yesterday i was on my way home from a long ride (about an hour and 45 minutes) and when i got into town and wasnt cruising anymore, i hit a few stoplights. when i would start off in first gear at street riding speed(not being a jackhole) there was a clunking/grinding type of noise. this was only while accelerating while in first gear. it would come in at about 3k rpm and do it in short bursts of noise until about 5k rpm. it is my impression that when the cct is bad, the noise continues with the engine rpms, correct? i really hope its not a transmission problems. please help me fix my baby! thank you :]

edit: if you need a sound clip, let me know and i will get it up ASAP. thank you.

 

your best bet is to go ahead and get a manual cct since they're only like $50 and switch it out, hopefully that solves your problem. if not, your baby needs a new first gear synchro, but usually if a synchro goes out you cant even get it into that particular gear.

 

thanks for the advice. ill give that a try.

 

just an update, the sound i was hearing was the chain. after that long ride plus it hasnt been lubed in about a month, it started to make a bit of a grinding noise from the road grit and other things. i did a thorough cleaning, lubricating and tensioning on it today. chain is much quieter now. i do need to buy a new one though :[ i bought the bike in 2008 and i dont know if the previous owner has changed the chain recently. i have put about 3k miles on it in the past couple years, but in the past 6 months or so, i have been using my bike as my commuter and keeping the miles low on my car with these crazy gas prices.

 

You should replace the sprockets while you're at it.

I see in your sig that it's a Smokin' Joe. Post up pix, I'd like to see it.

 

i was thinking about that. would you recommend steel or aluminum sprockets? i use my bike mostly for cruising and commuting. i dont have the funds for tracking it :[ heres a picture and a video of it :]



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uw01DpFwyg

let me know what you guys think! ( i know im dumb for forgetting to flip the kill switch! lol)

edit: does anyone know if all the stickers on my bike are factory and in the correct positions? it seems that the configuration of the stickers varies from bike to bike. it also looks like my bike has a few more stickers than most that ive seen.

 

If it's just street riding, I would stick with the OEM.

Bike looks great. Not sure about all the sticker config, hopefully you can find a stock photo.

 

i found some pictures of other "stock bikes". seems as though the smokin' joes sticker that is below the sticker that says "honda powered" should actually be above the "honda powered" sticker in place of the smokin' joes camel decal. i kind of like mine better this way :] seems like the stickers are better distributed.

found a good deal on a new set of sprockets and a new chain. should be here in a few days!

 

definitely go with steel sprockets, aluminum sprockets will last less than 5K miles, they're more race oriented