had last time I tried to get the boot on did NOT make it easier!! :uglystupid2:

;D

You were supposed to pour the beer on the boot for lube.