LOUD sound

[Benny]

First of all, this is my first time posting here, but I've been lurking a little recently. I picked up a 2014 PCX 125 about a month ago, with I think around 9400 miles odd on the clock. It's now on 11300 odd and over the last few days, has developed a really noticeably loud noise around the rear, left side. Now, I know little about motorbike technicalities but had read over the last days that it could be the clutch bearings. I had a mechanic take a quick look today to which he told me that the bearings felt smooth, and that the belt looked good. However, I can't help but worry a little, because the noise is very audible, enough for pedestrians to look over to me as it is sometimes intermittent, other times consistent. I hear it mostly when I release the throttle, however sometimes hear it through acceleration. I've managed to take a video for you guys to hear.



What do you guys think it could be? I use the bike a hell of a lot, as I am using it for deliveries; about 7-8 hours a day. I love the bike and am pretty concerned as I've not had it long. Any advice would be really appreciated.

[Benny]

I've also noticed that there is a fair bit of oil soaked around the final drive fill port bolt...

[alx123]

That's a weird sound. Did you and the mechanic tried to listen to it when you opened the variator side by running the engine on center stand?

That way, Should be easy to point out where its coming from.

[easyrider]

Replace bearings..

[Mel46]

Put the bike on its centerstand and, with the engine off, roll the rear wheel backwards. If it growls...or if it is bad enough it may even give additional sounds, then it is bad. The clutch bearing is not the wheel bearing. Different beast.

Look at items #18 and #19 on this diagram. Those are the ones that go bad.

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda ... riven-face

In the USA there is no 2014 model, and in other countries the 2014 model was an "in between". Honda totally redesigned the PCX in 2015/2016. Some of the 2014 models had no changes from the previous version, while some of them had LED lights and a few other changes.

I can tell that you are not in the United States so please go back to your profile and add your general location so that we can be a be help to you. Thanks.

[Benny]

Thanks for the replies! I am in the UK, btw.

I actually had the bike checked yesterday; the mechanic said that the clutch bearing felt smooth, so simply applied some grease. When those bearings are on their way out, do they tend to feel rough if you run your finger inside or is it only noticeable when they are rotated on the bike?

I also spoke to a Honda dealer today and they seemed to think that it could possibly be the belt rubbing against something, however yesterday the mechanic from the other place said the belt looks good... this leads me to believe that it could only really be the bearings.

If I spin the wheel while it's on the center stand, it makes a little noise but not like in the video. Although I am guessing the bearings would make a higher frequency sound while under load, like when I ride it. I am at a bit of a loss, though. Bike rides fine, no apparent loss of power, did 6 hours on it today no problems, just plenty of noise.

Many thanks,
Benny

[Benny]

That's a weird sound. Did you and the mechanic tried to listen to it when you opened the variator side by running the engine on center stand?

That way, Should be easy to point out where its coming from.

It only makes the noise while I am riding it; doesn't happen while on the stand.

[Benny]

Just realised I never posted back about what happened with this, so I'll just give a quick update incase anyone runs into the same issue in future. The problem was the transmission; a final drive bearing was seizing up in the transmission until it eventually blew out while slowly accelerating down a hill. The rear wheel locked up due to the bits of bearings stuck in between the cogs but luckily I wasn't going fast at all. Amazed that two garages (official Honda dealer being one) missed this, could have been lethal.

I did the repair myself, by replacing the final drive shaft, which had bent slightly due to the force of locking up, the two main bearings (there are six, four small and two slightly bigger for the final drive shaft), the gasket and the oil. Cost me about 50 quid in parts plus a few tools of eBay, rather than the 700-800 the garages were asking. Have done 10k on it since, no issues. So yeah, definitely consider that it may be the final drive bearings if you encounter a similar whining sound like in the vid, as it may be mistaken for the clutch bearings - and you definitely don't want the transmission bearings seizing up! Cheers

[iceman]

Wow - always impressed by peoples skills dealing with such issues. My skills cater for the variator, clutch and pads - would never consider taking the bike and engine apart!

[Mel46]

Thank you for updating us. It is good to know. I will note this for future questions that are posted here. It is definitely something worth noting, though I must say that I don't recall anyone else having a final drive problem on this forum. Thank you again.

[springer1]

Thank you for the update, will be very helpful to some forum members !

[Conelite]

Glad to hear it was just a bearing. I always recommend that when you have some kind of sound like that, remove the variator and see if the sound is engine dependent. If you cant hear it, then remove the clutch assembly and spin the wheel. This isolates the possibility down to the Gear sets in the rear trans case. If still nothing detected, then its a matter of installing the clutch assembly on the rear with no belt and spinning it to see if its the clutch assembly bearings. Honda Dealers typically will not troubleshoot, they just start replacing parts until they get it right. ha ha ah a

Glad to hear nobody was harmed.

[pcx888]

Its clutch bearings.

[Conelite]

Was it the #12 bearing that went bad?

Screen Shot 2021-02-18 at 8.13.13 AM.png (240.98 KiB) Viewed 1417 times