I would liken it more to a Turbine. and if it has the stock cans a Wraith from HALO. IDK WTF a starter motor gear is but I would say its part exhaust part induction!

 

Old technology.

 

That distinctive "whine" you hear from the Triumph engine is primarily caused by the straight-cut gears that run the balance shaft. Triumph could have avoided it by going with an angle-cut or helical-cut gear, both of which are a lot quieter than straight-cut.

Old air-cooled Volkswagen engines use angle-cut cam gears and don't make that sound, but some performance cranks and cams for them use straight-cut gears that make the same distinctive sound.

 

So the real question becomes, why don't we have a forum where we ask crash bike questions? Setup a PayPal and charge per the questions complexity and value to the questioner...

 

...because nobody in their right mind would pay for such nonsense! Jeeze! Most people around here would rather pay for me to keep my yap shut.

 

I disagree, I would say a small percentage of what you say is worth money, while the vast majority is worth a monetary penalty, like sanctioning Iran or North Korea. Some would be offended that my analogy implies that tour individual voice has the clout of errant nation states.... **** em.

 

Ding Ding Ding, tell him what he wins Johnny

 

re: air cooled VW
In college I built up a VW bug engine with counterweighted crank, dual carbs, 041 heads, etc. Damn that was a long time ago. Anyway, I opted for the straight cut gears and then I increased my envelope of wisdom by getting a solid aluminum mount for my transmission.

It was like riding around inside an engine. Great when you're 22. Have I mentioned my severe tinnitus?

 

re: air cooled VW
In college I built up a VW bug engine with counterweighted crank, dual carbs, 041 heads, etc. Damn that was a long time ago. Anyway, I opted for the straight cut gears and then I increased my envelope of wisdom by getting a solid aluminum mount for my transmission.

It was like riding around inside an engine. Great when you're 22. Have I mentioned my severe tinnitus?

Eh?

Bet you had an unbaffled Stinger exhaust and dual 48 Webers too.

Since there's all but no load on the balance shaft of a Triumph Triple, you'd think a helical cut would be worth it just for the decreased noise. I think they did it this way just because it's cheaper. Of course without it the bike would probably sound like every other sewing machine sounding cookie cutter Japanese bike.

 

Straight cut gears are stronger than helical cut gears. Maybe they just feel that the whine is worth the strength..or maybe helical just isn't strong enough for the torque?

 

Helical also puts back and forth loads along the axis of the shaft, requiring a good thrust bearing. The straight cut only transfer load perpendicular to the shaft.

 

Thanks for the replies.

They probably realised that the distinctive whine is unique to it's engine so they decided to keep it whether they needed the straight cut gears or not. . It sounds good and everybody knows the sound.

 

I loooooove me that whistle. I'ts much more pronounced on the 675's though. Crash is definitely right about the gears. At first I thought it was a triple thing to just magically whistle Since my jet skis (rotac 1400cc supercharged i3) do it. and my room mates geo metro does it. Come to find out that it was something a little more serious than straight cut gears causing that whistle. lol.