I can't believe no one has asked a question in an entire month!

So... I will share a tidbit. And... in keeping with this sub-forums format... I will honor the appropriate syntax.

Q: my 14R has a buzzy sound eminating from within the nose fairing. It usually happens >3000rpm. I read the gen1 had a similar issue but it was addressed during the model revision. Also... this noise started shortly after I ditched the stock windscreen for a taller model. Also... what is Hub's real name?

A: its your tip over sensor. while there MAY have been a revision to the design of the sensor, mine still proves to be a noisemaker akin to a kazoo or similar party favor. Hub is his real name... his parents named him after some jewelry.

I did SOME digging around and it seems almost everyone had a complaint with this lil bugger. Word around the forums was no one with the 14R had an issue.
Well I did... and it started right after I installed the ZeroGravity screen.
I disconnected the harness from the sensor and tried to start the bike... no dice. If you wanna scoot... this lil piece of hardware needs to be in place. Not all of it...but we'll come back to that.

I seem to remember reading the gen1 sensor was a pendulum or a ball bearing that would close a circuit when the bike was on its side?
Mine isn't like that. Its a disc on an axle with a weight at the bottom and a pie wedge cut out of it at the top. The disc is made from a ferro-magnetic plastic and is attracted to steel. At the top of the sensor proper... where the harness plugs in... is a small printed circuit board. In the center of the board is a small black rectangle. I presume this a hall-effect sensor... it responds to a magnetic field. The pie wedge missing from the disc corresponds directly to the location of the sensor when the scooter is upright. Laying the scooter on its side allows the disc to come within close proximity to the sensor. The sensor... now interacting with a magnetic field... changes state. The ECU responds by denying injector impulse... your engine stops.

To test my observations I plugged the top half of my sensor back into the harness. The engine started and behaved normally. Whilst the engine was running I brought a retrieval magnet close to the sensor... the engine stopped.

It turns out the buzzing originates from an excessive tolerance betwixt the disc and its axle.

There are two solutions: 1) dismantle the sensor and discard the internals. You will lose the "tip over" functionality but its completely silent. 2) fill the lower portion of the sensor with a viscous fluid... motor or mineral oil... as has been suggested here and elsewhere. I found #2 completely satisfactory... the unit remains sealed precluding leakage of fluid and the sensor retains it functionality. The latter was tested by plugging in the sensor... starting the engine... and simulating a vehicle down condition by rolling the sensor axially by hand.

* Last updated by: hagrid on 6/24/2012 @ 10:44 PM *

I also had a buzzing sound coming from the front cowling area a couple months ago on my 2008 ZX-14 it ended up being a loose faring stay bolt next to the gages!

The issue with the Gen 1 was that the metal bushings that went through the rubber vibration dampers were too long. This prevented the screws that fasten the TOS from holding the unit in the bracket tightly. The entire module would vibrate in the bracket, it was not just the pendulum type switch that activates the shutdown in a fall. The switch works by swinging left to right on a pivot. If it swings far enough to either side, contact is made and the bike shuts down. So, if the switch was actually clicking from vibes, I would think it would be making contact and shutting down the engine.

The thing to do is to grind the the bushings so they are narrower or to put some extra washers between the bushings and the dampers. I just cut my own washers out of a plastic bottle lid. The washers were placed under the black finished hex nuts.

* Last updated by: Rook on 6/25/2012 @ 8:26 AM *

1) dismantle the sensor and discard the internals. You will lose the "tip over" functionality but its completely silent.

Silent but deadly. Ever see those two bikes come together and spin each other around? The racers are trying to stop both bike from circling together? That is a racing trick. It says to keep running while down. By the time you run up to it, the idea is to keep the [no-starter motor] engine running. It also says that if you fell off, the bike could keep the back wheel going, sit itself back up and ride down the road without you.

I think you better live with the noise? That or dampen it like Rook did.

I did SOME digging around and it seems almost everyone had a complaint with this lil bugger. Word around the forums was no one with the 14R had an issue.

2012 ZX-14R buzzing behind dash (SOLVED)

NINJA ZX-14 MotoVlog

I tried your fix first Rook. My buzz comes from within the sensor... not the sensor/bracket interface.

Little noises don't bother me.In fact I don't hear much over my Alienhead.Especially when I'm droning at 6 grand.Can't hear much.
Craig

I've actually been amazed at how quiet this bike is...I just replaced the stock cans with Yosh's this afternoon, and while riding with earplugs I can still barely hear it running. All my recent previous bikes were much noisier...'98 VFR (cam gear whine and Staintune pipe); Road King (V&H pipes); and Ducati ST (dry cluth rattle and Termi pipes). So far, no dash rattle/buzz either.

Those Yosh cans are EPA noise-compliant.

Ever since I was forced by poverty to drive old rattletrap cars and trucks I have been using a trick my Dad taught me to quell the noises: TURN UP THE MUSIC!

And ti think I use ear buds and a MP3 as a noise eliminator................