how noisy is the belt drive on your st 1100

[Frankly]

Purchased this bike recently have driven 400 k or so , previous owner replaced timing belt himself , when i asked how long ago , he said 10 kilometers . It seems to sound like there is some issue with the belt drive .wasnt there before, i think . engine sounds have me worried seems like the belt drive is making noise I think he may have neglected to inspect or replace the idler or tensioner. Im sure that the machine would typically make some mechanical noises when running ,have heard another , but from a distance . do other members bike make an obvious sound from this drive system ,(i know , a difficult question to answer ) I have no other bikes nearby for comparison would like some insight before I pull all the stuff off the bike to physically check Thanks all

 

[red one]

Normally a belt driven cam shaft engine is quieter than a chain driven one. Exceptions would be if a pulley or water pump is on its last leg. Most ST's have a whine sound which is perfectly normal. If your noise is abnormal you might have to remove covers and do an inspection. But i can tell you an old ST makes a lot of diffrent moans and groans but still run good. Also look for your heat shields on your exhaust manifolds to be loose...they can cause a rattling noise.

 

[Frankly]

thanks for your reply maybe im worrying about nothing it does seem noisy its a non clearance engine and bad news if im wrong. not a rattle

 

[John OoSTerhuis]

Can you post a short video or sound file of what you’re concerned about?

John

 

[kiltman]

Where are you located in Ontario? we can compare noises? what year is your bike?

 

[dwalby]

when my water pump bearings went out there was a very noticeable squealing coming from the front of the bike that you could hear while seated on the bike. If your water pump/tensioner/idler bearings were going bad I suspect you'd probably know the sound you were hearing wasn't normal.

agree with John's recommendation to post some audio, depending on the audio quality someone may be able help answer your question. Otherwise, all I can say to your question is I don't think the engine makes any obvious sounds attributed to the timing belt and cam drive, other than maybe a low level whirring from the cam gears.

 

[Frankly]

I am beginning to think my concerns are unfounded , previous bike was an 86 vt1100 ,before that, air cooled , I took it for a ride yesterday and this morning and had a couple of occasions of enthusiastic riding, so if anything was loose or improperly installed , It probably would have came off at 6 or 7 thousand rpm . Im thinking it normal sounds . Dont want this machine to break, its the best bike of all i have owned , thanks to all for your input

 

[Frankly]

Where are you located in Ontario? we can compare noises? what year is your bike?

Where are you located in Ontario? we can compare noises? what year is your bike?

i am in Midland its an 02 Thanks !

 

[kiltman]

i am in Midland its an 02 Thanks !

Nice part of the country, I head up through there a lot.

 

[GGely]

I get up there too, from Oshawa, from time to time.

We can try to meet up at some point if that helps. Or somewhere central to the two points.

 

[Upt' North]

Purchased this bike recently have driven 400 k or so , previous owner replaced timing belt himself , when i asked how long ago , he said 10 kilometers . It seems to sound like there is some issue with the belt drive .wasnt there before, i think . engine sounds have me worried seems like the belt drive is making noise I think he may have neglected to inspect or replace the idler or tensioner. Im sure that the machine would typically make some mechanical noises when running ,have heard another , but from a distance . do other members bike make an obvious sound from this drive system ,(i know , a difficult question to answer ) I have no other bikes nearby for comparison would like some insight before I pull all the stuff off the bike to physically check Thanks all

A noisy 11, that's Frankly ridiculous.
Mines quieter than a church mouse, well except for the normal whining and the PITA heat shields.
I'd take Kiltman or Ggely up on their offers, it's an excuse for a ride and a chin wag with a STOC'er.
Upt'North.

 

[ReSTored]

There should be no discernable noise from the timing belt if everything in that area is running properly.

One question 1100 owners have for themselves when changing a timing belt, especially on a bike at least 18 years old, is whether to change out the water pump when everything is open. Assuming the water pump was not changed out when the belt was done, and very few owners do this as pumps are not cheap, you might be hearing a water pump bearing going bad. Does the noise change in volume or frequency with engine speed?

Connecting up with another ST owner to would be good to see/hear what another ST sounds like. That said, other than concluding a noise is not normal I'm not certain you could diagnose a bad bearing without tearing things down, but I'm no mechanic. A seized bearing will probably result in the timing belt being damaged and, as the 1100 is an interference engine, you'll end up with bent valves.

 

[Roger]

Plenty of ST1100's on YouTube to listen to.........

 

[John OoSTerhuis]

Plenty of ST1100's on YouTube to listen to.........

+1 A YT search should get you a number of good hits, Frank. Let us know what you think after a comparo. Nothing better than a side-by-side meet-up with fellow STriders though! JAT - do you have one of those mechanic’s stethoscope?

Regards, John

 

[wjbertrand]

What you may be hearing is the normal whine of camshaft drive gears. Each head has a pair of geared cams driven by a third internal gear that is in turn driven by the timing belt via an external pulley. 6 gears all located high up and poking out the sides of the faring. Honda uses straight cut gears as opposed to quieter helical cut gears. I can't imagine actually hearing the belt itself. Whine is normal, loud rattling or squealing noises would be cause for concern.

 

[red one]

Sometimes a side by side comparison can confuse you. I occasionally ride with a great member that i met here on the forum. His bike has only 21K miles and is quieter than my 74K ST1100. Having been in the repair business i know which sounds need attention and those that don't. I use to tell the operators a loud squeel or a sound like a machine gun shut your copy machine off immediately. A copy machine that has 400,000 prints will be noiser than a unit with only a few thousand prints. I use to call these funny noises "wear noise". Now that noise could be greatly reduced if one wanted to spend the money and take the machine apart and grease and lubricate every bearing and assembly, replace all the plastic gears whose teeth are getting thin and replace all the rollers. But by that time the cost would exceed the price of a new one.

 

[Jim Van]

As mentioned above, the straight cut gears that actually drive the camshafts have a distinctive whine. The timing belt actually drives an intermediate "stub" shaft. This is why the ST1100 sounds so cool compared to a ST`1300.

 

[jfheath]

Are you 100% sure that the noise is from the timing belt ? Or is that an assumption because it was changed very recently.

Check the exhaust heat shields. When cracked, or if a bolt is missing, it sounds like something is falling apart inside that front casing. .
A thorough inspection with fairing off is best, but reaching up and giving the edges of the shield a quick twang may reveal if that is the issue.

 

[wjbertrand]

If you aren't familiar with the ST1100 the gear driven cams in each head make a pronounced whining/whirring noise which is completely normal. Kinda sounds like Jetson's flying car! The belt itself is silent.

 

[ST1100Y]

... the ST1100 the gear driven cams in each head make a pronounced whining/whirring noise which is completely normal ...

Also depending on the mileage...
My '00 ST1100 with something over 100,000km on the clock sounds as described...
The reduction gears on my '94 ST1100 with almost 200,000km on the clock generate a bit of a "milling" noise, as the springs in the cam pulleys have lost tension...