Is this front end noise safe? Normal? This is not brake pad/rotor sounds.

I did check the forum thoroughly through keyword searches prior to posting a new thread, but to no avail. I am suspecting a brake issue, but it's not squealing, squeaking, etc. :huh:

The sound is this: Take your keys out of your pocket. Let two of them hang freely and gently shake the keys that are dangling together. That's the sound. High pitched, metal on metal, yet soft.

When it occurs: At slower speeds (or maybe that's when the engine isn't muffling it out) and the majority of the time upon acceleration, especially on bumpier roads. If I give a slight turn to the throttle and simultaneously apply the front brake I can reproduce the sound with greater intensity. This sound only happens when the bike is in motion. It is from the front end. Does not appear to be coming from the engine, nor exhaust manifolds. Doesn't sound like the forks creaking either.

Any clues? Is something about to lock up on me? I checked caliper bolts, just replaced the pads (prior to replacement, same noise was there).

I checked all bolts, wires, washers, etc on the front that I could think of. When the bike was off, I did try sitting up on the center stand and spinning the front wheel...nope. Also tried taking a small wooden dowel rod and lightly tapping various parts of the front end to see if I could hear this sound again. Nothing.

I haven't thus far been able to hone in on what the problem might be. Also, when replacing the pads, I shook the calipers and still was unable to produce this sound.

Thanks for any suggestions/ ideas!

Maybe worn out #12 o-rings are allowing metal to metal contact, which will be much more noticable on bumpy roads, crossing railroad tracks, and the like.

Good Luck!

[Click image to enlarge]

Thanks Patton! I'll look into that and get back to this issue when it stops raining, hopefully this weekend.

Cheers!

You may want to try this: get on a quiet street, bring the bike up to about 35 or 40 mph, put it in neutral, and shut off the engine. At this point, without any engine noise, you may be able better pinpoint the location. If it seems like it is related to the rotation of the front tire rather than a cable vibrating against one of the metal guides you may then want to park the bike, jack up the front, and turn the wheel by hand to see if you can recreate and pinpoint the noise. Ed

Thanks Ed. I haven't tried turning off the bike on a quiet street yet. Good idea. I do know that when accelerating slowly that is when I hear it most. I did try turning the wheel by hand with the front jacked up, but was unable to recreate that noise in that approach. This weekend I will hopefully pinpoint more of it with everyone's guidance.

Thanks,
Matt

Matt,
Maybe check the front wheel bearings,the grease inside the sealed bearings gets hard with age(unfortunately not for all things).just like Ed said (great name by BTW)support the bike and try and recreate. sometimes hard to tell though...even spinning the wheel with bike suspended,if you find yourself not easily being able to find the source then i would suspect the bearings.
if you remove the bearing and spin on your finger you can feel the little catchy spots.

Ed's $.02

are you sure it's not your keys jingling in the ignition? :laugh:

Ooh, I like a mystery.

Could it be engine ping? I might be muffled like that, and it might sound like you describe.

I don't know about your bike, but do you have high enough compression that you could try the next grade up of gas?

:huh:

Issue solved!

It was a loose chain rubbing on the center stand (in normal riding position). Upon acceleration, the bottom of the chain would have more slack, rubbing on the center stand.

My moto was throwing it's voice like a ventriloquist. I discovered that though helmets are safe, when wearing a full face helmet, sounds from under the bike or in the rear can bounce off the front of the face shield appearing to be coming from the front. Lesson learned.

It was a two fold problem:

1) Chain had too much slack

2) The bracket with the rubber stopper that is used to keep the center stand quite and in position while riding was bent.

Is it normal for chains to wear (lengthen unevenly)? After adjusting the chain tension and measuring to ensure the wheel was in alignment, while spinning the wheel, the chain would differ by almost a half-inch in height from the ground during a full chain rotation. I checked the sprockets (both rear and at the engine) for uniformity. Time for a new chain? Do I also need to get new sprockets since they both wear together?

Thanks for everyone's help with this!

To fix the above, see below (if interested)

1) Bike on center stand. Removed cotter pin from left side of rear axle. Loosened rear axle bolts. Loosened nuts at end of swing arm chain tension bracket. Tightened both chain tension bolts to pull out chain slack, but left enough for the wheel to move freely. Checked for evenness on both sides and wheel alignment. Tightened to nuts to spec. Put on new cotter pin. Lubed chain. Rechecked chain tension.

2) Bike on side stand. Removed left passenger foot peg. Removed bracket from left passenger foot-peg/left tail-pipe. Removed rubber dampener from bracket. Bent bracket back to a "normal" state. Lubed rubber damper and pushed back into bracket. Tightened bracket back in place to left foot-peg mount and left tail /exhaust pipe. Replaced foot-peg.

Drove bike with a smile and listened to absolutely no chain pinging sounds!

"2) The bracket with the rubber stopper that is used to keep the center stand quite and in position while riding was bent."

Read "Quiet" not quite. Thanks!

And here I went and typed out a REALLY lengthy reply PM to you, only to find out that I should have checked this thread first.....D'oh! :pinch: :laugh:

As far as your chain being slack in spots after adjusting, it's totally normal (providing it's not excessive that is).

For every chain that I've ever adjusted (bicycles, street bikes, dirt bikes), they had a single spot in it where it is more taught than anywhere else on the chain - this is the spot where you want to measure the slack at when adjusting your chain. If you were to adjust the chain at one of it's more slack spots, the taught spot would become extreme, and will prematurely wear both sprockets and chain, as well as make neat-o "clicking" sounds.:blink: :S

I just had that same chain problem, rubbing on the center stand. Changed both chain and sprockets due to a rough spot in the chain. Its up to you on if you want to change your chain and sprockets, especially if you have the money put aside for it, but when the adjuster bolt gets more than halfway in, its your decision on if you plan on getting back home!