A new and unusual noise... middle gear whine? Something else?

So I did a few maintenance things before parking my 81 XJ650 for the winter including new gear oil, new front fork oil, new front brake pads and flushing the front brake lines. Now I have a 30 mile ride left to get it to its winter home (in 32 degree weather no less but no snow yet!!).

I took it out for a little spin yesterday and noticed a new high pitched whining sound. It kicks in usually above 30mph or thereabouts, quicker if I rev the engine, then goes away rather abruptly as I slow down... quiets a bit then just cuts out. Otherwise it seems to be riding just fine. It has not been ridden all that much in the last month and sitting outside in weather that is frequently below freezing... if that could effect things.

I read about the middle gear whine... but that sounds like something that would have always been there?

Any thoughts? Safe to ride that 30 miles? I'm getting crunched for time here just hoping it doesn't snow...

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

, what wt oil are you using in 32 degree weather should be 10 30

whine is normal

 

I'd suspect either a speedo or tach cable is very dry and cold---- or you have a heat shield that came loose and is vibrating

 

Oil is 10 - 40. Most riding is not done in such cold temps.

I'll check the speedo/tach cables tomorrow (and the heat shield). This is a beginners question but whats the best way to lubricate those cables?

 

Get a cable lubricating tool. It clamps on the end of the cable and you stick the kroil tube into it and spray away. It fill the cable.

 

It's OK to use a heavier oil in lower tempeatures, but not ideal. That can contibute to gear whine, but I don't think that's what you're hearing.

Remove the cable entirely. The cable pulls out from the sleeve at the spedometer end. You'll want it out for two reasons; to clean the cable and sleeve, and to inspect the cable for wear. If you see any signs of the cable strands fraying, or having grooves worn into them, get a new cable.
Once clean you can use almost anything to lubricate the cable, but a lithium based grease will work best, take a long time to dry out, and won't leak out of the cable. Most auto parts stores sell grease theat's specific for speedometer cables, but only get that if you have no other use for a tube of lithium grease.

 

Those guys ^^^ are most probably correct. The cold could make things whine a bit more, I know I was whining a lot here the other evening when the wind was kicking.

Sally, are you aware of the 5k vibration? It could be described as a buzz, or maybe even a whine.... only happens for a very brief RPM range around 5k, both on acceleration and deceleration- normal harmonic thing.

 

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate y'all taking the time to respond.

I am not aware of the 5K vibration, but I think my whine has a larger range and it seems like once it kicks in it doesn't go away until deceleration to ~10mph. Plus this is something that is new to this bike. I have ridden it in the past in these cold temps, but not a whole lot.

I think I'll just get it to its winter home for now and then pull/check/lubricate the cables when I have a bit more time.

 

A quick update. Figured out what the noise was on the long ride today when I look down and notice the speedometer needle has broken off! Not exactly sure how or why that happened but something inside that assembly is 100% the cause of my particular whine... and the cause of the broken needle... do I really need to know how fast I'm going?? ;-)

 

A 650 maxim speedo is simple to replace.

Do you really need to know how fast you're going? No..... but you do need to know how slow you're STILL going.