Brand New GG 300 Sounds Like It's Going to Self Destruct

[2whlrcr]

New 2010 with maybe 10 minutes on it. Initially I did one heat cycle. Ran it for about 5 minutes, letting it warm up and gingerly blipping the throttle. Let it cool down overnight.

Tonight I am going to just ride easily up and down the block. Starts first kick, I let it warm up for a minute or two and take off. Easy riding, no more than a quarter throttle for a couple of minutes and then it starts making a HORRIBLE SQUEALING METALLIC GRINDING NOISE. I shut it off. Sounds like it's coming from the right side.

I start the bike again and it sounds fine. I start riding back to the house and within a minute or so the noise reappears. This time I feel the clutch cover, doesn't seem to vibrate, but I notice there is a bunch of vibration coming from the kickstarter. This took about ten seconds at idle, I shut it off and push it home.

No time tonight to pull the clutch cover. Any thoughts? Please don't make me wish I should have bought another KTM or Husky, like I've had in the past.

 

[gasgasman]

Did you check the oil level?
May have been shipped dry.

 

[HuskyDude]

Wow...that doesn't sound good...no pun intended.
How far away is your dealer?
He really needs to see your bike before running it any more. Maybe phone him and ask about warranty. I mean as far as you taking off the clutch cover or anything.
Please keep us informed I do feel for you man. Good luck hope it turns out to be minor.

 

[Kurdt]

As stated above, you do have to dump what little oil comes in the transmission and refill it with 900ml. Or if you have filled it with the wrong oil, your clutch will slip and squeal and burn.

 

[nambo-trev]

my nambo 300 squeals a little under heavy clutch abuse in second but i can make my buddies 250 six days make the same noise under heavy abuse. as stated check the oil cause it doesnt come loaded. i switched to amsoil from motul as my dealer and friends say gassers like this oil alot better.

 

[2whlrcr]

Did you check the oil level?
May have been shipped dry.

Yes it was shipped dry. I put oil in the trans and gas, before I started it. Manual stated 10w-30, but I used 10w-40 because that's what I had in the shop. And I have used this same oil in all my various two strokes and never had an issue. Plus this noise sounds baaaaad and I wasn't even close to abusing anything, just trying to do the initial break-in.

 

[blitz11]

Another new owner had his clutch screws back out, and it toasted his clutch cover. Search "clutch + screws" or the poster, onegreyghost to find his experience.

It could be a trend.

 

[moto9]

If it's as bad as you describe...it's got to come apart for inspection.
First thing to check would be the clutch, they do squeal under a heavy load but in your case somethings not right.
For sure....take it back to the dealer!!!

 

[swazi_matt]

I had the same, my bike was delivered to me in the box, and there is only about 150ml oil in the g box. I did about 10km like this I have since learnt to not use the oil window, i think the oil just sits there even when empty!!

bike seems to be running fine, seems like there was little damage done, luckily i was just running it in so was a v gentle ride

 

[Keg]

I am really surprised by bikes supplied in a crate. It is my undersanding that all bikes, regardless of brand in Australia, are required to be set up by the dealer for this very reason. They ensure the bike is assembled, check & tested so in turn a warranty can be provided.

It also lets a dealer set up the bike for the customer the way they want it.

 

[2whlrcr]

Update...

The bike has miraculously cured itself.

Took the clutch cover off to see if the basket bolts were backing out. Looked fine and since I lost some oil, I changed it again with a different oil. The oil I drain out looked fine, no shavings.

I wasn't feeling ambitious enough to pull the side case and inspect the kickstarter mechanism, which I was suspecting.

So I fire the bike up and start riding up and down my street . I rode it for at least 5 minutes and no noise? In the next couple of days, I hope to ride it for real and see how it goes.

 

[Brian]

I wonder if something (loctite, grease...who knows) got on the clutch plates during assembly and now has come off. That is the only explanation I could think of if nothing mechanically changed.

 

[swazi_matt]

I am really surprised by bikes supplied in a crate. It is my undersanding that all bikes, regardless of brand in Australia, are required to be set up by the dealer for this very reason. They ensure the bike is assembled, check & tested so in turn a warranty can be provided.

It also lets a dealer set up the bike for the customer the way they want it.

I had mine shipped to Swaziland from the South African importer, that is why it was in the crate, they did also include a litre of GRO oil, but as it looked like there was oil using the oil level window i did not bother changing it

 

[2whlrcr]

Rode the bike tonight for about a half hour. No noise. The bike cured itself? I talked to the distributor tonight and he had conversations with GoFasters about it. It might have been a burr on a kickstart gear that was causing it too hang up? Not sure, but the bike seems to run fine and I'm not going to worry about it and just ride the bike.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[gasgasman]

Was the noise a "ratcheting" sound like when you engage the kick starter with the engine running?
If so, that would narrow it down to kick starter issues.

 

[2whlrcr]

Was the noise a "ratcheting" sound like when you engage the kick starter with the engine running?
If so, that would narrow it down to kick starter issues.

Not really, but the kickstarter was vibrating severely and sound was coming from that general area.

 

[GMP]

Back in the old days (pre '02) the bikes used close fiitting plain bearings in the transmission between the gears and shafts. Sometimes when the bikes were new and breaking in, you would hear this type of nasty squealing noise for brief periods of time. My '00 did it and I have heard others do it at events. It was actually a partial seizure until whatever caused the friction was released, the trans never locked up and operated fine. When you eventually tore the lower end down, you could see evidence of this on the parts, although the bike ran perfect for a couple years after the incident. Since then, the design has been changed to incorporate needle bearings in these areas. I think the remaining plain bearing is in the idler gear for the kickstarter, which is common for all bikes. Perhaps this was binding for some reason, and might make sense considering the visual clue of the kickstarter vibrating. If it were mine I'd pull the side cover and have a look.

Did you change the oil, and did it come out with any debri? Drain plug magnet relatvely clean?

 

[wence]

I have just pulled mine down again as it got a little low on oil due to a clutch cover gasket leak and I had a very similar sound,(hence , the pull down).
I found absolutely nothing wrong or burnt,(evidence of too much heat),at all but did notice that the end of the kickstart spring,( the bit that locates in and goes past the nylon ring underneath),was sheared off and gone. Also , the nylon bush was chewed up a little.
The sound this did for me was a screeching, sqealing sort of a sound almost like a very loud brake pad scrape, but coming from the motor.
This may not help but the noise and location is similar.
Cheers Mark

 

[wence]

By the way, I fixed the leak out on the track and refilled the bike with the 350mm of engine oil I had at the fuel dump.I was racing at the time and the noise occurred as I was entering the fuel dump.
I putted around the fuel dump a bit....no noise , so finished the lap I was on and then for safety sake pulled the pin on the race.
The bike rode as good as ever after refilling the oil.
Cheers Mark

 

[2whlrcr]

The noise you described sounds similar and yes I think it might have been the kickstart idler gear. I did drain the oil and no evidence of metal.