Source
r/Kawasaki•
RacoonThe

I shifted from 3rd to fourth, then all of a sudden I heard the worst rattling noise...

I shifted from 3rd to fourth, then all of a sudden I heard the worst rattling noise...

I instinctively grabbed a fist full of clutch. This went one while rolling down a hill for maybe 10 seconds. Then the noise stopped, I downshifted and popped the clutch back in.

The bike rode fine the rest of the way to work.

This has never happened to me in my 3 years of riding.

Bike is a 2017 Z900 with only 1 season on her.

Any ideas what it could be? I'm scared of it happening again.

Posted Mar 28, 2019, 6:34 PM UTC

516
MedCityMoto•

Bet you picked up a bit of trash and it fell out after a few seconds. Check your fenders?

How's your chain slack?

Changed your oil recently? Might want to scope your oil for shiny metal bits.

If you hear it again, see if you can pull over and get an idea of whereabouts you're hearing it come from. Could be that a clutch plate broke, but that'd be surprising for such a new bike unless you've been whippin' it hard.

4
RacoonTheOP•

I just changed the Oil, hand cleaned and oiled the chain (slack is good.)

I drive it fairly conservatively (within reason; it is a z900.)

I guess I will pull the oil again. :(

3
MedCityMoto•

I wouldn't unless you hear it again / find a way to replicate it. I honestly think you just picked up a piece of junk and it fell out.

2
RacoonTheOP•

I'd believe you, if it didn't sound so much like a chain rattling. You know, as I type this it sounded a lot like when the CCT went on my old EX500.

2
MedCityMoto•

Mmmm that's much more interesting, and a lot less likely to be figured out by changing the oil. How many miles on the bike?

Edit: What oil type did you use in your recent change? I think the Z900 uses a hydraulic cam chain tensioner, and I ran into issues with my twitchy Street Triple exactly once with the hydraulic CCT before I switched back to Castrol Power1 4t suggested by factory, and all my cam chain noise ticking went away. I wonder if the wrong oil grade/ weight could cause that issue. In which case you'd really want to swap it out.

Edit edit: Kawasaki of course recommends their own Performance full-synthetic 10w40 4T oil. I can vouch for Castrol Power1 being good for even the touchiest of hydraulic CCTs.

1
Clienterror•

I agree with the other poster about it probably being a false neutral. Being a Z900 owner myself "within reason" made me giggle lol.

2
TimBwig•

Maybe you hit a false neutral and the shifter was banging around between gears?

1
RacoonTheOP•

Now that I think about it, that's the most likely culprit. Is that a sign of something more sever to come? I have never had that happen.

1
TimBwig•

It happens if you don't firmly shift. Pull the clutch in and give it a solid click into a gear.

1
RacoonTheOP•

Thanks after looking this up, it was 100% a false neutral.

I guess there is a first time for everything. I am little gun shy, as the first time I bought a new car, the tranny had to be warrantied after 8k.

1