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[prbpci0]

Does anyone have a video or instructions on removing the top and side plastic on a 2022 SR/S?  I'm trying to track down a buzzing/rattling that happens right about 850rpm.  It's definitely coming from somewhere near the top of the battery.  I've got a center stand installed, so it's pretty easy to reproduce the issue.  While riding, this buzzing/rattling sound happens on both acceleration and deceleration at that very same RPM, and it's driving me crazy.  Thanks for any tips or suggestions.

[zeronimbus]

hello, disassembling the fairings is not complicated, but be careful to identify the screws which are not all identical.
first check if it is not coming from the trunk lid, for me, it rattled, I put a piece of rubber hose, to remedy the problem.
when you press on it, it goes down and clicks, and there is no adjustment of the lock.

[prbpci0]

Got it.  I'll give that a try first and let you know.  Thanks!

[prbpci0]

So it wasn't the trunk lid, but the 'buzzing' is coming from *right* below the bottom panel of the trunk at 850rpm.

I found this powerpoint showing how to take the plastic off: 

I'll disassemble soon and report back.

[lunarx]

Nice! You have a 22 
Is this a Day-1 issue?
You probably don’t have to many miles on it yet?

Seems odd, for the buzz to be RPM related, on an Electric Bike.
If you hear it, when on your Center Stand, my guess is its Belt or Rear Wheel/Brakes related.
The 22, that I saw, at a dealer, had a super tight belt (almost no deflection).
Not sure if 22’s are shipping that way now.

Maybey play with Belt Alignment (and/or Tension).
Also, if you apply the rear brake does it make any difference?

FYI - I’ve had all plastics off my 21 and that power-point doesn't reflect how much fun it is, putting the Tank Plastics back on.
Things fit very tight and there are a lot of cables to stuff back in, under the “tank”.

Sure something could be loose under there, but I find an RPM related resonance to be odd.

[prbpci0]

> Is this a Day-1 issue?

Yes.

> You probably don’t have to many miles on it yet?

Right, maybe 500 miles.

> Seems odd, for the buzz to be RPM related, on an Electric Bike.
> If you hear it, when on your Center Stand, my guess is its Belt or Rear Wheel/Brakes related.

Well, that makes a lot of sense...

> The 22, that I saw, at a dealer, had a super tight belt (almost no deflection).
> Not sure if 22’s are shipping that way now.

Mine was that way as well.  I've been playing around a lot to get it "right" (a little more relaxed, centered perfectly on the rear sprocket).

> Maybey play with Belt Alignment (and/or Tension).

Right, I tried that, both looser and tighter.

> Also, if you apply the rear brake does it make any difference?

No, but see below...

> FYI - I’ve had all plastics off my 21 and that power-point doesn't reflect how much fun it is, putting the Tank Plastics back on.
> Things fit very tight and there are a lot of cables to stuff back in, under the “tank”.

Right, that main piece took a lot of work to get back on.

> Sure something could be loose under there, but I find an RPM related resonance to be odd.

I think you're right.

-----------

I followed the video above, got all of the plastic off, got the "trunk" off, and the noise was coming from below all of that, likely either inside of one of the two chargers, or between the chargers and the battery (again at 850 RPMs).  It looked like a huge task to keep going (to disconnect all the wiring and remove the chargers) so I gave up at that point.

So now that I read what you said above, I think that's exactly it.  When I spin the rear wheel with the bike on the stand, the rear brake drags just a little bit for about 1/10th of the rotation.  I just chalked that up to the brake pads being brand new and maybe not sitting quite right, thinking it'll go away with time.  But it makes perfect sense that this would cause a vibration through the rest of the bike, and resonate at one particular frequency, 850 RPM in this case.

Soooo, what do I do about this?  Is there an adjustment I can make to loosen the rear brake so it doesn't drag?  Is this a defective, warped rotor that needs to be replaced?

Thanks for your response, and any other suggestions!

[Skidz]

To eliminate the rear brake, you could push the brake cylinder plungers back in to the housing so the brake pads have ample clearance. Then try the 850rpm on the center stand, if it's the brake pads the sound should be gone. On a new set of brakes this could be done by hand, might just be a bit fiddly to get to but seeing you placed the fairings you should be familiar with fiddling by now

[lunarx]

.....So now that I read what you said above, I think that's exactly it.  When I spin the rear wheel with the bike on the stand, the rear brake drags just a little bit for about 1/10th of the rotation.  I just chalked that up to the brake pads being brand new and maybe not sitting quite right, thinking it'll go away with time.  But it makes perfect sense that this would cause a vibration through the rest of the bike, and resonate at one particular frequency, 850 RPM in this case.

Soooo, what do I do about this? 
Is there an adjustment I can make to loosen the rear brake so it doesn't drag? 
Is this a defective, warped rotor that needs to be replaced?......

I have also had that pulsing Brake Drag, since Day-1.
I assumed it was the Front Brake.
Perhaps I should look into it and see if it's actually the rear.

I do want to replace my rear pads (probably w/ Organic), because my Rear Brake started to Squeal, when using it for final stopping.

I think Skidz suggestion to push the Rear Pads in and see if it changes that resonance, when on center-stand, is a great idea.
(You'd just have to resist using the rear brake to stop the wheel.)
A dial caliper could reveal run-out issues also.

I wouldn't be surprised, if the rear rotor and/or wheel have some machining issues.
Maybe some fine shims could true it up.

[prbpci0]

I thought maybe the back wheel was way out of balance, causing the vibrations (ultimately causing the buzzing up near the chargers), so I took the wheel off of the bike and tried to check the balance by resting the axle on two jack stands.  It might be very slightly out of balance, but not a lot.  'Not sure how accurate that method is.  While the wheel was off I pushed the disk brake caliper all the way in.  'Got everything back together without much trouble, no brake pad drag, and I *still* get the vibration at about 900 rpms.  Argh.  So it's not the brake drag that's causing this, and unless a small balance issue is causing it, it's not that either.  Now that I'm onto the source of the buzzing, I'm sure it's the rear end.  On the center stand at 3-4000 rpm (20-30 mph) there's clearly something causing vibration through the whole bike.

So, I could try another couple of things:
  -  Get a real wheel-balancer rig (maybe $50 on Amazon) and check the balance that way.
  -  Take the wheel into a local shop and have them check.
  -  Try running the motor without the belt attached and see if there's any vibration there.
  -  Maybe give up and drop the bike back at the dealer and have them figure this out.

Is it OK to do #3 above?  Run the motor without the wheel attached?  I guess I'm a little worried the computer will freak out and throw a handful of errors that I can't recover from.

Thanks again for all the feedback.

[LeverCommaJohn]

Were you ever able to identify the cause? I have a 22 SR/S with the exact same issue. I removed the rear brake pads completely and tried to reproduce the problem on the center stand, and could not. But, I wasn't willing to ride it at this point. I'm really thinking it's an imbalance in the wheel, or a slightly warped rotor. But cause for vibration or not, I would really love to dampen whatever is rattling in the first place.

[electrictwowheeler]

Could you possibly just be hearing the normal buzzing of the drive belt caused by resonate vibrations at certain low speeds? Did your bike make this vibration since new? It happens at low speeds under 25 mph. When I accelerate there are two speeds that always cause this sound. If I speed up a little or slow down a little the sound goes away and above 25 mph there is just an even whine from the belt. This is perfectly normal and there is nothing you can do about it. Wheel balance usually causes a shaking and usually happens around 55 mph but can happen at other speeds. Do your handle bars shake? If you disconnect the belt the motor is almost silent and has no vibration. Ear plugs and a full face helmet are all you can do. Adjusting the belt to the lower end of tension might help but the belt will still make noise. Good luck.

[LeverCommaJohn]

This bike has less than 250mi, but it was a dealer demo, picked up with 125mi so I can't say if it's been occurring since new. I do not believe this is simple belt noise, however. I am on the low end of belt tension, confirmed by both the gates app and the tool. There is a specific resonation that sets up at around 5-10 mph, presumably caused by a an imbalance in the rear wheel. As you said, with the belt removed, the bike is as silent as a church mouse. This frequency must also be the natural resonating frequency of the fairings or other accessories on the bike. I plan on removing and re-balancing the rear wheel tomorrow and also checking the runout on the rotor. This will hopefully confirm my suspicion.

[Richard230]

This bike has less than 250mi, but it was a dealer demo, picked up with 125mi so I can't say if it's been occurring since new. I do not believe this is simple belt noise, however. I am on the low end of belt tension, confirmed by both the gates app and the tool. There is a specific resonation that sets up at around 5-10 mph, presumably caused by a an imbalance in the rear wheel. As you said, with the belt removed, the bike is as silent as a church mouse. This frequency must also be the natural resonating frequency of the fairings or other accessories on the bike. I plan on removing and re-balancing the rear wheel tomorrow and also checking the runout on the rotor. This will hopefully confirm my suspicion.

When I picked up my 2018 Zero the belt was very tight. It would vibrate a bit, especially when leaving from a stop. After about 1K miles the vibration went away as the belt apparently broke-in. 

[LeverCommaJohn]

After having removed and reinstalled the fairing pieces for an unrelated project (reaching the sumitomo connector at the front of the bike), and having removed the wheel to check it's balance and rotor runout (both of which were fine), after re-assembly of everything, the bike is perfectly fine! I'm at the same belt tension as before, perhaps a smidge tighter. For whatever reason, she's as smooth as butter now. I don't recall there being any loose fasteners during disassembly, but whatever it was is gone now. Thank heavens.