Have a 2007 royal star venture bought new, excessive gear noise .took to dealer, changed clutch, prblem was worse, they changed rear end, was ok for 50 miles then started to lock up feeling and grind noise , the first oil change had excessive black oil at 600 miles, any suggestions?

Not an unusual problem, no recalls. Replace pads (and rotor, if necessary), but after brakes are bled, loosen the bolt between the rear caliper arm and the swing arm, have someone apply and hold rear brake, tighten bolt. The arm, which holds the caliper in line with the rotor, occasionally loosens and allows misalignment. Checking pad thickness on both sides of the disk regularly will reveal caliper problems if wear is not evenly distributed.

Unfortunately, you can get noise from the transmission, clutch basket, drive shaft, pinion gears or rear wheel on the Royal Star. No way to tell which you have so:

Barring a failure of the clutch basket, a change to a multi-grade synthetic oil THAT DOES NOT HAVE AN ENERGY-CONSERVING SEAL ON THE BOTTLE will quiet gear and clutch noise. Energy-conserving oils tend to make a wet clutch slip. Try Shell Rotella-T (T6) synthetic, available at Walmart for about $19.00 a gallon, I've got 111,000 on a Tour Deluxe with it, and it just keeps going...

The drive shaft on the Royal Star can also make noise if both ends are not properly lubricated; tourers have found that Honda Moly 60 paste on both ends at about 15,000 mile intervals will eliminate that aggravation.

Hypoid gears in the final drive can also be noisy. Short of having the drive disassembled and replacement shims installed, changing to a good synthetic 75W-140 lubricant will quiet or eliminate the whine.

Splines and pins in the final drive and rear wheel assembly can also cause noise. Remove the rear wheel, put a thin layer of Honda Moly 60 paste on the pins, dampers and in the drive spline, ditto with the mating spline on the final drive. I relubricate all of these every time I change rear tires, probably more often than necessary, but it's convenient to do when the wheel is off.

Unfortunately, you can get noise from the transmission, clutch basket, drive shaft, pinion gears or rear wheel on the Royal Star. No way to tell which you have so:

Barring a failure of the clutch basket, a change to a multi-grade synthetic oil THAT DOES NOT HAVE AN ENERGY-CONSERVING SEAL ON THE BOTTLE will quiet gear and clutch noise. Energy-conserving oils tend to make a wet clutch slip. Try Shell Rotella-T (T6) synthetic, available at Walmart for about $19.00 a gallon, I've got 111,000 on a Tour Deluxe with it, and it just keeps going...

The drive shaft on the Royal Star can also make noise if both ends are not properly lubricated; tourers have found that Honda Moly 60 paste on both ends at about 15,000 mile intervals will eliminate that aggravation.

Hypoid gears in the final drive can also be noisy. Short of having the drive disassembled and replacement shims installed, changing to a good synthetic 75W-140 lubricant will quiet or eliminate the whine.

Splines and pins in the final drive and rear wheel assembly can also cause noise. Remove the rear wheel, put a thin layer of Honda Moly 60 paste on the pins, dampers and in the drive spline, ditto with the mating spline on the final drive. I relubricate all of these every time I change rear tires, probably more often than necessary, but it's convenient to do when the wheel is off.

Unfortunately, you can get noise from the transmission, clutch basket, drive shaft, pinion gears or rear wheel on the Royal Star. No way to tell which you have so:

Barring a failure of the clutch, a change to a multi-grade synthetic oil THAT DOES NOT HAVE AN ENERGY-CONSERVING SEAL ON THE BOTTLE will quiet (but not necessarily eliminate) gear and clutch noise. Energy-conserving oils tend to make a wet clutch slip. Try Shell Rotella-T (T6) synthetic, available at Walmart for about $19.00 a gallon. Broken clutch springs and bent or warped clutch and friction plates can also be noisy, but that is typically experienced across the whole speed range; fixing a problem like that would involve replacement of the clutch assembly. The transmission gears are straight-cut for strength, and tend to be noisier than bevel-cut gears, still, if the noise remains annoying after an oil change, have the dealer or, better yet, a veteran Royal Star rider, evaluate the noise to see if it is excessive.

The drive shaft on the Royal Star can also make noise if both ends are not properly lubricated; tourers have found that Honda Moly 60 paste on both ends at about 15,000 mile intervals will eliminate that aggravation.

Hypoid gears in the final drive can also be noisy. Short of having the drive disassembled and replacement shims installed, changing to a good synthetic 75W-140 lubricant will quiet or eliminate the whine.

Splines and pins in the final drive and rear wheel assembly can also cause noise. Remove the rear wheel, put a thin layer of Honda Moly 60 paste on the pins, dampers and in the drive spline, ditto with the mating spline on the final drive. I relubricate all of these every time I change rear tires, probably more often than necessary, but it's convenient to do when the wheel is off.

Hi: It is "normal" for most royal star ventures to have a loud chirping sort of gear noise at certain rpms. Mine does it in every gear. It is especially noticable at between 100 and 110 kms/hr. If you increase or decrease the speed it gest better. This noise is because of the straight cut gears. Yamaha does this for strength and reliability but it is annoying. You can read more about it on the Venture owners sites such as The Venturers or VentureRider.org. It is nothing to worry about but I know it is annoying. Mine does it too. The RSV has a few quirks like this. nothing serious but somewhat annoying. THe other common thing is that the speedometer reads about 7% high. Mine does and many do. However, it is a very smooth, and very reliable bike. Hope that helps.