Greetings everyone,

I have a 2006 RYCA Suzuki and so far, LOVING IT. The bike has 2000 miles on it, and I've put 200 or so miles on after the Ryca build. A few weeks ago the bike developed sort of a ticking, scraping type of sound while the clutch is in and I'm rolling, I can usually hear it when I'm in 1st or 2nd gear, slow rolling. The EMGO exhaust makes it very difficult to pinpoint where the noise is coming from- darn thing is LOUD.

Last week I busted a rear hub bearing due to my belt being too tight. Yes, you read that correctly, I BUSTED a bearing with only 2000 miles on the bike.

I ordered the bearing and changed it myself, then did 100 pushups as punishment for riding with a tight belt, gave the belt some more slack (90 degree turn with fingers method) and put the tire back on. Ever since then, the tick I hear from the front of the bike while slow rolling with the clutch in has gotten worse. Almost sounds like gear noise?

Clutch is adjusted at the lever and on the side of the bike. Could the noise be a loose drive pulley?? Or rear wheel out of alignment?? After I put the rear tire back on the noise is there even when rolling in neutral with bike off, but not consistently? Hard to diagnose where the sound is actually coming from.

Don't think the cam chain needs tensioning so soon?? I will no doubt hit up Verslagen for his sweet cam tensioner invention. Any of you vets know if this ticking,sanding type of noise a loose pulley? Or clutch issue? I will be taking off the covers this weekend to get a better look. I read a topic here that says I need to "mechanically" check the drive pulley, and not just visually inspect? I have no impact tools, so how would I know if the drive pulley is even loose?? Thanks for any help you can offer guys.

Ride safe,

Mr. Pazloe

If you've busted the rear pulley bearing, I'd be wondering the condition of the output spindle bearing.  That output spindle will spin with the rear wheel.  You can change the seal from the outside, but not sure about the bearing.

Jack it up, spin the wheel in neutral and listen.  Take the cover off, grab the pulley and yank it around.

And yeah, make sure the drive nut is unbelievably tight.

Thanks for the quick replies everyone. She will be parked until I can sort this out. Verslagen, what noise should I be checking for while spinning the tire in neutral? At the moment I can hear a ticking coming from the front pulley area whenever the wheel spins. At first I only noticed it while in gear, now its happening in neutral as well.

Can I tighten up the pulley nut by throwing a breaker bar over socket and torquing till im blue in the face?

I should just stop messing around and get an impact wrench

I know there is a ticking noise coming from the drive pulley area. Is this the same noise I'm going to hear if my output spindle bearing is bad??

You said I should spin the tire in neutral and listen for anything out of the ordinary. Just did and I'm getting a ticking from the drive pulley.

Thanks Dave, that is exactly what I plan on doing. I'm eager to get in there and clean threads and other gunk out of the nut and pulley housing. Normally I'm very forgiving of ticks, squeaks and rattles- these are after all, super simple single cyclinder thumpers. But this tick and scratching just recently developed.

I've only been riding a couple of years, but just as with a car's clutch, I know there shouldn't be any noise when you're just rolling with the clutch in? It should be quiet just like if you were coasting in neutral, no?