Triumph engine noise
Discussion
This is a genuine question, I'm not trying to wind anyone up or start a fight (although I'm not anticipating much success with that
)
Why do all the Triumph triples (except perhaps the big 2.3 thing) make that awful screeching whining noise? What is about them that causes this? I only ask because, whilst there are some nice-looking bikes in their range, my mechanically-sympathetic brain just couldn't live with that noise. It's really distinctive (some might think that good?) and you don't seem to get it from any other marques.
) Why do all the Triumph triples (except perhaps the big 2.3 thing) make that awful screeching whining noise? What is about them that causes this? I only ask because, whilst there are some nice-looking bikes in their range, my mechanically-sympathetic brain just couldn't live with that noise. It's really distinctive (some might think that good?) and you don't seem to get it from any other marques.
It's apparently the split gear that drives a balancer shaft, or an induction noise according to who you listen to. It always sounded more like the whine of a straight cut gear than an air noise, to me. I quite like it, but then I ride a Triumph Triple so I would say that!
It's better than the silly, sqeaky noise the fuel pump makes as it starts up.
It's better than the silly, sqeaky noise the fuel pump makes as it starts up.
neelyp said:
It's a mechanical noise and it does get a bit annoying.
It's a pity, the 675 is a great engine otherwise.
I think it's quite a characterful noise. Admittedly mine was a track bike so I only had to live with it for 20 minutes at a time but I liked the way it whined as the revs climbed. Very straight cut box kinda thing.It's a pity, the 675 is a great engine otherwise.
Baryonyx said:
It's apparently the split gear that drives a balancer shaft, or an induction noise according to who you listen to. It always sounded more like the whine of a straight cut gear than an air noise, to me. I quite like it, but then I ride a Triumph Triple so I would say that!
It's better than the silly, sqeaky noise the fuel pump makes as it starts up.
This - it's a slight whistle, but far less than the gear driven cams on Honda V4s. My understanding is it's gear driven balancer. I'd rather it wasn't there like the MT09, but you honestly don't hear it from on board with a decent pipe.It's better than the silly, sqeaky noise the fuel pump makes as it starts up.
In fact, Triples are best appreciated from on-board aurally, as opposed to Ducatis that sound ace on board, but even better from the road side.
3DP said:
Baryonyx said:
It's apparently the split gear that drives a balancer shaft, or an induction noise according to who you listen to. It always sounded more like the whine of a straight cut gear than an air noise, to me. I quite like it, but then I ride a Triumph Triple so I would say that!
It's better than the silly, sqeaky noise the fuel pump makes as it starts up.
This - it's a slight whistle, but far less than the gear driven cams on Honda V4s. My understanding is it's gear driven balancer. I'd rather it wasn't there like the MT09, but you honestly don't hear it from on board with a decent pipe.It's better than the silly, sqeaky noise the fuel pump makes as it starts up.
In fact, Triples are best appreciated from on-board aurally, as opposed to Ducatis that sound ace on board, but even better from the road side.
sjtscott said:
3DP said:
Baryonyx said:
It's apparently the split gear that drives a balancer shaft, or an induction noise according to who you listen to. It always sounded more like the whine of a straight cut gear than an air noise, to me. I quite like it, but then I ride a Triumph Triple so I would say that!
It's better than the silly, sqeaky noise the fuel pump makes as it starts up.
This - it's a slight whistle, but far less than the gear driven cams on Honda V4s. My understanding is it's gear driven balancer. I'd rather it wasn't there like the MT09, but you honestly don't hear it from on board with a decent pipe.It's better than the silly, sqeaky noise the fuel pump makes as it starts up.
In fact, Triples are best appreciated from on-board aurally, as opposed to Ducatis that sound ace on board, but even better from the road side.
3DP said:
This - it's a slight whistle, but far less than the gear driven cams on Honda V4s.
You reckon? I have heard a fair few tooling around London and they always seem a bit more screechy than my old Viffer seemed. I reckon you get good ones and 'bad' ones - maybe the backlash on the gears is a bit tighter on some, more than others.It wouldn't put me off, I love the sound of the triple..
Not sure if this will work, you might have to click through to the video, but this is a quick clip of mine idling the other day. You can sort of hear the whistle of the engine mixed with the low burble of the exhaust. At low speeds it sounds a bit like straight cut gears, from the side at least - from the rear all you get is exhaust:
Untitled by Smithyithy, on Flickr
Untitled by Smithyithy, on FlickrHi there, maybe a little of topic, I hear a few other sound problems but I guess my solution can help a lot of Tiger 1200 owners who encounter a howling noise on their Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200. Mine is a XCA, 2016, I exchanged my 1500 Suzuki Intruder two cilinder, for this XCA 1200 three cylinder and after riding a few hundred kilometers, it struck me that their was a very irritating howling/screaming noise coming from the bike. I googled and viewed some videos. My conclusion, it had to be the skid plate, reflecting the sound from the engine right into my ears. I covered the inside of the skidplate with caravan tape, but the irritating noice was still there. A benefit from taping the skidplate was that 20% of the engine noise is absorbed, so for the first time I could hear the sound of the exhaust. A triumph dealer told me, the noise is coming from the tyres. The Metzeler Touran Next could go for another three thousand kilometers, but with a 10 day trip in the Alps ahead, I changed the tyres for new Pirelli Scorpion Trail tyres, which was for sure a good decision, wonderful tyres! But the irritating howl was still there. Grrrrrrrr. I removed the radiotor guard, I put caravan tape on the inside of the plastic sides, but it didnt work. When riding 80 kilometers/hour the noise was at a maximum and when I pulled the clutch, I heard the engine RPM go to neutral reducing some noise but 80% of the howl was still there. Last week I examined the enging block, finding that there is a little plastic cap between the exhaust pipes and the engine block . When I knocked on it with a small hammer, I heard the sound looking like to be in the audio spectrum of the howl. I putted some caravan tape on it, thus changing its mass and resonance frequency and tadaaaaaaa..... the irritating noice was almost 100% gone!! When I pull the clutch now at 80 km/hour, you only hear the tyres, some wind noise and the enginge at neutral. Riding will be fun again! Because I havent found this solution on the internet yet, you are the first to know how to eliminate the howling wolf from your Triumph, to let ithe Tiger back in again. Please respond if you encounter similar problems and if so, if changing the plastic cap one way or another helped you with this problem. Best regards! 
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