It's probably not the engine/gearbox/clutch... it'll be another panel/part rattling. The fairing area is a good source of rattles on the Z and because you sit behind it any noises are reflected back and often sound like they're from the motor. A good start is to take the screen off and ride it without and see if it goes away. I had to use cut up inner tube between the headlight unit and the plastic around it to cure a vibratory rattle soon after getting the bike.

the top bolt in the head light cowl .. at the front opposite the clocks cowel came loose on mine ..and that made a right viby sound ..

could the front sprocket be getting a bit spiked ??

hey guys,

i know the date ia abit way back but i've found the true cause for my rattling issue after sooooooo long!!!

apparently the givi crashbar that is mounted had a major break at one of the welding areas near the engine guard area...not sure how that happened as this bike has never been dropped...not even on the side...

anyways i got it welded back to its original position and the rattling stopped completely...took me so long to notice as the breakage area was not obvious...can be seen only when i pulled the crashbar from the frames...:spanking[1]:

These bikes like to keep us er well ...... on our toes!!!! Hehe.

:)

Thanks for this advice. After reading this yesterday, I decided to check out the front fairing today, as some part(s) in that area appeared to to be the source(s) of 'my' rattles (rattling at certain RPMs, also when gear in neutral). It helped somewhat simply to tight up things a little. And then, a bit surprised, I realised that the sound was produced by the windshield vibrating towards the black plastic around the headlight. I rolled up some bits of black electric insulating tape, with the sticking side outwards, so they became small self adhering patches - and tucked them between the windshield and the plastic, in four vibrating areas along the edge. Worked perfect!

I even felt this had countered a source of an amplifying effect, and by that reducing the vibrations of the bike overall. - But that I take as a placebo effect caused by my euphoria from having eliminated the rattle sound.

Anyway, all joy :hello2:

open the side cases of the engine and check, and replace gaskets if torn.
only way to be sure if no big nut came loose.
try listening to the engine when standing next to it and giving it throttle to 4200-4700 rpm. you might find wich side it could be. (and cover the exhaust with a thick cloth to dampen the exhaustnoise.

If all covers and headlight is ok it might be the crank nut on rhs. On high mileage bikes it can come lose. I thought it was a bad bearing at first but crank nut was lose.