Whistling sound while riding at around 25mph

[juliantrost]

Hi guys, I wanted to run something by you to see if it is just me... While riding on my RS, in 2nd or 3rd gear at around 25 to 30mph I am hearing whistling sound coming from the front of the bike. I think it is sort of an air flowing through something, but it is odd. I am new to the RS riding, just 4 weeks in, but this just doesn't seem right. The bike has only 150 miles on it, but I did have to change the exhaust on it, so with Two Brothers exhaust, which is much louder than stock, I still hear it. Is something wrong or is it normal :spyder2: operation? Thank in advance

 

[JoshTheCake]

Ahhhhhhh!!

You should still be in 1st gear at 25-30 mph

Definately not 3rd!!!!!!!

 

[juliantrost]

You should still be in 1st gear at 25-30 mph

Definately not 3rd!!!!!!!

Thanks... I should have said that this is happening while downshifting, so only for a small period of time while the gears a caught up on the SE model.

 

[donec]

I hear the same thing and found out it is the wind whistling through my helmet. Without the helmet I can not repeat the whistle.

 

[juliantrost]

I hear the same thing and found out it is the wind whistling through my helmet. Without the helmet I can not repeat the whistle.

NJ has the helmet law, so I cannot ride without it. However, having said that; I tried riding without it in the immediate neighborhood and hear the same thing. I feel it is something to do with downshifting; almost going too slow in high gear, like 25mph in 2nd gear. So, I will try the same thing and shifting down to 1st. Thanks for the comments though.

 

[johnwinslow]

I have the same thing, and people that i ride with have mentioned it. i had deer whistles on it, but took them off still got it, i would love to get rid of the noise, looking forward to an answer. i have an 2011RT-S

 

[Yfactor]

I've never heard this with the 2010 RT but my son has mentioned it several times with the 2010 RS. Would love to hear an answer to where it is coming from.

 

[Bob Denman]

Your bike is just whistling while it works... :thumbup:

 

[FutureRyder]

I'm reminded of the Dodge Ram commercials when they had the redesigned look.

The actor puts a rubbery sleeve over the antenna saying something like "We'd rather it didn't whistle while it worked."

Any thing like an antenna that could be causing it?

 

[Bob Denman]

Antennas have been known to do that... His description though mentions the noise coming from up front somewhere. I haven't actually looked at my entenna; has BRP designed any of those anti-vibe features into them? I think that they used to stiffen them up by running some sort of reinforcement wire up and around them.

 

[juliantrost]

Antennas have been known to do that... His description though mentions the noise coming from up front somewhere. I haven't actually looked at my entenna; has BRP designed any of those anti-vibe features into them? I think that they used to stiffen them up by running some sort of reinforcement wire up and around them.

There is no antenna on my bike of any sort. It is coming from underneath the front area where the gas tank, on two wheelers, normally is. I am not sure if "whistling" is the right word, but I am sure everyone understood it; it is sort of like howling - very low continuous howling. I am now convinced that it is happening only on down shifting and after I’ve been riding for a while. I do not hear it in high gear or when I am going at 45+. I am also partially to blame for it, since I am getting used to the whole semi-automatic gearing. I have been gearing up and down all wrong; actually I haven’t been gearing down at all and relied on the automatic gearing down through breaking. By the sound of it, if I am at 25mph, I better be in 1[SUP]st[/SUP] gear, but I am sure I am in 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] when I hear it. So here is a stupid question and pardon the ignorance: I tend to shift up to 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] gear at around 25mph, 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] gear at around 35mph, 4[SUP]th[/SUP] at 40 mph and 5[SUP]th[/SUP] at 45mph. Been doing this since I got the Spyder, just like I did on the Shadow before. Is this all wrong? Also, do I continue to rely on breaking to shift down when slowing or should I shift down manually?

 

[Bob Denman]

I upshift at 4000 rpm or so; it sounds as if you're in the ballpark! :thumbup: It's certainly okay to let the ESSIE-5 hanlde the downshifting chores. I pretty much only use the downshift paddle if I need to dial in a downshift to quickly gain some speed...
Howling??? have you had the bike back to your dealer? You might just want to let them lend an ear to this issue... :dontknow:

 

[juliantrost]

I upshift at 4000 rpm or so; it sounds as if you're in the ballpark! :thumbup: It's certainly okay to let the ESSIE-5 hanlde the downshifting chores. I pretty much only use the downshift paddle if I need to dial in a downshift to quickly gain some speed...
Howling??? have you had the bike back to your dealer? You might just want to let them lend an ear to this issue... :dontknow:

No, not yet. Still waiting for the 600mi mark and will then take it in. Thanks for the thumbs up!

 

[vondalyn]

So here is a stupid question and pardon the ignorance: I tend to shift up to 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] gear at around 25mph, 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] gear at around 35mph, 4[SUP]th[/SUP] at 40 mph and 5[SUP]th[/SUP] at 45mph. Been doing this since I got the Spyder, just like I did on the Shadow before. Is this all wrong? Also, do I continue to rely on breaking to shift down when slowing or should I shift down manually?

I think you're shifting waaaaay too soon for how Spydee likes to run. There have been a lot of threads lately on when to shift and mph ranges per gears.

 

[juliantrost]

I think you're shifting waaaaay too soon for how Spydee likes to run. There have been a lot of threads lately on when to shift and mph ranges per gears.

Ah... Yeah, sounds like I am. I just did a search for "shifting gears" and read a post from Firfly that said "I don't even think of 5th gear until 65 or 70 mph." I am normally in 5th at 50mph. So, seems like I have a significant amount of adjustments to get used to in the way I am riding. I should have posted this sooner. Thanks to everyone for the comments.:thumbup:

 

[daveinva]

Are you sure it's from the front, and not reflected sound from the belt?

The RS belt likes to whine sometimes depending on how "tight" or "loose" it is. For instance, mine has a noticeable whine that hits about 19-20 mph-- you can hear it going up, but it's just slightly louder going down. Like a hollow whistling/whining sound. Been there since the beginning, forum wisdom suggests it's normal, nothing to worry about, a quirk of the belt drive. Unless it gets worse, I wouldn't worry.

 

[zrc]

I can easily break 50 in 3rd. Shifting should occur post 4000 rpms, in my case usually closer to 5000, sometimes as high as 7000 pending the situation. The Rotax just loves it like that. I am actually surprised it didnt downshift for you

 

[donec]

Are you sure it's from the front, and not reflected sound from the belt?

The RS belt likes to whine sometimes depending on how "tight" or "loose" it is. For instance, mine has a noticeable whine that hits about 19-20 mph-- you can hear it going up, but it's just slightly louder going down. Like a hollow whistling/whining sound. Been there since the beginning, forum wisdom suggests it's normal, nothing to worry about, a quirk of the belt drive. Unless it gets worse, I wouldn't worry.

Would that be like the sound when you blow across an open bottle?

 

[daveinva]

Would that be like the sound when you blow across an open bottle?

Kinda like that... maybe a little more metallic. I dunno, it's an odd sound, but like I said, I've had it from Mile 1.

 

[juliantrost]

Would that be like the sound when you blow across an open bottle?

That's it! That is exactly how it sounds. I will try to pay closer attention next time when I am riding, maybe it is a belt, but hopefully with gearing up and down correctly, I will eliminate it. Thanks guys!