May 2013 / 9200 miles / On the second BB, 7000 miles on this one, quiet when cold but gets noisy as it warms up at any speed, particularly loud at anything over 65mph, running on Redline shockproof oil at the moment, slight improvement. / Steel sprocket for last 2000 miles but no change from earlier alloy ones. / 2014 chassis with NVH now, again, no change to BB noise from earlier chassis without NVH.
My Gulf March 2013: 17.000 km, original BB, less noisy when cold, noisy around 100 km/h (sometimes see later) Super Max sprocket (didn't make a difference in noise), Red Line oil (almost no difference in noise) no NVH. Rineke's M3W August 2013: 14.000 km, original BB, less noisy when cold, noisy around 100 km/h (sometimes see later) Super Max sprocket with a loose belt (didn't make a difference in noise), Red Line oil (almost no difference in noise) no NVH.
Our experience is that the amount of load on the box creates the noise. During our Tuscany trip we had some motorways where we drove 105 km/h. Mine was extremely quiet ( so quiet I could not believe my ears, it looked like if I was driving a Rolls Royce instead of my M3W) when I asked Rineke at a coffee break she said her was screaming like hell. But also mine with the same speed (105) could make noise like hell when the road goes up a but or strong head wind (so more load on the box) And in that cases Rineke's box was just normal screaming. So our expieriences are so that any bevel box can be quiet but only at a certain load (not speed). That the load get's higher on more speed look understandable for me. But ......... why it sometimes scream with a much lower load (e.g. 70 km/h in 3rd gear on a flat road) I don't understand. And when going uphill with the same speed and gear it's silent again.
2012 with new hub, but all the rest is stock with Al sprocket. Have changed the oil twice (Redline). No noise when cold,but when hot whines. 4,000miles. I've just fitted a NASA duct and will report back after I get a few more miles on it.
June 2013 16.000 km, second BB (first changed with 9.000 km oil leaking and screaming) with Mathy oil and MoS2, then NVH, fewer screaming but still there on certain circumstances (load, speed, temperatur), second Aluminum sprocket
Achim
4 aircooled cylinders, 7 tires, not waterproof: my m3w Bluebelle (2013) and my 2CV Gundel (1990)
July 2013 build, 7800 miles, noisy Yes, peaks 55 to 60mph then noise vanishes, Steel sprocket made no difference,NVH No. I have sealed & dynamaxed behind seats which helped. I had the black goo in the box & flushing & refilling with Morris Lodexol seem to help but may be just kidding myself. Box noise not noticeable from cold.
2012 build, first Bevelbox was silent but leaked via breather hole. Second is noisy when warm and filled with the black goo. flushed and decreased belt tension. no NVH and alu sprocket.
So far we have 18 responses and some have added a comment on replacement oil which is useful
12 are noisy and 6 are quiet
Of the 12 noisy:
11 are 2013 or earlier, only kwb is 2014 5 have the NVH, 7 do not (assuming hbatts does not.) Pretty much all the noise is when the BB is hot and somewhere in a 45 – 65 mph speed range The Redline Shockproof doesn’t cure the problem
Of the 6 quiet:
3 have NVH (all post 2014) and 3 do not (all pre 2014)
So some early observations, albeit with a small sample size:
The noisy BB is speed and temperature dependent which I think confirms that resonance is a big factor. The Redline Shockproof does not seem to cure it and the NVH kit has a mixed impact.
