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Custom Vehicle Discussions => Screamin' Eagle® Road Glide® => Topic started by: Puzzled on May 22, 2006, 05:22:06 PM
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My bike has developed a squeal/squeak. I noticed it in October while I was in Daytona. It is definitely worse when the bike is cold. It sounds like it is coming from the primary area. A bud's Softail has the same noise as mine. At first I thought it may have been the sleeve that goes on the transmission main shaft. Since I just installed the Bakers DD6 this sleeve was changed. No difference. I considered the rotor spinning on the crank main shaft, again I just had it off and I tightened it back up with the new compensating sprocket. The sound is there when you wind up the RPM's a little and let off of it. The bike has to be under load as it WILL NOT do it on the stand so I can try and find it! As the bike gets warmer the sound is not as loud or as frequent. I'm not dismissing that it is not either the rotor or the sleeve. What do you all think?
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My bike has developed a squeal/squeak. I noticed it in October while I was in Daytona. It is definitely worse when the bike is cold. It sounds like it is coming from the primary area. A bud's Softail has the same noise as mine. At first I thought it may have been the sleeve that goes on the transmission main shaft. Since I just installed the Bakers DD6 this sleeve was changed. No difference. I considered the rotor spinning on the crank main shaft, again I just had it off and I tightened it back up with the new compensating sprocket. The sound is there when you wind up the RPM's a little and let off of it. The bike has to be under load as it WILL NOT do it on the stand so I can try and find it! As the bike gets warmer the sound is not as loud or as frequent. I'm not dismissing that it is not either the rotor or the sleeve. What do you all think?
try spraying a little wd-40 on the spring for your kickstand.
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I wish it were that simple. It is not quite that kind of squeak/squeal. Since it is load/torque related and the only thing I didn't change with the DD6 is the clutch assembly, I'm thinking something in there.
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I wish it were that simple. It is not quite that kind of squeak/squeal. Since it is load/torque related and the only thing I didn't change with the DD6 is the clutch assembly, I'm thinking something in there.
you have nothing to lose by trying it.
i am pretty good at finding squeeks.
sometimes it's alot simpler than you think.
you said it doesn't happen when the bike is on the sidestand right?
it is mounted under the primary.
anyway, good luck in your search.
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sometimes it's alot simpler than you think.
Kng...you are right about that. I once took mine to an Indy because I had searched high and low for the cause of a noise that I would have sworn was in the primary case...only happened under load too...he went right to the noise...one of the left floorboard mounting boards was loose. He wouldn't take any payment, so I tipped him $20 and went on my way...and man was I relieved it wasn't something serious.
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kng103 I'll spray the kickstand spring as you mentioned. It's simple and if it works, great.
I can't get the bike to make the sound while on the table lift I have. The wheel has to be off of the table thus there is no load on the drive train. The noise won't duplicate itself in neutral sitting on the side stand either. Again the drive train has to be under load.
On that note I've been chasing my low speed wobble and in doing so I greased the neck bearings and since then I haven't had a single squeal/squeak. Coincidence, has to be. I'll head out this afternoon and get some mileage on it and see if I come up with anything.
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kng103 I'll spray the kickstand spring as you mentioned. It's simple and if it works, great.
I can't get the bike to make the sound while on the table lift I have. The wheel has to be off of the table thus there is no load on the drive train. The noise won't duplicate itself in neutral sitting on the side stand either. Again the drive train has to be under load.
On that note I've been chasing my low speed wobble and in doing so I greased the neck bearings and since then I haven't had a single squeal/squeak. Coincidence, has to be. I'll head out this afternoon and get some mileage on it and see if I come up with anything.
low speed wobbles can be tricky.
i had that problem once. it turned out that i had to much weight in the bags on the left side of my bike. once i equaled out the weight, the wobble went away.
a buddy of mine had problems beacause he changed out his bars, and had to put weights inside the grips.
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Hmmm the bags. I've thought of that but haven't actually tried it. My left bag is full to the top with riding gear. The right only has some tools. I leave it empty for my jacket and what nots while traveling. I'll try that here shortly.
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Hmmm the bags. I've thought of that but haven't actually tried it. My lef bag is full to the top with riding gear. The right only has some tools. I leave it empty for my jacket and what nots while traveling. I'll try that here shortly.
exactly, i had the left bag loaded up with tools, rain gear, etc, and left the right bag pretty much empty for easy access.
let me know what happens.
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Check for a loose belt. They squeek on decel when they are loose. A good test is to wet the belt with a hose and drive it. Without getting into book specs, if you have more than 1/2 inch deflection on the sidestand with finger pressure (spec is 10#) it's too loose. You said they changed the tranny, that means the belt was off.
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My front brakes squeak all the time touch the front brakes see if it quiets.
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My front brakes squeak all the time touch the front brakes see if it quiets.
It is definitely not a front brake squeak. I thought I had found it while chasing my wobble but I didn't. :'( It is a belt noise I believe. I just can't figure out how or why. I'll keep working on it.
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Did they put a new belt on with the Baker6? The newer belts are carbon fiber and they squeal quite a bit. The older ones were kevlar and didn't squeal quite as much.
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There is no they, I do all of my own work.:P I still have the belt as delivered in 01. I'm leaning towards it seems like the belt is squealing on the pulley. It's tough to explain but it simply sounds like belt to pulley contact. Since it is only under deceleration it would make me think it is the belt chirping on the pulley. I thought I had solved it when I adjusted the belt last time. When the belt / bike is warm it does not do it as often. Maybe it is time for a new belt? I think I have one on the wall however I have no desire to pull the inner primary again.
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Have you tried wetting the belt and going for a ride? If the tone/pitch changes any, you've found the source.
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Your on to something there. :)At one time I tested a small amount of belt dressing on it for experimental purposes. The noise was gone! That is what led me to the belt and trans pulley. Now it is why? :(
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Any chance the tranny pulley is slightly bent or out of whack? On the opposite end, I had Bubba tell me he was told that "too much heat from the exhaust will egg shape the rear pulley and that will cause a squeal." My local guy told Bubba to really check the alignment of the bike. That can cause all sorts of squeals/shakes/shimmies. Since the tranny was out, has the alignment been rechecked? And rechecked again? I always have to "check" mine a couple of times before I get it where I want. [smiley=huepfenlol2.gif] :o
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I didn't have the trans out. I replaced the gear set only. I will not dispute the alignment though. The rear pulley was new at 10k in September (now 21K). I haven't looked into it recently. I went to the Smoke Out in North Carolina which was a nice 1300 mile ride. I'll have to get back out there and start poking around.
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Please re-read my post about the belt. I believe that is your concern
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Please re-read my post about the belt. I believe that is your concern
Check for a loose belt. They squeek on decel when they are loose. A good test is to wet the belt with a hose and drive it. Without getting into book specs, if you have more than 1/2 inch deflection on the sidestand with finger pressure (spec is 10#) it's too loose. You said they changed the tranny, that means the belt was off.
I'll give it a try. What does this tell me though? It's a loose belt or a belt issue in general? It is definitely belt related.
This dam noise has been hit and miss. Some days it is there other days it's not. I ordered one of those lasers for belts/chains to check alignment. I'm just waiting for it to arrive.
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it's just loose
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Cool, I'll give it a shot later as the bike needs a bath anyways.
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I had to look at this thread again to see what was what. :-? I checked the belt again for alignment and tension. I picked up one of those Cat laser pointers to do this. The laser is not all that! ::) All of the ads show a beam of light not a pin point, very misleading. Moving on, from the best that I can tell trying to use this thing I'm .030 out. To me that doesn't seem like a lot. The belt seemed a little on the tight side. The manual says to have 5/16 to 3/8 of deflection with the bike on the ground and the rider on the bike. Since I can't check the belt while I'm on the bike I did it without. I'll go test it here shortly.
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Losening the belt made the noise worse. OK it appears it is loose as posted above. :) I needed to check belt tension with me on the bike so I pulled it off of the lift and did my best to grab ahold of the belt. Yep it was indeed loose, too loose. So I tightened it to the suggested specs. I test drove it in and out of my driveway and it didn't make any noise. Tomorrow I'll put the bags back on and take it for a ride.
Just to restate what I wrote above. The CAT laser pointer sucks! Don't waste your money. Pick up a .99$ pointer from Wal-Mart and it will do the same thing. :(
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The tire is not aligned to the powertrain, the rear axle centers must be equidistant back from the 1/8' holes in the swingarm when the belt tension is correct. trying to align the tire to the powertrain and ignoring these holes is a mistake. The swingarm is mounted to the powertrain by the bushings etc. If the swingarm is not parallel to the powertrain, that is a separate issue which must be addressed.
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I checked that earlier in the thread but thanks for the heads up. :) This is more of an annoyance than anything else. ::)
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If your belt breaks on a bagger because it ws too loose, it will be one hell of an expensive annoyance.
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It's less than $200 for a belt and a couple of hours of my labor. 8-)
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OK here it is several months later and I've still been chasing that noise. There is nothing in this thread that I haven't tried or checked. I've had that belt hanging to guitar string tight. No difference, still there. blah blah blah.
In another thread I mentioned the Sta-Bo bushings and the fact I picked up a set. Well they have been sitting on the shelf for some time now awaiting installation. While the bike was on the lift a few weeks ago I noticed I had a nail in my nice new rear tire. So I ordered a set of tires for the front and rear as the front is looking a little feathered.
This morning I decided today was the day I was going to work on the bike. Up on the lift it went and off came the rear wheel and swing arm. I changed the tire from a 140 to a 150 and thoroughly cleaned the wheel while it was off of the bike. I pressed the bushings out of the arm and installed the new Sta-Bo's.
Now at this point I'm not far from removing the belt. BUT what if I change the belt and bushings, how will I know where my noise is was? Well it will really suck to have to pull the arm back off but I WANT no NEED to know where this noise is coming from. So I installed everything and set it up as per the manual. Off the lift and out for a ride it goes.
Initial thought is NO NOISE. I'm jump on and off the throttle hard enough that I'm pulling the front wheel. NO NOISE. Big smile here. SO now I decide to see how the Sta-Bo's feel. I started flopping the bike left to right looking like the Police parade bikes. Solid. I'll give it a good road test tomorrow while the sun is up.
While I had the bike on the lift I swapped out exposed rear antenna for the hidden one. I figured I'd try it again. This time I was able to get it along the side of the fairing away from any metal. Tough task to accomplish with all of that metal in there. I pulled the giant OEM 01 turn signals off in favor of a pair of late model bullet signals. Looks much better now. I removed all of the rear stuff for Kuryakyn stuff. I didn't care for their lens covers so I sourced a set of OEM covers. Next is a OEM rear plate holder (the U shape hoop) as I'm going to cut it and machine a couple of end plugs for the tube.
After my test ride to insure all is good with the bushings and wheel I'm going to change the front motor mount just for the sake of changing it. I have it here, I just need to machine a little off of the center sleeve first.
The old girl will be fresh for this season when I'm done. :2vrolijk_21: :orange:
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Sounds like you have a "better than new" bike with all the adjustments and improvements. I had an annoying squeak on my SERG and pointed it out to the dealer who took a can of wd40 and sprayed the rubber bushings for the rear attachment of the mufflers and wha-la no squeak. I still have to do this trick every couple of months but it works. This squeak was hard to get a fix on too. Enjoy your new and improved ride.
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Blue, I have the same bike and have found the same squeak on mine and chased it down to the rubber muffler attachment. WD40 works good for awhile, but then, as you say the squeak comes back. I wonder if anyone makes a replacement part for that part that doesn't squeak? I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
Later Ripp