noises

[officerbill]

While riding in to work today on a different route from normal I was able to hear abnormal noises.

I’m hard pressed to describe the noise; the direction was from the front wheel. I’m not sure if it was road noise, my tire making noise due to age (the tire is coming up on three it is a Dunlop and seems to have lots of wear left), or either from brakes or the wheel bearings. I did replace the bearings four years ago. Aside from the noise the bike seemed to wobble a bit too much, but the road was in real bad shape. Of course I’m blaming the road for the wobbling, couldn’t have been anything I was doing.

What noises should I be able to hear from the front end and which ones are no big deals.

Thanks,
bill

[OldVet66]

You might want to check the steering head assembly for proper bearing adjustment on the wobble. My GS1000, has new brakes and front bearings, and it makes a definite whirring sound. I think it's the speedometer gear assembly, and cable. The cable is new and the gear assembly well lubed, so I think it is a normal GS sound.

[TheCafeKid]

Wear left on it or not, three years is a little old for a tire IMO. I'd also suggest checking the head bearings as well.

[duaneage]

I had a plastic fender on mine for a while that was too close to the tire. When I went above 65 the tire would make contact with the fender and whistle a bit.

It took me a while to figure that one out. The fender started to have wear at the bottom.

I would start with the wheel bearings and all that on the axle, check the forks for leaking and make sure the triple tree clamps are the proper tightness. Then look at the bearings in the head.

A simple way to check the bearings is to centerstand the bike, and jack the wheel off the ground with a jack under the engine. With the wheel off the bike (from the wheel bearing inspection) move the forks front to back and feel for play. Turn the forks and feel any "notching" as the assembly moves.

You can't do this easily with a wheel on since the weight will make it hard to feel the bearings. Having the wheel off and the front end up will tell you if the head bearings are bad,

Replacing them is a bit of a hassle but not impossible. You need to have the lower race popped off and pressed at a shop. the races in the head tube are pulled with a slide hammer and hook.