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The noise is there on everything.
As a lad I was told to never run a drive train without a load on it , whether it was a chain or shaft drive bike, or a shaft drive car - it was just part of general procedure to be followed without question.

+1 on what Roy said.

At the same time, when I was recently testing for a manufacturing defect in my rear tyre I ran the bike on the c/stand in 2nd gear. No issues.
Certainly not ghastly sounds like Don is describing.

They were ghastly- good word! But not really there in 2nd gear. Just kept getting louder as I went up in gears.

I'm now convinced this is "normal" and I know from the spare trannys in my garage, that the higher the gear, the more "free play" between the input and output. 5th gear would have the most opportunity for gears to bang into each other as they turn, unless there is a load in which case everything remains in contact.

I'm going to run it for 100 miles, and drain the gear oil through a filter. If no probs, run it another 500 miles and repeat. If no problems I'm going to ride it hard until it blows for other reasons (I hope).

Thanks all-

Don

Hi all, In case anyone ever searches for a thread regarding ghastly tranny noises and finds this, I want to give the follow up info and (I hope) conclusion.

I have now ridden the bike 80 miles. Rode it hard, shifted it hard, ran it to redline and banged out power shifts- had to find out if it was going to come apart. It ran and shifted smooth and easy, and more "firmly" which I attribute to the metal K-bike shifter roller I installed, instead of the airhead nylon one. Except as noted earlier in this post, when the bike was run on the centerstand with no load, it was quiet and no rattling.

Drained the tranny fluid yesterday, checked the magnet, and ran the fluid through a coffee filter (took hours to run through). Bottom line- a little of the normal "fuzz" on the magnet, and 2-3 microscopic slivers of metal (10 of those pieces would just cover the head of a pin). I'm not at all worried about the slivers- assume there is going to be some "infant shedding" of the new 5th gear or the corresponding gear on the intermediate shaft. Could have also been in there from the dis-assembly/reassembly process (pressing on the bearings for instance).

So, I'll drain and filter the oil in another 500 miles or so, but I'm no longer worried.

Don