[Dave E]

I just received my Cross Roads Thursday, and I am finding the Drive Train is noisy, with the howling and noise, except for five gear it is the quietest! I did not take one for a test drive and I missed the Victory Demo ride this year . Others having the same problem, or do I have a concern? Thanks

 

[kevinx]

Gears are straight cut, and make a bit of noise.The good news is that it will quite down a good bit over time.

 

[Sundog]

Engine/gear noise

Yep, that's par for the course. As KevinX said it will quiet down somewhat over time. I've got 6000km on my X Roads and it already seems a little quieter. Some of the guys on the forum use different oil and claim that makes a difference. I'm just using whatever the Vic guys put in it. By the way, are most folks changing their oil every 5000 km?

 

[TG3226]

Dave,
Welcome to Victory ownership. All the six speed trans. are noisy except 5th gear. I have a new Vision and thier all the same. I did talk with a guy who has had 2 victorys and put over 150,000 on them and he told me to put some Lucas Oil "Synthetic Oil Stabilizer" in and it would quite down. He said that he uses it in his two Victorys with no problems. I checked it out and Lucas oil does say that it is safe for wet clutch motorcycles at a 10% mix. I gave it a try and removed 16 oz. or the oil and replaced it with 16 oz of the Synthetic Oil Stabilizer and by gosh it works. I would say that it got rid of 40 to 50% of the trans noise. Also made trans shift easier. Have had others tell me that Amsoil synthetic oil will do the same thing. I figure if this guy has used it for 150,000 miles with no problems it must be ok.

 

[Dave E]

Thanks all for the replies, everyone is saying the say thing thumb up I am enjoying the beast, and not worrying about the noise anymore.

Safe riding all

 

[LThurston]

Drive train Noise

Drive TRAIN noise says it all. My Vic Cross Roads sounds like an old locomotive (except in 5th gear). I only have had it for 3 weeks and just have 350 miles on it. I didn't have a chance to test drive it before I bought it and have been disappointed by this aspect of the bike. I read several articles on the Cross Roads before I bought and none addressed the noise issue. For a bike so well-engineered, I was surprised by the transmission noise. On the plus side, I like the comfortable ride and good looks of the bike. I'm going to ask the local Victory dealer about the Lucas Synthetic Oil Stabalizer to make sure it won't void the warranty and, if not, will give that a try.

 

[diamondrmp]

The reason you didn't read anything about the drive train noise is because the people that test rides them or the owners know that the noise is a part of the type of drivetrain and motor.

 

[Sean Edmunds]

Install a louder exhaust and you won't notice it at all :ltr:

Seriously, I have had my XC since last Friday and have just over 600 miles on it. One thing I decided coming from my Vulcan 1600 is that 5 years of riding with a loud exhaust and a liquid cooled bike had made me forget all of the noises that I had heard before the exhaust change.

The other thing I would say is that this is a mechanical creation and as such you will hear noises. I guess the only bikes I know of that you wouldn't hear these things are probably the GoldWings and BMW Touring bikes. With their full wrap bodywork and automobile designs. Then you could complain like my buddy does about the air filter taking 4 hours to replace!!!!

Enjoy the ride and give it time.

 

[twsdtcain]

Then you could complain like my buddy does about the air filter taking 4 hours to replace!!!!

Naw, it took me about 25min to replace the filter.

 

[omarf4]

Dave,
Welcome to Victory ownership. All the six speed trans. are noisy except 5th gear. I have a new Vision and thier all the same. I did talk with a guy who has had 2 victorys and put over 150,000 on them and he told me to put some Lucas Oil "Synthetic Oil Stabilizer" in and it would quite down. He said that he uses it in his two Victorys with no problems. I checked it out and Lucas oil does say that it is safe for wet clutch motorcycles at a 10% mix. I gave it a try and removed 16 oz. or the oil and replaced it with 16 oz of the Synthetic Oil Stabilizer and by gosh it works. I would say that it got rid of 40 to 50% of the trans noise. Also made trans shift easier. Have had others tell me that Amsoil synthetic oil will do the same thing. I figure if this guy has used it for 150,000 miles with no problems it must be ok.

I tried this (not knowing why - as I am not a believer of oil additives.. or full synthetic marketing hype.) and swapped 16 oz of oil with 16 oz of Lucas syn oil stabilizer.. yes it was quieter, shifting was smoother when riding normally but for the first time in my 14 years of riding bikes, I experienced a clutch slip yesterday.. (a true revelation for those reading clutch slip horror stories, arguments against vic oil and oil-virgin-questions... there was light from the sky type revelations)...Anyway, was riding hard, shifting from first to second and getting the normal feedback of CLICK, but nothing... rpm shot to 4000 and gear slipped out of second back into nuetral.... I pulled over, turned the bike off and gave myself a high five for the proof... turned the bike back on, rode it like I stole it again and same thing happened....slipped out of second back to N...YES... DEBATE ENDS HERE!!!!!
Ran home.. drained the oil and put new vic (that oil kits was for a major trip coming up..) and went back to see if I could reproduce the slip problem... nothing.. yes, trans was churning like a train (pre-oil additive normal noise), but no slip....nadda.... I am now a believer of sticking with Vic oil...... with a warranty in your pocket and oil change at interval, I could care less how loud it sounds....

my 2 cents!cheers

 

[Dave E]

Gears are straight cut, and make a bit of noise.The good news is that it will quite down a good bit over time.

Kevinx, I have approx 2500Km on now and the gear noise has quite down some (maybe use to it). Great bike all around cheers

 

[Sean Edmunds]

Naw, it took me about 25min to replace the filter.

On a Wing? Impressive!!!

 

[The Wasp]

Engine and tranny noise

I picked my Xroads up in May and so far, I have put 2500 miles on her. It seems to me that the lifter noise has gotten louder especially after running the bike for a while. I have done 2 oil changes so far. I am hoping that the engine and tranny noise will die down eventually (please) because the bike handle well on turns and highway driving is so much better since I put the lower deflectors on. I also have an 2006 Honda VTX1800 which I rode yesterday and keep scrapeing the floorboards on turns. I haven't scraped the XR's yet and I know I lean alot harder on the Victory in turns. So when I don't want to hear the lifters, I take the Honda out but have to be a little more conservative riding. LOLthumb up

 

[LThurston]

Has anyone tried blending just one quart of Amsoil Synthetic to the Vic oil at an oil change to quite the drive train noise? According to Victory, their oil assists in removing heat from the engine better than other oils so I'm reluctant to switch completely to Amsoil. I'm wondering if a 4/1 blend of Vic and Amsoil would quiet things down any. I had the Stage 1 exhaust installed and that did make the noise less noticable, but it's still somewhat annoying.

 

[The Wasp]

Amsoil

I changed my oil before I went to Sturgis and have 1500 miles on the Amsoil. I think the lifters are a wee bit quieter but the tranny will always be noisy especially 6th gear. I solved that tranny problem by riding my bike in 5th gear up to 65-70 mph (3000 rpm tops) then shift into 6th gear. You really have to be moving so the 6th gear doesn't lug. The new 2011 tranny's , the 6th gear is cut different(heli) and the gear is moved closer to 5th for less slapping yeah that's a good word. The dealer said riding in 5th is not going to do harm to the bike. We are stuck with a noisy 6th gear and a tick tick tick. I want to go to a stage one exhaust. Did your performance improve and I guess it muffles some of the lifter noise?