[jj]

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I am mis-tafied with my patient, a 91 1500 se with 90,000 kms on her. She has developed a small squeak which I thought was birds chirping in the trees. It was occassionalbut then developed into a constant and loudnoise coming from somewhere in the front. Tonight I tried to isolate the noise by removing my front brakes and spreading the brake shoes apart so there is no pressure onbothbrake disc`s. No traffic and it is late, so I went for a ride and the noise is still there? Brakes are infine shape too. The brakepistons movedeasily and all the brake pins have beenlubed too. So I am looking for guidance. I think I have eliminated the front brakes by doing this.I amwondering if it iseither front tire bearing or could it be something in the speedo gears.Never did anything to the front end except brakes and tires when required.The fronttire is up in the air right know and I spin my tire but do not hear much, but I do hear what I think is the speedo gears turning somewhere in the fairing. If I had more spin cycle I might be able to make a squeak with thefront end blocked andin the air, but no luck tonight. Clearance between brake caliper and disk on the left side isan easy .028 in. as per spec. Any thoughts that could shed some light into my dark tunnel guys? Trying to avoid checkmate. Thanks in advance for your eyesand time.

 

[exavid]

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You might disconnect the speedo cable at the lower end and see if that stops the squeak.Checking the fork brace bolts, triple tree bolts, axle, rotor covers and any thing bolted to the fork for tightness might be worth doing.

Can you duplicate the squeak by holding the front brake and rocking the bike back and forth? If it does it then it might be a fork spring, seal, bushing or spring.

 

[Renegade]

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I suspect the front wheel bearings are dry.. It's rare on these models to have that happen, but with the mileage on the bike, it's possible that one of the seals has been compromised anda bearing dried out.. It only takes a few minutes to do like Exavid said and spin the wheel off the ground with the calipers disconnected.. If you get the noise in that position, it can only be the wheel bearings..

 

[jj]

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thanks guys for your time and wisdom. I have the front end in the air and cannot duplicate the noise by spinning the wheel. The brakes are on but relaxed. It is hard to pin point where the noise is coming from on the road for safety reason and a potential sore neck. Tried to convince my wife to hang out there whenwe are riding promising that I would hold on to her real good because I love her to death, but we allknow what that answer was.When I spin the front tire in the garage, I cannot get enough rpms out of my arm and hands to duplicate the noise. I get the front tire spinning and get my head up near the fairingand I think it is almost ready to make the noise as I can hear a faint squeak from the fairing. I have began to notice my speedo needle having a slight fluctuation when cruising on my last trip, but never paid much attention to this, until now. I will try to disconnect the speedo cable at the bottom end. If it is the speedo cable is a new one required or a lube job somewhere in the cable? Have a real good day guys.

 

[exavid]

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jj wrote:

I have began to notice my speedo needle having a slight fluctuation when cruising on my last trip, but never paid much attention to this, until now. I will try to disconnect the speedo cable at the bottom end. If it is the speedo cable is a new one required or a lube job somewhere in the cable? Have a real good day guys.

The speedometer or it's cable is a good candidate for your noise. When I have my bike on the lift and spin the front tire there's no sound from the speedometer drive. It could be the speedometer drive or the cable. Usually when the speedometer cable starts to go the fluttering of the needle is most pronounced at low speeds. You could pull the cable out of the housing, clean and lube it, but it is a temporary fix at best. It's an easy job to replace the cable and housing and inexpensive. While you're at it you might want to pull the wheel and replace the bearings, they aren't expensive either and it will give you peace of mind if you can't find the squeak.

The only other possibility that comes to mind is a loose bolt or screw on the forks or triple tree.

 

[jj]

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Exavid and da gang, thanks to all. I disconnected the speedo cable, voila the birds must have gone south. The noise has disappeared. I will replace the non-cooperative speedo cable between snowmachine ride this winter. For now I will guess at my speed and try to explain to the police person why I was just cruisin. Not sure if I will search for an after market or from mommy Honda. General question which I noticed was my self cancelling signal lights do not work when the speedo cable is disconnected, how the begezzess are the two related. I will ponder this question along with others like where does my one sock go when it is wash day? Thanks again and hoping all your squeakshappen when you are horizontal and not vertical.