Kawasaki Concours Forum

The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => Accessories and modifications - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: Fretka on May 22, 2011, 12:28:50 PM

Title: Turbo (continued from old board) Bevel Drive Issue?
Post by: Fretka on May 22, 2011, 12:28:50 PM
First THANKS to Bionic Bob for the copy of the Concourier! Second, Rev did a great job with the writing of the piece!

My latest concern was the bevel drive unit making some noise (pre board crash). Dealer mech. says he cannot find anything so I'll put just a few more careful miles on the bike and see if it's my overly sensitive ear or truly a bearing going south.
Sure would be dramatic if the bevel drive fails at speed! I could spend leisurely hours picking aluminum out of my left foot and ankle.   :o
I think it's safe to say, hold-off on your turbo dreams until I get to the bottom of this.
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board)
Post by: jamiemac on May 22, 2011, 02:20:21 PM
Mine are exactly that. "Dreams". Hope You get that ironed out Brother.
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board)
Post by: reesedp on May 22, 2011, 05:28:33 PM
Noise must be the KIPASS signal causing your inner ear to vibrate...
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board)
Post by: stlheadake on May 23, 2011, 02:51:16 AM
First THANKS to Bionic Bob for the copy of the Concourier! Second, Rev did a great job with the writing of the piece!

My latest concern was the bevel drive unit making some noise (pre board crash). Dealer mech. says he cannot find anything so I'll put just a few more careful miles on the bike and see if it's my overly sensitive ear or truly a bearing going south.
Sure would be dramatic if the bevel drive fails at speed! I could spend leisurely hours picking aluminum out of my left foot and ankle.   :o
I think it's safe to say, hold-off on your turbo dreams until I get to the bottom of this.


What kind of noise are you hearing?  I've been hearing mine too.  I've had two final drives go on my old BMW.  Both at speed on the interstate.  One happened while I was underground in one of the tunnel portions on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  I am 'trained' or conditioned to listen for final drive noises. 

I've had mine in twice now for final drive noises.  I know it's there, but the dealer can't hear anything.  Says keep riding, you've got warranty.  So I'm listening and waiting.  I don't want it to happen. 
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board)
Post by: Fretka on June 03, 2011, 02:24:58 PM
Once again the mech says he cannot hear anything so I just continue to ride it.
Changed the oil and got a small amount of particles that would be measured in microns and nothing else.
What I feel/hear is only noticeable when taking off in first gear with very small throttle openings, the frequency (sound) of the straight cut gear whine has changed very slightly and there seems to be more driveline lash than I remember. lastly it does not do it consistently, so as far as I'm concerned I'll wait for further symptoms before busting knuckles. @ this point I'd say no problems but I'll keep up with this thread should anything happen to occur such as an exploding bevel drive under boost at speed  :o
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board)
Post by: Fretka on August 01, 2011, 11:52:46 AM
Noise is almost certainly from the bevel cluster on the output shaft, bearing or somesuch.

I'll pull it apart when the mood strikes me and let y'all know.
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board)
Post by: VirginiaJim on August 01, 2011, 04:05:44 PM
Ok.....is this about a rear drive issue?
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board)
Post by: B.D.F. on August 01, 2011, 05:41:11 PM
No, he is talking about the bevel gears and associated bearings in front on the driveshaft. Just about where your right ankle is when riding the bike, at least if you ride it facing forward with one foot on either side.  ;D

Brian

Ok.....is this about a rear drive issue?
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board)
Post by: Fretka on August 01, 2011, 07:41:14 PM
No, he is talking about the bevel gears and associated bearings in front on the driveshaft. Just about where your right ankle is when riding the bike, at least if you ride it facing forward with one foot on either side.  ;D

Brian

Uhhhh........ you mean your other right?
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board)
Post by: VirginiaJim on August 02, 2011, 11:54:43 AM
No, he is talking about the bevel gears and associated bearings in front on the driveshaft. Just about where your right ankle is when riding the bike, at least if you ride it facing forward with one foot on either side.  ;D

Brian

I'm asking because the subject line is stating Turbo.  I'm finding it hard to correlate that with what's being discussed.  If it's not directly about the Turbo setup then let's change the subject line to reflect what's being discussed.
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board)
Post by: B.D.F. on August 02, 2011, 12:10:33 PM
Yes! Thanks, I meant the right foot on my left side.

Sheesh.  :-[

The bevel gear assembly on a C-14 is on the LEFT side.

Brian


Uhhhh........ you mean your other right?
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board)
Post by: B.D.F. on August 02, 2011, 12:15:57 PM
Yep, I can see what you are saying but I believe Fretka is talking about how the turbo on his bike <may> have put too much strain on the bevel gears in his bike. So I think they tie in nicely. In fact, I am quite curious to see how he makes out but I do not believe any problem he has with bevel gears, if there even IS a problem, applies to the rest of us; put another way, I do not think this discussion applies to non- turbo bikes as almost all of us have, and would not be useful as its own topic.

As a general statement, any type of supercharger (mechanically driven supercharger, turbo- supercharger, Paxton type blower) radically increases the power of a given engine and so any experience on a self- made turbo version of something does not apply to the other, naturally aspirated, vehicles of the same type.

Brian


I'm asking because the subject line is stating Turbo.  I'm finding it hard to correlate that with what's being discussed.  If it's not directly about the Turbo setup then let's change the subject line to reflect what's being discussed.
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board)
Post by: VirginiaJim on August 02, 2011, 01:39:53 PM
Sounds good to me.....I think.
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board)
Post by: ZG on August 02, 2011, 06:33:49 PM
I'm asking because the subject line is stating Turbo.  I'm finding it hard to correlate that with what's being discussed.  If it's not directly about the Turbo setup then let's change the subject line to reflect what's being discussed.

I'm with Jim... (http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb336/jaywilcox/confused1.gif)
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board) Bevel Drive Issue?
Post by: Fretka on August 03, 2011, 12:28:29 AM
What all this boils down to is that the gears just above your left foot may be the weak link in the whole bike and limits how much power the C14 can make before it lets go.
That's about the only relevance this thread has to the majority of us. The turbo is not really the issue so much as a kinda "I told ya not to do this and now look what ya done" sorta thing..... :)
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board) Bevel Drive Issue?
Post by: VirginiaJim on August 03, 2011, 03:33:08 AM
That's fine.  The law of Unintended Consequences strikes again.  I've modified the subject line..
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board) Bevel Drive Issue?
Post by: Fretka on August 09, 2011, 12:18:22 PM
I pulled all the bits from the bevel assy. back to the cush drive and all looks fine, perhaps could use a little moly paste on reassy.
IMO this whole driveline assy. is beefy as hell!
Warning, techspeak coming up.
I did not know that there exists a spring loaded cam and "socket" device located on the output shaft between the secondary gears and the bevel cluster.
This arrangement performs the same job as the rubber cush pucks in the rear wheel of every motorcycle known to man! It allows the drive from the transmission to the driveshaft to slide/absorb any sharp spikes in loading the driveshaft, like pulling wheelies or drag style launches for instance.
Gotta say that Kawasaki sure gives some thought to building their engines with high power and strength/protection.

Upshot of all this?  The driveshaft and associated parts seem to be fine and NO worry there.

Fretka
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board) Bevel Drive Issue?
Post by: Fretka on August 26, 2011, 08:07:15 PM
Looks like I shot myself in the foot yet again!

This time it will probably be easy to fix (fingers crossed).

I pulled the clutch pack apart when I first built the turbo in an attempt to beef-up the plate engagement pressure ( seems 230 hp was a bit much for the stock plates, can't imagine why) and I reassembled it with the 2 outer plates rotated 1 spline from stock (intentionally). This allows full plate travel within the basket, and it also allows the bike to make a very strange slipping, grinding,hesitating, farting sound as well.  :-\

I'll pull it manana and find out for sure.

Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa


Fartka
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board) Bevel Drive Issue?
Post by: Gearhead82 on August 26, 2011, 10:08:02 PM
Does the C14 clutch have much in common with the ZX-14 clutch, parts-wise?  I was just wondering if there's an easy aftermarket route that could be taken to beef up the C14 clutch.
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board) Bevel Drive Issue?
Post by: jjsC6 on August 27, 2011, 06:49:56 AM
Looks like I shot myself in the foot yet again!

This time it will probably be easy to fix (fingers crossed).

I pulled the clutch pack apart when I first built the turbo in an attempt to beef-up the plate engagement pressure ( seems 230 hp was a bit much for the stock plates, can't imagine why) and I reassembled it with the 2 outer plates rotated 1 spline from stock (intentionally). This allows full plate travel within the basket, and it also allows the bike to make a very strange slipping, grinding,hesitating, farting sound as well.  :-\

I'll pull it manana and find out for sure.

Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa


Fartka

I've read this post three times.  What am I missing?  What actually happened to prompt this post? Just the sound it is making?  Also, it has been what- six months since you installed the turbos.  Did this just start or has it been making the noise all along?
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board) Bevel Drive Issue?
Post by: VirginiaJim on August 27, 2011, 07:59:17 AM
Does the C14 clutch have much in common with the ZX-14 clutch, parts-wise?  I was just wondering if there's an easy aftermarket route that could be taken to beef up the C14 clutch.

I imagine you could check the part numbers and see if they match between the bikes.
Title: Re: Turbo (continued from old board) Bevel Drive Issue?
Post by: Fretka on August 27, 2011, 01:14:18 PM
No, the ZX-14 and C-14 use entirely different clutches.

Just the addition of ZX-14 clutch springs will allow the clutch to handle around 230 hp.


For some background on this thread:  About a year ago I noticed a change in the sound of the transmission as I would accelerate from a stop. Very slowly this sound got a little louder and on occasion a clunk could be felt as well. Thinking I had a bearing going south, I pulled apart the driveline and could not find anything amiss. The bevel drive assy. was my first guess but again all looked fine. (You must remember that I had upped the HP substantially and I was understandably a bit nervous about what that might do to the driveline).

As you can see from my post above, this noise is almost certainly due to having one clutch plate rotated one spline from the others.

I have yet to ride it so all this may be speculation but I'm pretty confident that this clutch plate installed in the stock, correct location will fix what could have been (sounded) catastrophic.

Fretka