My ’88 FXR 5 speed tranny has, over the last few years, developed a noticeable gear whine in 1st thru 4th gears; running in 5th gear is quiet. The whine is most apparent in 4th gear.

There are no other signs of problems – no clicking, grinding noises, no shifting issues.

Gear box is properly filled with 80W-90 gear lube.

Any ideas on where the problem might be?

 

When mine was doing that the only thing I could find was the main bearing was starting to go.

 

I thought about that main bearing, but the fact that it's quiet in 5th gear, which includes the main gear & bearing, makes me think otherwise. Like, maybe the countershaft bearing?

 

Mine was quiet in 5th gear too.

 

There is a reason for that too but it's complicated....when mine went it only whined at 58-63MPH in 5th...go figure.


It's always bad when a tranny whines, I slap mine and tell it to STFU or failing that, buy it flowers.....

 

Mrs Spanners looks less pissed off in this picture than she did in the last one..
The flowers must have worked.

 

Spanners, that was a disturbing response.

 

Actually that was rather tame by Spanners standards.

 

But disturbing

 

Not really.
It's just his Kiwi sense of humor.