Groan..

A whole section dedicated to the Suzuki Burgman
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2wheelover51
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Groan..

Post by 2wheelover51 »

I've noticed the last week or two my Burgervans' giving a little groan on pulling away, not loud, but I assume it's caused by dust on the clutch shoes/bell? and I only did them about a month ago. I will have to get the casings off again and take a look I suppose... :roll:
I didn't take the clutch apart. Could it be that the pivots for the shoes need a spot of grease? :ugeek:

Stibbs
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Re: Groan..

Post by Stibbs »

Could just need a little deglaze? Start scoot, hold brake, accelerate. The action of that will help clean the plates. Worked for me in the past….

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2wheelover51
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Re: Groan..

Post by 2wheelover51 »

Stibbs,
I think it's less than 3 months ago that I deglazed the pads and cleaned out the variator, checked the belt etc. The bell and pads were all cleaned and roughed up with emery it's been going great since then, so I was thinking maybe it could be the pads sticking on the pivots. Data said the service shouldn't need doing more than every two years. I've done some traffic work but it's really had light usage. I suppose the groan could be something else, but what?

Stibbs
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Re: Groan..

Post by Stibbs »

Yeah, beats me. I’m not the mechanic but data is the guy with the smarts so I’m sure he’ll be along to put you right. Whatever, hope it gets sorted soon.

Rocketman122
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Re: Groan..

Post by Rocketman122 »

im having this issue (maxsym 600) with glazing before its close to its time. every 2000km I have to open and clean the pads and bell.
vrrrr at times kind of sound. its not the belt. I have issues with the belt touching the bottom of the cvt housing so I ordered clutch springs and the main contra spring to try and clear it up. if that doesnt work, Im going to have no choice and order oem belt.
im not sure what to use on the clutch pivot posts. use copper grease, use anti seize, use hi temp grease...I have no idea.

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2wheelover51
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Re: Groan..

Post by 2wheelover51 »

I've just come back from a ride and I paid particular attention to when its groaning. It seems to be on gentle takeoffs with a cold motor. Once the engines hot it doesn't matter whither you pull off fast or slow. Pulling off with more power it's less likely to groan but still sometimes does it. It actually sounds a bit like the belt.
I Will have to open it up again.. :roll:

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Data
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Re: Groan..

Post by Data »

When cleaning/sanding up the clutch pads it's a very good idea to do all you can to keep the surface of the clutch pads as even and flat as possible but maintaining the correct radius. Make sure to take the leading edge down a bit (chamfer it a little). Now you'll know all that 2wheels, but if you don't use a small block with at least a 150 or 200 grit paper or emery on it, and just used some sanding paper with your fingers while rubbing them down, there's a good chance you have slightly uneven pad surfaces. Fingers always cause slightly uneven pressure on the clutch pads resulting in tiny amounts of unevenness. This will cause the glazing to come back quite quickly and you'll hear here moaning again. Note on the photo of my own Burgman 400 Clutch if you study the clutch pads you can see the uneven contact patch (not easy to see on that photo below). Usually if you hit "Ctrl & +" it will zoom your browser so you can see the picture more easily (just in case you don't know). This was after I previously had cleaned up the pads using emery paper and just my fingers. I did that quite inadvertently about 1000 miles earlier on the bike and this resulted in slight judder and moaning from the clutch. After I took the pads down a little more using a proper sanding pad, it cured the issue pretty much permenantly. Note though, that if you have allowed the bike to run for extended periods with considerable judder, the clutch shoe pivots can become stressed over time and this can cause some degree of misalignment on their pivots as they take up the drive and this too can cause noise and even some judder.

The other point to make is that all dry centrifugal clutches do make some noise as the miles go on and you may occasionally still get some vibration either when hot or cold. But making sure to move off smartly so the clutch locks up quickly is key to good clutch operation and good clutch life. My Burgman was always pretty good and I hardly ever had to carry out in-between service clutch cleaning. I used the bike for all sorts of riding too, in town, out of town and fast riding including two up riding. I experienced the occasional judder at a very low level but it never developed into anything more. Every Burgman 400 rider I have ever known has had some form of judder or noise from the clutch and it's normal but it should not cause big vibration or lots of noise. If it is, then it needs to be looked at. The clutch pads on the Burgman never wear out in my experience. They seem to last pretty much forever.
Probably not ugly enough for the 'Ugly Bunch'! :lol:

Been riding for 54 years & owned too many bikes to list here...

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2wheelover51
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Re: Groan..

Post by 2wheelover51 »

Thanks Data.
I did use a block on the shoes but with p80 emery IIRC. Keeping a constant radius requires a bit of practice I think. Another point is there is no judder with the groan, just a quiet groan so from what you've said I may just ignore it. I also wonder if after greasing the outboard bearing, some of the grease could have found its way onto one of the shoes or the inside of the bell. I think I'll just monitor it and if it gets much worse I'll pull the cover off and take a look.
I'll follow your recommendations re paper and method to try to get a more even contact. I suppose looking at the shoes on examination will show which are the high spots, as on your picture. It's easy to download to the desktop and magnify. The thing is, it's not a very sophisticated system, unlike the TMaxes, so this can really be expected from time to time.
Thanks for posting.

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Data
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Re: Groan..

Post by Data »

Often the noise is just a little dust build up, especially after a bit of traffic stop start work. That's all completely normal. P80 grit paper is ok too. The main thing to do is not to sweat about it. Use the bike and it'll be fine. ;)
Probably not ugly enough for the 'Ugly Bunch'! :lol:

Been riding for 54 years & owned too many bikes to list here...

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2wheelover51
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Re: Groan..

Post by 2wheelover51 »

After riding my 400 every day this week on about a 5 mile each way trip I've noticed the groan has gone. But I've noticed some vibration.. I think it was present before the groan stopped. :) But now my kitchen mixer tap is groaning... :D

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