Hi, I'm new on the forum. I'm 25 years old, and living in france. I'm the happy owner of a 2003 xb9r... bike is 25500klm. So i have a problem on my engine and no one in france is able to help me solving it...too bad. So i was wondering if the americans could help me... since buell is coming from your country, may be you will know a bit more than the french do. So here is the trouble : I was ridding quite fast for a while, and then coming back to civilisation, and the traffic jam, i just slow down, and hear a whistle on the engine. So the higher the rpm goes, the more we can hear the whistle... I first thought that it might be the oil pump sprocket drive , so i checked, and it was quite used. I changed it, and then whistle is still there... So if anyone has an idea, it would be great... I've been to some HD dealers, only to ask for information, they checked the bike, and no one was able to say from which part it might come... It sounds quite bad to me, it's like a turbine sound... thanks for helping me ! regards
With the engine running at idle... Squirt some carburetor cleaner, brake cleaner, almost any cleaner...up where the intake goes into the heads. From both sides if possible.
If the engine speeds up, your intake seals are leaking. Time for a change.
I just noticed the same thing happening. It's not until the bike is good and warm. Still happens when in neutral. The first time I noticed was on an off-ramp. Almost sounded like a distant siren of a 5-0, then I remember reading this thread. My filter is nice and clean. Tomorrow I will take the airbox off and see if I can pinpoint the whistle.
hi all, thanks a lot for your answers ! So the whistle is heard anytime, even when in neutral : the more i give gas, the more we hear it. I don't think it can be the air filter, cause i clean it quite ofenly (each 2 or 3 months, according to the millage done)... Not the cooling fan ... I have my buell for almost 4 years now, i know how the fan sounds...it's not that kind of sound. Sound is comming from the engine. It doesn't sounds like a fuel pump noise. The whistle is the same full tank or empty. Mike, it's a good idea, maybe i should try this...Checking the intake seals. gonna try tomorrow, and let you know... again thanks a lot to all for answering me !
Just a suggestion: Have you checked your primary chain tension? It sounds like yours may be a tad bit too tight, causing a whine/whistle that would change and increase with RPMs.
Julian, you may have a cylinder head gasket leak. I had a whistle that sounded like a train whistle when my gasket blew! Determine which cylinder it is coming from and while it is still cold you can sometimes feel the air being blown out if you feel your hand around the cylinders. Cylinder head gasket is just below the exhaust ports on the cylinders.
Odessa, my whistle was coming from the primary. It was just a little too snug. About 3/4 turn looser did the trick. I'm guessing that when I checked the primary chain last time I was "forcing" too much on the chain movement. When measure the play, make sure it is "free play".