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Clutch chatter? Maybe, maybe not.

  • Thread starter Thread starter hunter58
  • Start date Start date
H

hunter58

Guest
I?m new to GSR and what a great site and great bunch of people.

I?ve recently purchased a ?80 GS1000G and I?m having what I believe to be clutch chatter/rattle but I?m not sure.

At low RPM?s with a load i.e. engaging the clutch at take off it makes a chattering noise, it will also do it if I?m bogging a little while accelerating at slow speeds in too high a gear. The clutch doesn?t slip at all but I haven?t really gotten on it (yet:-D ), but under normal riding it doesn?t slip.

The one thing I?m wondering about is when I first got the bike I noticed the oil level was a little low so I added some oil but I over did it a little and now the level may be a little high. Could this be causing my problem? The other thing that comes to mind might be the cam chain rattling.

I want to be sure I?m not doing any damage and/or is this something to worry about. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

Steve
 
Are you sure it's not just a knock caused by a lean fuel mixture? Try a little high octane and see if it goes away.
 
I can't hear the noise, so it's difficult to diagnose, but too much oil is a bad thing. What happens is the the crank whips the oil to a froth. The air bubbles in the oil decrease it's effectivness as a buffer and you get engine damage.

Drain some of it out.
 
Billy Ricks said:
Are you sure it's not just a knock caused by a lean fuel mixture? Try a little high octane and see if it goes away.
Click to expand...

Well that's simple enought to try. I'll see what happens.

Thanks,
Steve
 
The clutch packs on these bikes are notorious for rattle at low rpms and speeds. What is your idle set at? Some folks have to keep it adjusted even higher than the manual suggests to avoid the rattle on take off.
 
Jethro said:
The clutch packs on these bikes are notorious for rattle at low rpms and speeds. What is your idle set at? Some folks have to keep it adjusted even higher than the manual suggests to avoid the rattle on take off.
Click to expand...

It's idling at 1500. I did notice last night while the choke was still on at about 2500 rpm it doesn't make the rattle. You might be on to something. What would be a good, higher than spec idle?

Steve
 
hunter58 said:
It's idling at 1500. I did notice last night while the choke was still on at about 2500 rpm it doesn't make the rattle. You might be on to something. What would be a good, higher than spec idle?

Steve
Click to expand...
1500 is about as high as you should go. Normally you want them idling much lower, 1000-1200 range. The fact that it didn't make the noise with the choke on makes me think it may very well be a lean condition. Try the higher octane and see if it helps. If it does then you can fool with the mixture screws to try to remedy the problem.
 
Last edited:
Yep, I'm thinking lean as well now. 1500 is too high already, you run the risk of overheating in traffic with that idle.

Not sure about the 1980 1000G, but my 1100E is speced at 1050rpm +/- 100 rpms.
 
I also have a low rpm rattle in the clutch. I'd like to take it apart and have a look see. My lever pull is very hard. Could a PO have put in stronger clutch springs?
 
Billyboy said:
I also have a low rpm rattle in the clutch. I'd like to take it apart and have a look see. My lever pull is very hard. Could a PO have put in stronger clutch springs?
Click to expand...
If it ever got rebuilt it was pretty common to use heavy duty springs.
 
Thanks Billy. I don't mind it, but guys checking out my bike always comment on it.
 
Billyboy said:
I also have a low rpm rattle in the clutch. I'd like to take it apart and have a look see. My lever pull is very hard. Could a PO have put in stronger clutch springs?
Click to expand...
have you synced the carbs lately?I did mine and almost all the rattle went away and it runs and idles alot smoother.It also could be cam endplay.Does it quit when you let the clutch out?
 
hungryman said:
I can't hear the noise, so it's difficult to diagnose, but too much oil is a bad thing. What happens is the the crank whips the oil to a froth. The air bubbles in the oil decrease it's effectivness as a buffer and you get engine damage.

Drain some of it out.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advise on this. Once I got on level ground and put it on the center stand I found that it wasn't really overfull at all. It was just below the full line. I guess I wasn't holding the bike very level while trying to check it.

I don't want to add to the oil debate but I just got done changing the oil to Rotella 5w40, also the secondary and final drives as well. I just took a short spin and the noise is still there allthough it is substantially quiter. I'll report back after a few runs and see if there is any noticeable difference.

Steve
 
My idle is set at...

My idle is set at...

about 1200-1300. Its where I like it at for taking off and such. Plus it just sounds better to me. Now I might adjust mine down a little when I get the new rubbers billy is sending me. Billys a great guy hes helped me more in the past couple of days then most have in the last couple of years. My hat is off to him. Back to the idel and the noise issue. Im betting its just noisy clutch mine has a noise to it too when ya take off alot of asian bikes do. Same thing for noise when it idles. Put your ear down by the clutch if thats what it is you will be able to tell. and rev it a few times with no choke if the noise goes away its probally the clutch.

Pan
 
PanheadJosh74 said:
about 1200-1300. Its where I like it at for taking off and such. Plus it just sounds better to me. Now I might adjust mine down a little when I get the new rubbers billy is sending me. Billys a great guy hes helped me more in the past couple of days then most have in the last couple of years. My hat is off to him. Back to the idel and the noise issue. Im betting its just noisy clutch mine has a noise to it too when ya take off alot of asian bikes do. Same thing for noise when it idles. Put your ear down by the clutch if thats what it is you will be able to tell. and rev it a few times with no choke if the noise goes away its probally the clutch.

Pan
Click to expand...

Pan,

I'm pretty sure it's the clutch making the noise. As for the idle I'm only able to go by the tach which I noticed this morning is just a little under the 1500 mark so I'm probably at about 1300 or so. It sounds pretty good and doesn't sound like it's idling too high. I rode with a friend this morning and ask him what he thought about it and he said it sounded pretty good. I'm also learning that if I don't want it to make the noise I just take off reving a little higher and it doesn't do it. I tend to engage the clutch at pretty low RPM's at take off, just a habit I guess.

Steve
 
The clutch unit fits in tight to the main gearbox bearing, driving both the oil pump and attaching to the crankshaft.

With years of abuse and use the inner and outer get worn hence you get a stiff or sticky clutch. On later models such as the GS1100E/GS1150E/ plus the katana range Suzuki used a sim to tighten up the clutches and when you replace them it's a standard practice acording to the Suzuki manuals.

Often the noise if from loose compression springs in the back of the main clutch basket itself. I don't know of any companies here in the UK that with re-spring these springs in the clutch basket.

As long as the clutch is not loose on the shaft and 'chattering' it will keep on going. Its always worth having the carbs balanced/syncronised which will cure most of the noise.

Suzuki mad
GS1000E 1981
GSX1100ESD 1983 Now full functional (Boy it's quick!)
 
You're not going to believe this one.

You're not going to believe this one.

As I had mentioned I had changed the oil and went with the synth. It did seem to quite it to some degree but not much.

I had been reading on the site about people using Harley take offs for mufflers. Since mine were rotting and had some holes drilled in them I decided to see if I could procure some. I did get a pair for free. Had them put on and guess what. The bike runs better and the rattle is substantially less now. All I can say is that it is running better all through the low, mid to high power ranges. I guess putting the mufflers on made the tune better which in turn has decreased the rattle.

Very cool? who would have figured.
Here's a pic of the mufflers.
62943112.cRnXHYBR.jpg
 
I took apart the clutch on the good bike and the parts bike. The plates looked good on both, but there was a quarter inch in height difference on the springs between the two. I swapped out the plates and all, put in the original springs and VOILA! easy clutch lever. Took it for a little boot and it performed flawlessly. I wanted to ride today and see it it still chatterred but it's raining mad. Later then.
 
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