THe more I ride this thing the more convinced I am that the whine I am hearing isn't normal. I realize that it's almost impossible to diagnose or describe a noise with text.
My 650 has a really annoying whine coming from what sounds like the belt cover. It does it at all times but gets louder when the machine is accelerating or decelerating. Decelerating I can attribute to the engine brake. The harder the climb the louder it is. It is almost louder than the exhaust while riding and when I am standing and watching someone else ride the whine is what I hear first as they approach.
Nyroc, I know you told me the gears are straight cut and it does indeed sound like this but how much noise is too much?
I've talked to the dealer and he isn't sure whether it's normal or not. He has only sold 10 so far and hasn't had any of them come back for any reason other than routine service so he hasn't really had a chance to evaluate their quirks. His yard is very small and you really can't ride far enough in a straight line to tell anything.
I just bought an Eiger auto for my wife and this thing is smooth as silk with absolutely no questionable noises!
Thanks

 

I do not feel that my whiney gears are very loud. They do not bug me. I am easily bugged. I can't sleep on a wrinkled sheet, let alone a pea under my matress.

But, since I cant hear your noise, I don't know if you are pickier than me, or if your gears are really loud.

I have not heard a quad make as much gear whine as the 650, only thing that comes close could be the hydraulic whine on the honda rubicon.

What a minute, my honda shadow had gear whine. I dunno. Some things whine.

 

<<
I have not heard a quad make as much gear whine as the 650, only thing that comes close could be the hydraulic whine on the honda rubicon. >>



So, you are telling me that the 650 makes more gear noise than any other quad out there?
That is somewhat comforting.
Thanks

 

The ATV reviewers commented on the 650 gear noise. I don't know if it makes more than any quad, but it is high on the list of noisy trannies.

Don't take gear noise wrong, it is just something that straight cut gears do. They also don't heat up oil as much, or waste as much energy in friction. I do not feel it will affect the 650's tranny durability or longevity.

I just guess that kawi did it to keep weight or size down. I feel that it was smart of them to do it. The drawback is noise.

They have done so many smart things to keep from wasting weight so it would not be 740lbs. I am grateful. The 650 seems to be able to take serious beatings, yet still be 604lbs.

It is way easier and cheaper and lighter to make a shaky 1 cylinder.
It is easier and cheaper to forget the weight and design it out of lower grade steel.

It took intelligence to make a durable, yet light weight two cylinder quad like the 650. No better quad out there.

 

Very well put NYROCK

 

I've had mine described as a whine, like from a semi-truck's turbocharger. I don't notice it much, but people riding behind me remark on it from time to time. I HOPE it is normal!

 

Wolley:

These scooters just like to whine. It took me a while to get used to it. As long as things aren't grinding and banging, don't spend a lot of time worrying about it. Ride and enjoy it. Also, how to you like the Eiger so far? I'm also thinking about picking one of those up for my wife. Good luck and happy roostin!

 

You folks are spot on! Spent all afternoon on the Eiger, came back swapped to the 650 and took the dogs out for run. After two hours on the Suzi the Prairie didn't seem loud at all. Imagine that! Not to say the Eiger is as loud as the Kaw but it did give me a reference point and the gear noise from the 650 suddenly seems like a non-issue.
Eiger/Prairie comparison: I'm still trying to juggle the differences mentally but first impression is that the Eiger is a great quad! Even though the weights are almost identical it is easier to toss around and actually feels slightly more nimble on the slow speed stuff than the Prairie. Higher speeds definantly favor the Prairie. THe Kawasaki's suspension is WAY better than the Suzi's! I LOVE the power of the V-twin. There's no replacement for displacement and the smoothness of the twin is just icing on the cake. Without writing an actual review I'll just say this. The Kawasaki is a utterly fantastic quad and even though it cost almost 2K more than the Eiger I have absolutly no regrets about buying it. For 4600 dollars there is not a better 4X4 mid-class quad than the Eiger(the 360 Prairie was 5400)! Even though she hasn't ridden it yet I'm sure the boss is gonna love it too.

 

The noise you are hearing is normal as far as I know. I can hear it coming from mine too, but it has done this since day one so I am not concerned. My buddies say that when they are behind me they can hear it winding up like a turbo. They like it!!! They get to hear it a lot too cause they spend a lot of time behind me!!!! LOL!!!

 

I was suprised by the gear noise too. I tend to think of it as the engine being really quiet rather than the tranny being loud. You can even hear the little belt adjuster thing whirring over the engine noise. Glad you like the Eiger, it's the first machine I looked at seriously when I began the buying process. Glad to see Suzuki getting back into it.