Strange noise in neutral with clutch out.

most likely its the clutch your hearing as you suspected ,and yes its perfectly normal.

My 2016 does the exact same thing , From what I gather from a few posts on here it is nothing to worry about . Ride more worry less !

Totally normal - mine has done the same thing from new.

Mine always does this. I was wondering if it was the cam chain tensioner for a bit.

I'm assuming that the noise we all are hearing is associated with the throw-out bearing that forces the clutch to open as it spins. In a "lever-out" disengage position, perhaps the bearing is rattling, or rattling against the bearing push surface of the clutch, as the motor is running. If anyone has pulled their clutch apart, or at least pulled off the engine case cover, can someone describe the mechanics of how the throw-out bearing works, and why it makes noise?

It's all good.......and normal!

Spacecoast said:

I'm assuming that the noise we all are hearing is associated with the throw-out bearing that forces the clutch to open as it spins. In a "lever-out" disengage position, perhaps the bearing is rattling, or rattling against the bearing push surface of the clutch, as the motor is running. If anyone has pulled their clutch apart, or at least pulled off the engine case cover, can someone describe the mechanics of how the throw-out bearing works, and why it makes noise?

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I'd be curious to know has well. It's almost a grinding sounding noise. Or sounds like something is loose up there.

Clutch outer = Acts like a big liberty bell.
Clutch center = Clamps both frictions and steels as one pack.
Engine pulse is uneven = The pack's friction tangs; swaps back and forth inside the clutch outer's forks.
The out of sync cylinder fire; bangs the tangs in the clutch outer and the bell echos that inconsistent bang.
Pull clutch in, the bang back and forth is silent. The pack no longer acts like a hammer, the frictions free float and the bang is gone. Has nothing to do with bearing noise or a bad bearing would make noise spinning loaded or unloaded... noise goes away = Normal [clutch bang] noise.

Catch22 said:

Clutch outer = Acts like a big liberty bell.
Clutch center = Clamps both frictions and steels as one pack.
Engine pulse is uneven = The pack's friction tangs; swaps back and forth inside the clutch outer's forks.
The out of sync cylinder fire; bangs the tangs in the clutch outer and the bell echos that inconsistent bang.
Pull clutch in, the bang back and forth is silent. The pack no longer acts like a hammer, the frictions free float and the bang is gone. Has nothing to do with bearing noise or a bad bearing would make noise spinning loaded or unloaded... noise goes away = Normal [clutch bang] noise.

Click to expand...

Maybe I'm not following you, but your analysis would imply that the clutch plates are slipping when the clutch is fully engage...while the motor is idling. If it did that, then the clutch would never be able to handle the normal power of the bike, and it would slip like crazy in gear. When I apply minor pressure to the clutch lever, the sound quickly goes away...this to me implies that it's associated with the bearing surface. I think the inner plate which is where the push-bearing surface is, resonates a sound. Especially when there is no pressure being applied. Would be interesting to see some photos or diagram of the set-up. Nonetheless, I'm not worried about the sound.

When I let go of the pressure plate, this locks the frictions and steels together as one. No slipping whatsoever. However, the steels and frictions being locked solid, that tiny gap of the tangs swapping or banging on the outer forks create the noise, not a bearing that is spinning with the basket.

When you see the indents on the clutch outer's grooves, those are banged back and forth so you see those plate matching [bang] grooves on the length of the forks of the outer/inner baskets. Hope that cleared it up some.

Happens on mine, got it used last month. Same thing happens on the wr450 my buddy has that I ride. I assume it is normal for motorcycles, or at the very least, yamaha designed bikes.

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Mine does the same, there's a rattly sort of noise when the clutch is not engaged, and it goes away when I am holding the lever and engaging it. I'm taking it as a reminder to stay in gear with the clutch when I'm in traffic so I'm ready to move if needed.

Asked my mechanic the same question 2 years ago. He said that it sounds like a Ducati.

Catch22 said:

Clutch outer = Acts like a big liberty bell.
Clutch center = Clamps both frictions and steels as one pack.
Engine pulse is uneven = The pack's friction tangs; swaps back and forth inside the clutch outer's forks.
The out of sync cylinder fire; bangs the tangs in the clutch outer and the bell echos that inconsistent bang.
Pull clutch in, the bang back and forth is silent. The pack no longer acts like a hammer, the frictions free float and the bang is gone. Has nothing to do with bearing noise or a bad bearing would make noise spinning loaded or unloaded... noise goes away = Normal [clutch bang] noise.

Click to expand...

Makes perfect sense. I was thinking it was time to check mine out, but it seems mine is perfectly normal.

This thread is a frustrating read.

When the lever is out the clutch is engaged! Pull the lever in to disengage the clutch.

When the lever is out and the bike is in neutral, the engine and the transmission are linked (via the clutch). The noise you hear is likely the gears/dogs/shift forks clattering as the transmission spins at idle. My triumph is much louder.

Not trying to argue, but when the bike is cold the clutch is usually stuck together whether the lever is pulled or not. Which means that the gears/dogs are all spinning with the motor. I don't have to pull my lever much, essentially only taking up cable slack and putting lite pressure into the clutch to significantly mitigate the noise, which to me implies its the clutch.

Spacecoast said:

Not trying to argue, but when the bike is cold the clutch is usually stuck together whether the lever is pulled or not. Which means that the gears/dogs are all spinning with the motor. I don't have to pull my lever much, essentially only taking up cable slack and putting lite pressure into the clutch to significantly mitigate the noise, which to me implies its the clutch.

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This is a great observation, and consistent with what I experience (notably with the triumph). Perhaps the noise is coming from the pull rod bouncing around and putting some tension on it stops the noise?

gsatterw said:

This is a great observation, and consistent with what I experience (notably with the triumph). Perhaps the noise is coming from the pull rod bouncing around and putting some tension on it stops the noise?

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Then transmission stops spinning, thus the noise stops, when you pull the clutch.