Engine Vibration continues

EasTexRIII said:

WOW! Not to be disrespectful but it just amazes me how people now days just throw in the towel so easily.
Take it in and file a warranty. Go home & have some beers. Relax. This too shall pass

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Your not and I would have said the same thing! There is some other underlying issues for the decision and I should have stated that or not said anything. I love the bike, it is not a huge issue, just decided to reluctantly let it go.

TimR3 said:

Your not and I would have said the same thing! There is some other underlying issues for the decision and I should have stated that or not said anything. I love the bike, it is not a huge issue, just decided to reluctantly let it go.

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Sorry Tim. MY bad
Some things are none of others (my) business.
Your decision should be respected.
I truly hope all works out for you going forward.
Best wishes
Clint

Size Does Matter said:

Hi everyone

New Update re rocket 3 engine and clutch vibration

Left my bike at Team Moto and the Triumph Rep from Melbourne flew up. His name is cliff. As helpful as he was he did a bit of fast talking and told me that they would dismantle the bikes rear and replace the shaft, knuckle and drive shaft.

I questioned him about the crank and he could not give me an answer. I informed him that I was very disappointed that when the bike was pulled down to the extent that it was they didn't send the crank away for checking or balancing especially when I offered to pay for it. He adamantly stated that there was nothing wrong with the crank. However he wouldn't bet his house on it and we wouldn't have been having the discussion about the crank if it had of been checked. He continually reassured me that they were there to help resolve the problem or should I say, my issue.

They would not except that it was a possible manufacturing issue.

However I have spoken to guys who own R3's and there's is as smooth as silk.

Even after all their work on it a vibration was noticeable at 3500rpm in every gear.

Well that's the crank. I built enough engines to know. I also fail to accept that it is torsional vibration. This is their professional wash out. Torsional vibration does not disappear when slightly depressing the clutch. Torsional vibration is prevalent at various RPM's and the rider should not be capable of changing that.

I have traded the bike. I wasn't prepared to have it off the road and put up with trial and error and excuses.

New Rocket 3 arrives in August. Better be different than the last one.

Size does matter

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Did you ride another new Rocket ? the Rocket is smoother than the V TWINS but still has some vibration that most enjoy its not a GOLD WING geezer glider so you will have some vibes the vibes at 3500 is normal and not an issue for 99 percent of the owners so test another new bike for comparison

TimR3 said:

Wow reading all of this on the vibration, not sure if I feel better or worse now about my 2016 R3. One thing I love about the bike is its pull. Went on short trip last night, all was fine and then I feel a vibration in my seat and throughout bike. This was halfway through the trip so something happened right then. Stop to inspect & determined it was an internal engine issue. I have reved my bike sitting stills many times (Not hard) and I did that last night and it vibrated a lot and could feel it in the seat mostly. Heck I only have 1,300 miles on it. So I canceled the trip and turned around, did not want to be stuck on the road somewhere.

So now I am reading many possibilities; I know it is not the tires, it happens sitting still. Engine sounds solid at an idle, not a fuel or spark issue. Just feels like a weight came off something that helped in higher speeds. I would be surprised if it was the clutch, this was not gradual, it was good one mile marker and bad the next.

Bought it in Jan of this year from Florida, live in IL. I am sure the triumph dealer here will be reluctant to do warranty work even if it is a warranty issue, not sure how to find that out. Well, I just put dressers bars (front and back) windshield, viking saddlebags, backrest, cruise control and LED lighting. Now I am thinking of getting rid of it, it has lost its amazing pull.

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Ive noticed the modded and retuned Rockets are smoother than the stock bikes I removed the stock muffler system from my 09 Classic leaving the stock header and installed a SLIPON pipe and the bike is much smoother so the big heavy stock exhaust was creating the vibes

I posted a reply to this thread fairly early into it complaining about a vibration. The bike had 30k km's then and has over 40k on it now and I don't think that it has gotten any worse but is still slightly annoying. I have gotten into replacing the clutch (to handle more horsepower) and have checked everything fairly carefully and think that I have an explanation for it (the vibration). The first thing I did after removing the clutch plates, was to mount a dial indicator between the input shaft of the transmission and the outer clutch basket. There is about 20 thou movement between the two but what is interesting is that there is more movement down (15 thou) than there is up (5 thou). You would think that gravity would would pull the basket down and the opposite would be true. I then realized that the anti-judder spring "pushes" against the basket in an upward direction. So, if there was some imbalance in the clutch basket, it would produce an outward force proportional to the rpm. My theory is that around 2500 rpm this force plus the force of gravity overcomes the pressure of the anti-judder spring and now the basket moves down when the heavy part is down and then back up again as it rotates upward creating our vibration. As rpm increases, the centrifugal force from the imbalance is great enough to overcome the spring pressure no matter where the basket is rotationaly so this up and down movement stops and the vibration goes away. When you put some pressure on the clutch lever it pulls the basket forward causing it to run true. I'm not sure if I'm explaining this very well but in essence I'm saying that below 2500 rpm the anti-judder spring keeps the basket running true and above 2500 rpm the imbalance keeps it running true but at 2500 it is moving up and down. To further substantiate my theory, after removing the basket, it doesn't look like it has been balanced at all as there are no drill holes or weights that I can see. Also, take a close look at the anti-judder springs in the picture. There are some that are much thicker (ie heavier) than others.



I then mounted a shaft in a vise and placed the inner bushing on it and the basket on the bushing. It definitely has a heavy spot which turns to the bottom as you rotate it which means that the amount of imbalance must be fairly large. I'm surprised that there isn't more vibration just from the imbalance. Could this lack of balancing be intentional or an oversight? Not sure. And why does Triumph use 4? different springs.

i have said a few times that it was the clutch drum.
my guess would be 3 light 3 heavy springs if there is something different then maybe someone at the factory put a wrong spring in the wrong space.
my guess would be that if the drum was out of balance then touching the clutch lever would not stop the vibration. my guess is that the clutch drum goes off center (being out of balance making it worse) causing the vibration and touching the clutch lever lines it back up and makes the vibration go away.
of coarse this just my opinion and u will find several opinions on this site
and of coarse i reserve the right to change my opinion at any time

Remember though that the vibration seems to peak at around the same rpm for those that have it and the engine seems to be relatively smooth at the higher revs which you would think an imbalance would make it worse. I was just playing around with it again and a 5/16" nut taped to the outside of the basket seems to balance it out. The spot where I had the nut also corresponds to the spot that is machined out and the holes drilled so you can line gears up when assembling. The whole piece is quite interesting. I thought that the springs were just to eliminate backlash between the two gears, which it does, but it's main purpose is like a damper plate in a car transmission. This explains the different springs I think (reduces torsional harmonics)

very interesting
of coarse i am basing my theories on my 07 and i have not had it apart.
i bought it with 6000 miles on it and i noticed the vibration at 3000 rpm it has gotten a little worse at 40,000. the thing about it is at idle if i take out the free play in the clutch lever the motor gets smoother.
or even smother at 3000 or 4000 rpm.

motolink said:

I may be wrong but it seems all R3s have the condition to some degree, I would just like to know what it is and love to hear from a R3 owner who has successfully removed the vibration.
I can't wait to hear from size after he has taken delivery of his new one.

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IT seems to be the clutch cable adjustment ts critical youll notice if you pull the clutch in to take the free play out the vibration stops

My Roadster has 34000kms now, the vibration still continues, I think is a little worse, comes in at around 2200RPM, disappears at 2400RPM then comes back at 2700RPM on acceleration and decelerations. Can feel it through the handle bars and foot pegs, disappears when the clutch is very slightly pulled on.
My mate had a 2008 classic, it annoyed him so much he sold the bike, the local Triumph shop tried twice to fix it but could not. I rode two demo Roadsters before buying mine and both had the same condition.
I have reported it to Triumph Australia twice.
I know one thing, it’s so smooth when the clutch is pullled in slightly. It will be a great day when the solution is found.