Is it making noise while the clutch is out and you are underway?

 

Knocking noise

At just over 600 miles, my Vee2 has started making what I thought was the infamous idle hammer. It does diminish a little as I pull in the clutch. It almost disappears when I put a load on the engine. Mine was running like a large sewing machine, it was fabulous and a joy to ride. Now, when it has warmed up and I come to a stop, it sounds like a paint shaker.

I am disgusted. I loved it at first, now I don't even want to get on it. It would be nice if Suzuki would fix the ones that do this. In my opinion, it is a manufacturing defect. Can anything be done?

 

Well, I am not THAT disgusted by it. But am curious. This morning when I started it up cold there was no sign of the noise. After warming up it was there. Logic, Mr. Spock, suggests that when cold, the parts have not expanded. The oil is also thicker. So, warmed up, thinner oil allows for loose parts to clack. But why loose parts? different expansion rates between different metals? Inquiring minds want to know, daddio.:bom_beatnik:

 

Chudder can be tested by slightly loading the clutch lever under the circumstances where it shows up (1st gen 1000 was 3-4k rpm). If it goes away , then it is from the clutch basket. As for Idle hammer , mine too (2012) was sewing machine quiet till about 5,000 miles. Now I have the knocking sound at idle when hot , that goes away with the clutch pulled in. Wasn't happy at first , now I just smile inside and think of it in the same light the dry clutch Ducati guys must think of their motors at a stop sign. Once you view it as "character" , the feelings of disappointment go away.

 

If it ISN'T the clutch, it may be the chain loosening up. I have been experiencing what I thought was a bad clutch basket, but after adjusting the chain it went away for a thousand miles or so.. 20k on the bike, so I have done this a few times. Was even going away when I would pull the clutch in a tiny bit, I literally thought my clutch was broken the first time since it was so loud. Making sure the chain is tight makes these bikes so much fun. They do have a lot of "character" though...

 

I have about 1000 miles and noticed some weird noises at times, around idle/low rpms. It's not often- I think it's the clutch mgmnt system doing it's thing. Will continue to monitor but the bike is still a joy. This bike is a big deal for Suzuki, I'm sure it's well tested- I know I tested the heck out of it at Americade all weekend. It might just be the nature of the beast. We shall see.

 

Cannot believe that sound bothers y'all so much. And there is no clutch chudder, but obviously there is still a slight idle hammer. I will also guess it became more pronounced after the first oil change. Run a mix of half 10W40 and 20W50, that is what I regularly do and it quiets things down quite a bit.

 

How can you say there is no clutch chudder? Have you personally gone to look at the bikes who claim to have this problem?
We have all heard your rants about people who are turned off by the sound, let them talk about. Not all of us like the sound of a big knocking vtwin, if that was the case we would all be riding sportsters.

 

I have 1500 miles on mine and the idle hammer is fairly pronounced. I am irritated by it and disappointed, but overall I love the bike and just had a great 3-day 1000 mile experience including lots of riding around TN, NC area in the mountains. For now I will keep riding it, and once there is more of an experience base about the issue and some data on what Suzuki is able to do for folks that take their bikes back, I'll decide what action to take.

Mike

 

So how does the idle hammer issue on the new bike compare to the same thing on the previous generation? Is hard to imagine a situation where it has been de-engineered and becoming a problem? My 85000km v is sweet as with only the RealShelby clutch.

 

I had an '07 before with 23K miles on it and it knocked a little bit, but not as bad as my '14 model with 1500 miles on it....

 

My 13' started at about 4500 miles. I posted on it for advise and got a few replies such as "you should hear some other bikes". I'll bet if the noise came with the bike new, there might be less objections from some. Kind of like someone paying $50,000 for a vehicle with mismatched painted bumpers, but it's ok because it's a new car. I like the idea as someone mentioned, of "character". I'll go with that.

Craig.

 

My "idle hammer" started just after the first service. It only appears after the engine is well and truly warmed up and is an irregular sound. At first it was concerning but after reading a few posts on here it seems it's just a characteristic of the engine. Providing the engine doesn't fall apart then who cares? I too like to think of it as character.

(Parked up the other day and a Ducati somethingoranother pulled up alongside. Now *that*, on tickover, sounded truly like a washing machine on a spin cycle full of nails!)

 

WHY?

My "idle hammer" started just after the first service. It only appears after the engine is well and truly warmed up and is an irregular sound. At first it was concerning but after reading a few posts on here it seems it's just a characteristic of the engine. Providing the engine doesn't fall apart then who cares? I too like to think of it as character

So, I've done a bunch of forum research and have seen this idle hammer often start right after the first oil change. That is exactly what my Vee2 did. What have we done that makes it show up right after the first oil change? It makes me wonder what Suzuki is using for the break in oil.

My '08 Vee did the same thing very loudly, and nearly drove me nuts. I finally solved the problem by selling it. I was worried that Suzuki may not have addressed this issue (even though they re-designed the engine) and after having read that 20-50 oil helped or solved the noise with some Vees, that is what I put in at the first oil change at 600 miles. As soon as it fully warmed up, on the first ride after the oil change, out came the "paint shaker".

I took it into the dealer today. One of the salesmen said that he had a friend that had a DL1000 that developed the idle hammer and Suzuki fixed it. The service manager said he was going to call Suzuki and get to the bottom of this idle hammer business. I'll let you know how it "shakes out" (couldn't resist the pun).

As far as this noise being part of the "character" of the V-Strom, I will agree but I will have to add "character flaw". It may not bother some but it bothers me a lot and ruins the experience for me. I love it when it sounds like a sewing machine on steroids!

 

If it was an easy fix, like the clutch, I'd probably do it. But not until the bike was well and truly run in. As in 10,000km etc. will be interesting to see if suzuki come up with a solution tho. Not holding my breath!
I have bought what is possibly the worlds first second hand 2014 V. Has done 1800km and has heated grips, topbox, underbelly pan and givi screen thing.

 

i have got over 6000kms now and i am embarrassed to sit at a red light with the clank,clank,clank. if it makes that much noise something has to be hitting on something in there?? i had a 04 dl650 and a 08 dl650 and those bikes ran perfectly every day, but i really think this bike is much better than the 650. really happy with this bike except for that one thing. kind of worried something might blow apart a long way from home.

 

I posted this in the other thread on this topic. Does anyone know the actual cause? Food for thought...

I don't know if it applies here but the 1995 Honda VFR 750 had an idle hammer issue (just that year, funnily the 1994 didn't) that turned out to be end knock on the camshaft. Honda fixed it by getting a hole drilled which fed oil under pressure to the end of the camshaft. Anyway, the symptoms sound similar, including the time needed for the problem to develop, so I thought I'd mention it because a lot of us spent time chasing other causes.... Obviously it was irritating but not a requirement to have it fixed.

 

I just had my 1000km service done and by the time I got home I thought I had an exhaust leak but can't find it. Noise seems to be coming directly from engine. Not happy.

 

I did the first oil and filter change this week and got similar noise that I also thought was exhaust blowing. Put in the correct amount and checked the level glass - just on full.

 

extended warranty?

Maybe all of you need to consider an extended warranty!!
Or, take the clutch out and send it to the guy who has been repairing the old 1000 clutches for years. I guess I will buy a Tenere!

 

Header bolts don't have much to do with your clutch. At least on mine the noise comes directly from under the clutch cover and diminishes with pulling the lever. Obviously the clutch. I don't know why people are trying to steer some down the wrong path.

 

Well I was able to snug the heard bolts up a bit and gave it a quick start. Noise appears to be gone but I'm not convinced its the exhaust either. With the engine cold the oil is thicker. I won't have a chance to warm it up till next week so we'll see what happens after a good run. I think it's too coincidental that it started right after an oil change. I don't think my problem is exhaust or clutch I suspect oil viscosity.

 

Does anybody have a sound recording they can share of these hammer/chudder sounds from the 2014? I'd like to hear what they sound like, and I couldn't find anything on Youtube.

 

It's not obvious to me it is clutch noise. The clutch on the 2014 DL1000 appears to disengage completely (good design Suzuki!) so the transmission would stop. Given the engine idle instability the 'clutch noise' might just be transmission noise, which stops when the clutch is disengaged.

 

I don't notice that mine makes any unusual noises at all. It just sounds like a Vtwin. Listen to a Ducati idle sometime, with its dry clutch they sounds really loud.

 

Rode mine pretty hard today and it wasn't too bad. I'll just be keeping an ear on it for a while...see what happens. Anyone hear anything from dealer/suzuki yet?

 

Synthetic Oil

I dug out some old posts that indicated that changing to a synthetic oil got rid of the idle hammer for some owners. So, throwing more money out the window, I bought a jug of Mobile 1 Advanced synthetic oil 15-50W. I dropped out the nearly new 20-50W dino oil and even drained the oil out of the filter, plugged everything back up and poured in the Mobile 1 stuff. I took it out for a test ride and as soon as it warmed up good, back was the idle hammer as loud as ever. Mine is getting really loud, too. By the way, for those of you who think I should just use ear plugs, they were in and I always wear them when I ride.

I took it to the dealer last week and the service manager said he would get with Suzuki and then call me. I haven't heard anything yet but I know the dealership is up to their eyeballs moving to a new building across town. I will get back to them on this. after putting about $14,000 into a new motorcycle, I am not about to have it sounding like a busted up washing machine.

I read some posts by Sharealike and it sounds like he really had a legitimate fix for this problem. I wish something like that would be made available to us less skilled owners. After all, this issue has been around for at least 10+ years and included the SV1000 as well as the Vee. Wake up Suzuki!

 

Dropped in on my dealer on the first leg of my little trip and asked their opinion. Of course a chorus of "they all do that" sang out. Did ask them if he had heard back from any of the new owners about it and he said not so far. Made them aware that there is plenty of talk online about it.

 

I think I was the first person to report idle hammer in my new 1000 when it started after the 1000km service. The bike has now done over 14,000 km and the noise, which was loud and distinctive, seems to have disappeared just as mysteriously as it started. I have done several rides recently, during which the engine must have achieved full temperature, but the hammer has not manifested itself.

When it was at its worst, I was riding across Northern Australia where ambient temperatures were 33 to 36 C, but here in the south they are around 15 C, so I am not yet confident that climate isn't an issue. In a few weeks time I'll be heading north again, so I'll find out then.

I'd be interested to hear whether owners who aren't experiencing the noise, live in cold or hot climes?