Evenin!

Wondered if anyone on here might be able to answer a couple of questions I have about my ZX6R. I bought it a couple of weeks ago and there's a couple of noises I'm a little bothered by:

1) Sounds pretty agricultural when idling. I've heard that Kawasaki engines are noisy so just wanted to check this is normal - sounds almost like a diesel!!

2) Got a strange whirring/whine which seems to match road noise...*sounds* like it's coming from the front sprocket area...have recently changed the chain (and sprockets) and tried adjusting the chain to no avail. Was making the noise before and after the new C&S - though to be honest I can't remember 100% whether it was making the noise when I picked it up...when I changed the front sprocket I checked for play in the output shaft and there was none at all.

Any feedback appreciated

 

Most of the time, when you hear a farm machinery whine in a engine while sitting still, its the starter motor turning at the same rpm as the engine. Thats caused by the one-way clutch in the starter linkage stuck in the engaged position.(it happens, mostly from old or lack-of oil)
I've also seen where the clutch was replaced, and somebody forgot a shim or spacer, and the clutch basket is rubbing against something.

Whining/whirring could be several things:
--bad wheel bearings.
--brake pads worn to the metal plates, or brake caliper out of alignment.
--front sprocket on backwards, rubbing on the cover or chain rubbing on swing arm.
--rear tire too big for the bike and it's rubbing the swingarm or rubbing the chain.
Beyond this, it's trans related, but not unless the bike was beat to **** by the previous owner.

 

Cheers - should add that the whir/whine is louder under load than not...though can still hear it when coasting.

Also the "agricultural" noise again goes away when the engine is under load, even at low revs - could this still be the starter motor issue?

Ta

 

the agri-noise (wish i could here it) could be all in the clutch. Not so much the disks, but the needle bearing it rides on. That would substantiate the under load issue.

If the whirring gets louder, consistently, as you accelerate, check my list again.
If that's all o.k. there's a bad shaft bearing in the trans. (3 shafts & 7 bearings)
(and that would suck to fix)
But, i'm confident it's external.
Get a rear stand, prop it up, tie it down, and run it in gear. look for the noise.
Just remember, after 5K rpm, the bike will fall off the stand from vibration. Be careful.

 

A few possibles to think about. What oil are you running?

 

Thanks for the responses so far guys!

Oil - not sure, it was serviced a few hundred miles before I got it and now has 2k miles on that oil. I'm intending to change it this weekend and check for any alarming metally bits in there.

One thing I have noticed is that the horrible whine appears to be loudest in 4th gear and noticeably so - it is present in all the other gears but is like twice as loud and nasty sounding in 4th. Does this shed any light on anything? Looking more and more like it could be transmission related :-(

 

Change the oil and filter. I use amsoil, but of course that is just me and some others. I am curious on your drain to see what is showing when you change the oil.