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Grinding sound in front wheel

13K views 29 replies 15 participants last post by  mberg4128 
#1 ·
I replaced the stock tire on my '07 VN900 with a Shinko 230 series of the same size about a month and a half ago. After riding at 40-50 mph & slowing down, I got this grinding noise in my front wheel. Never hear it while accelerating nor while riding constant speeds. And after riding at 70 mph, I don't notice the grinding noise as much when slowing down. I assumed it was the wheel bearings. So, I replaced those, but the noise continued. BTW, the collar that goes between them was very loose, and the grinding noise didn't change. I removed my front fender & rode it to see if the new wheel was rubbing, but the noise continued. I put it up on a jack & spun it, but the grinding didn't happen. Just heard the front disk brake pads rubbing against the rotor a bit which seemed normal. I'm stumped...Any ideas how to fix this?
 
#2 ·
Is it while slowing down with the front brakes applied, or coasting using the engine as a "brake" of sorts?
 
#4 ·
Well that's just weird.

You have a Custom or a Classic? I'm asking because one has spokes and one has a cast rim.

If you have removed the fender - and applying the front brake does not increase or decrease the sound - and if you lift the front wheel and spin it while it has no load on it and you hear nothing - well, that just leaves the axle/bearing doesn't it? Or if you have a Classic, maybe the spokes.

There is nothing left for you to search for south of the steering head that will grind while rolling on a Custom.

I would completely remove the front tire again, and ensure you have assembled all of the spacers and bearing per the reassembly diagram. I think the spacer that goes between the front wheel bearings should not slop around in between the bearings. See the attached partial exploded diagram of the front axle.
 

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#6 ·
The noise didn't happen until you changed the tire out, correct? Is it a directional tire tread? If so is it rotating the correct direction? (It could be something that simple, but I doubt it)
The only other thing I can think of that it might be is when you reassembled the front wheel back on to the forks, you may not have torqued everything down properly. This is assuming you packed the new bearings with grease prior to installing them. Any time my wheels are removed for any reason I retorque the nuts after about 40-50 miles out of habit. BTW, the service manual has the torque spec as being 79.7 ft lbs of torque on the axle nuts. I don't know about you, but I don't have a torque wrench that goes to the 1/10th of a ft lb so I take it to 80 ft lbs.
 
#8 ·
I have an '07 Vulcan 900 Custom, & I replaced the bearings due to the noise, so I doubt there's any wear to notice. And no, I didn't take them apart & repack them. It seemed like brand new bearings wouldn't need that. And, the original bearings didn't show any noticeable wear. I looked at the axle when I had it out, but there weren't any wear marks that jumped out at me.

Thanks for suggesting the direction of tire rotation, but it turns out I'm good on that. The arrow points in the correct direction for normal forward rotation.

Every time I remove the front wheel, I've followed the manual on torque specs. I adjust it to 80 ft lbs, too, although a few nights ago I only torqued it to 70 ft lb. That didn't make any difference, either.

I considered removing the collar between the wheel bearings, but shoot, that shouldn't matter, because the axle doesn't move. And, the collar's diameter's not much bigger than the axle. On the other hand, I won't rule that out...It's just weird that it would've decided to get cranky after I replaced a tire...
 
#9 ·
Not sure if the 900 has a speedometer cable. I have the Vaquero 1700. But when I had my 1500 classic it has a speedo cable and the spacer on the right side of the rim is what houses the metal sleeve that rotates and inturn moves the small gears that spin the cable to let you know how fast you were going. In Daytona Beach, I just finished the 230 mile journey when I started getting a grinding sound. I got hold of a torque wrench and loosened. The axel nut and retorqued. Nothing I did worked. I finally took out the speedo cable from the spacer, sprayed the piss out of it with WD 40 and it never made the noise again. If the 900 has that setup, give that a try.:confused:
 
#11 ·
Questions: When you decelerate, you hear the noise, but not when you accelerate. Do you also feel the grinding? Is it possible the sound isn't loud enough to be heard over your exhaust under acceleration? Have you tried putting the old tire back on to make sure it isn't the new tire itself causing the sound?
 
#12 ·
I might barely feel the grinding, but not much at all. It's very audible, though. At a low slowing speed, I can speed up, & the noise goes away. You might be right, though...It might get softer but not go away.

Wish I had the old tire to try, but I'm sure the shop that changed it tossed it.

At first, I thought it was my transmission, so I adjusted my clutch cable. No change. Then, I thought it might be the belt, so I adjusted that, too. But, the noise really comes from out front.
 
#29 ·
I had a similar issue with my bike. I had just put the barons front pulley on and thought it must be from that. I adjusted the belt tension and realigned the rear wheel hoping that it fixed it. But while test driving the bike after, I saw that the front right wheel spacer was spinning while on the road and when it spins it seems to be make the noise. When I got home I could spin the spacer and reproduce the noise. Now I just have to figure out how to stop the noise. May replace it. Hope this helps.
 
#13 ·
It really sounds to me like a bearing issue. I know you replaced them already, and I'm not sure if they require you to grease them prior to putting them in like some. Does it get worse under a hard braking situation than engine braking?

You might want to look up @sfair here on the forum and ask his opinion. He's a wealth of knowledge. You might also take the bike back to the place that changed your tire. If the noise didn't start until after you got the tire put on by them, they could have mucked something up and should be required to make it right.
 
#14 ·
Bearings on this bike are sealed, so there's no greasing them. Hard braking doesn't really matter, either.

2 months ago, I took my front wheel off & took it to a local shop to change the old, worn tire with the new one. So if anyone's mucked up putting it on, it's me. :) Perhaps you have a point about putting the new tire on the wheel...The worst issue I've ever had with that was one place didn't balance it right. So, it'd wobble up & down while I rode; it was quite obvious what that was.

The Japanese are quite serious about tight tolerances...There's no adjustment on the axle. I tried loosening it to see, but it was tight. And, the spacers on either side of the wheel are the same size, so that's not an issue.

I'm pretty much resigned to living with it to see if the noise'll go away as the tire wears...
 
#16 ·
grinding issue

Ok guys...I have the same issue with my '09 900 classic but mine has gotten progressively louder. I had it last season but not constant. This year I can hear it and if neither of us are into the throttle my friend can hear it when we are riding side by side! Does have Metzler 880's on it that were installed prior to me buying it (March 2014) and 17K on the bike. So far I have put new pads on the front and new wheel bearings (All Balls) in the front. Did not help. Also I am wondering if my rotor got warped some how....that would explain it completely. Next step is we are gonna strap it down on my buddy's lift and run it to see if it's possibly in the drivetrain. I will update if I find the problem and if anyone finds it first if you could post it. thanks Bill
 
#17 ·
HHhmmm...Never heard of balancing beads. The shop that changed my tire put balancing weights on the outside of the rim.

If your rotor's warped, you'd notice it when you applied the front brake, I'd think. That's been my experience in every car I've ever owned that had disk brakes. In my case, how I apply the front brake makes no change in the noise I hear.

And today, I noticed that the noise is nearly non-existent going up a somewhat steep hill. Yet, it's there riding on a flat surface or going downhill.
 
#19 ·
The wheel spacers, or collars, only go in one way. The small end goes into the seal, the big one against the fork. Yep, they're good.

And, my front brake pads are worn, but the wear indicators haven't contacted the disk. It won't be long before I'll replace them. I thought about removing my front caliper & riding around to see if that'd make a difference. But, I'm not sure I'm gonna to go there...
 
#21 ·
I've had the same strange noise on my '09 Custom since purchased new. Had the shop ride and listen for the noise on the first service trip but of course they heard nothing. I'm convinced the noise is from the front axle. No idea of the cause.
 
#22 ·
My new Shinko front tire weighs 2.1 pounds (shipping weight) more than the OEM Dunlop tire. That might mean the front end's pretty sensitive to weight, which potentially indicates that the wheel bearings are going to take more of a beating...
 
#24 ·
Sounds like brake noise, the caliper is not seated right......I would bleed the front brake this should stop the noise.
 
#25 ·
At this point, I'm convinced it's coming from the transmission...Heavy, heavy sigh...One dealer said it'd cost around $1200 to overhaul the transmission & take 2-3 weeks. It'll take one of those weeks just to order parts. UGH So, I'm going to check with other local shops to see what their deals are.
 
#26 ·
Sounds to me like a front brake noise.
You disturb the front brakes when you change the tyre.
There is a chance the tyre fitter has scratched the front disc rotor while fitting the tyre.
After fitting my new front tyre,I did notice what almost sounds like a buzzer going off in the front end of the bike as silly as it sounds.
My noise is still there when the brakes are not warmed up,But after I mean to get the front brakes hot,The noise goes away.
You could always try scuffing the front brake pads up on concrete to deglaze them and then refit them to see if the noise has changed.
If it changes the noise,You are in the right area and can feel confident to spend money in the front brake area.
 
#27 ·
Took my bike to a local shop. They suggested the rear belt pulley needed replacing, but at $560 I suggested they keep looking, especially since the grinding noise was coming from up front. The belt was cracked, so I let 'em replace it. While they were doing that, they had to remove the front pulley. It was in horrible shape! So, they replaced the front pulley, and voila! Problem solved! Search for "grinding noise." There's another thread that talks about this very thing...Wish I'd found that earlier...
 
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