Tire noise.

[fiddle mike]

I did a search of the site and read that E3 tires are noisy.
I have an E3 rear and an Avon front.
Both have "Ride On" in them. The front has balancing weights, the rear does not.

I get a noise (oscillating?), most noticeable between 65-75 mph that, to me, sounds like a tire out of balance . The texture of the road and the direction of the wind seems to make it more, or less, noticeable. Leaning the bike slightly (weaving in the lane) causes it to go away. I can't isolate the sound, there is no unusual vibration and, of course, my missus cannot hear it.

Any insights?

[Tx Bohemian]

I have no experience with "ride on" or Avon/E3s.

I would think an "out of balance" tire would cause a vibration more than a noise.
If there is something wrong, seems like a noise would indicate cupping, like the noise a mudgrip makes on pavement.  I've had this type of noise on a set of Bridgestones that had 9-10K miles.

I have metzlers on my bike (front and rear) and have tire noise.  I figured it is the design of the tire because it did this from day one.
It will change (better and worse) on different roads/textures.  It'll even change when I go from the "car tire tracks" to the middle of the lane.

However the bike zips down the road smooth as glass, so I'm happy.

[biguglyman]

I have e-3's and only get the "song" in long sweeping curves at highway speeds. Straightaways are quiet.

[old2soon]

The texture of the roads around here where i ride give me a lot of different tire noises. Shinko S E 890 Journey on front and a Falken Ziex 512 rear. I've gone from new concrete to old concrete to new asphalt to old asphalt to new and old chip seal and they all have a different tire noise. I have balance beads front and rear and all the old lead weights have been pulled off. My Phatt Ghurl came to me with Dunlop E 3s front and rear and they were quite noisy. I've had a Metz 880 up front and a General Ultimax in the rear and they all make noise to a certain extent. Wish i could be more help to ya.   RIDE SAFE.

[Ricky-D]

Tire pressure will affect the noise you hear from the tires.

Experiment to find the sweet spot!

***

[R J]

Jack the front tire up off the ground and run your bare hand over it as you turn it.

Do ya feel any cupping of the tire, if so that be your problem and do as Ricky-D said, raise lower air pressure to find a suitable level of noise for ya.

I had a DunFlop cup up real bad on me and it rattled like a train going down the track.

[t-man403]

Tire pressure will affect the noise you hear from the tires.

Experiment to find the sweet spot!

***

+1 on that!

I have the E3's and found the front to be very noisy  . I now run at a higher pressure and the noise is less as well as the out of balance feeling it had at the 45 km\30 ml per hr range.

[Dr Bobs Patient]

Just do what I do, turn up the volume on the radio! 

DBP

[fiddle mike]

Just do what I do, turn up the volume on the radio! 

DBP

The same way my wife, a mechanic's daughter, fixes the truck.     I can't sing that loud.

[Michvalk]

Still got the glued in rubber baffels on the inside of the fender. After mine fell out, I could hear road noise much louder. I glued mine back in and it helps quite a lot. withour them, that fender is just a big ol' echo chamber

[fiddle mike]

Still got the glued in rubber baffels on the inside of the fender. After mine fell out, I could hear road noise much louder. I glued mine back in and it helps quite a lot. withour them, that fender is just a big ol' echo chamber

The baffles are still there.  I guess I'm going to tinker with the tire pressure.  I've been running 43/40. If that doesn't work out I'll get a stereo. 

[olddog1946]

I may be way off here, but I think you might have a bearing going belly up. Tire wear will produce different noise levels versus straight up and leaned over in a curve but if the sound goes away with weaving you've got a bearing problem.

[Cruzen]

Sorry for reviving this old thread but I recently installed a Dunlop E3 on the front of my 99 Valk Interstate.  Running 40 psi in the front and about 42 in the rear E3.  The tire has that out of balance sound at any speed above 45mph and it gets really noticeable at 70-80.  Before I pull the front bearings I am wondering if this is common for the Dunlop’s.  Do they run noisy?  I run Dunlop’s on my Magna and they are quiet.  I should mention that I was getting some noise from the old Avon Cobra tire before I took it off but I thought that was the worn tire though it had not yet hit the wear marks.  The noise is constant but increases slightly when I roll the bike to one side or the other.  It seems rolling to the right side is a bit louder or more noticeable than rolling to the left.

[old2soon]

Sorry for reviving this old thread but I recently installed a Dunlop E3 on the front of my 99 Valk Interstate.  Running 40 psi in the front and about 42 in the rear E3.  The tire has that out of balance sound at any speed above 45mph and it gets really noticeable at 70-80.  Before I pull the front bearings I am wondering if this is common for the Dunlop’s.  Do they run noisy?  I run Dunlop’s on my Magna and they are quiet.  I should mention that I was getting some noise from the old Avon Cobra tire before I took it off but I thought that was the worn tire though it had not yet hit the wear marks.  The noise is constant but increases slightly when I roll the bike to one side or the other.  It seems rolling to the right side is a bit louder or more noticeable than rolling to the left.

      Try 44-45 front 43-44 rear. And as an F Y I-you can't run fast enough to GIVE me an E-3. In all my years of riding the E-3 was the ONLY tire that scared m in the rain. And-YES-E-3s are noisy-as most tires are-some more than others. Look and see what the sidewalls say about MAXIMUM tire pressure-and get close to max. RIDE SAFE.

[fiddle mike]

Sorry for reviving this old thread but I recently installed a Dunlop E3 on the front of my 99 Valk Interstate.  Running 40 psi in the front and about 42 in the rear E3.  The tire has that out of balance sound at any speed above 45mph and it gets really noticeable at 70-80.

That was about a rear E3, in the original post.  I left the Texas coast and ended up replacing the tire while in Utah.  It looked good the morning I left home, but was seriously cupped 1500 miles later. 
I had a Metzler mounted, in Utah, but eventually replaced it with an Avon.

Since then, I've been up into East Texas, the Hill Country, to North Dakota, and to Oklahoma on the wheel bearing I had when I originally posted. 
The one time I did have a front wheel bearing go out, I could hear it screeching in a low speed turn.

That roar you hear when you rock the bike may be where the tread has worn flat and makes noise when it hits the 'corner' of the tread.

[Paladin528]

According to Dunlop the E3 should be @ 41 PSI for the load.  Any higher and the load rating decreases

[Fazer]

I had E3's put on front and back at the dealer since it was all they had in stock.  The tires that were on it when I bought it in August were so bad, rubber bands would have been an improvement.  So far the Dunlops have been ok, but then again I am not a "spirited" rider but I did drag the pegs---once.  Only have a couple of thou on 'em but so far so good.  I run 42 psi front and 45 psi rear hoping to get 10,000 miles out of them.

Next time it needs tires, I will go with AvonBridgstonePirelli--after doing a little more research here.

Greg

[Eagle 1]

When I bought my 99 IS it had E3s (almost new), one helloz a noise from the front and rear. I had every thing rebuilt (wheel bearings, brakes, new progressives, head bearings, final drive, along with new Metzlers. Got it home still had a lot of noise from the front (changes as road changes, but allways noisy), the rear had quieted down since they did find a bad wheel bearing there. Now the question; I also have an 85 LTD Goldwing with Shinkos and It is as quiet as any bike I have ever ridden even up to 100 MPH, and in the corners, what gives?

[doubletee]

Do not dismiss the noise! I had a similar noise/vibration that I started noticing last summer when I reached speeds of > 60 mph. However, I dismissed it, thinking I was being too OCD about it. It finally got really bad on a trip in Sept. While "pre-flighting" the bike for the return home, I looked over the rear tire. There was a bulge in it that was probably going to explode any time. I can only imagine how much fun an exploding tire at 75 mph on an expressway would have been. Once we got the tire off the rim, one could see a slice/separation about an inch long on the inside of the tire, leading to the bulge.

Don't ignore what you're feeling/hearing. Error on the safe side and work tirelessly to find the root cause. Not to be melodramatic, but it may be a matter of life and death.

[davit]

When I bought my 99 IS it had E3s (almost new), one helloz a noise from the front and rear. I had every thing rebuilt (wheel bearings, brakes, new progressives, head bearings, final drive, along with new Metzlers. Got it home still had a lot of noise from the front (changes as road changes, but allways noisy), the rear had quieted down since they did find a bad wheel bearing there. Now the question; I also have an 85 LTD Goldwing with Shinkos and It is as quiet as any bike I have ever ridden even up to 100 MPH, and in the corners, what gives?

I can't speak for E3ss or Metzlers, but my Interstate came with a new Dunlop 404 on the front that was very noisy and harsh riding.  Replaced it with a Shinko Tourmaster and it is now quiet and very smooth.  BTW it has 8000 miles on it with very little signs of wear, riding at 40 psi.  The rear is a Michelin Commander 2.

I also had a 1987 Goldwing with Shinko Tourmaster on the front anda Commander  2 on the rear, and would say that bike was smoother;  I would say the Valkyrie is smooth, the GL1200 silky smooth.

[BigM]

I had found that when running the E3 that the rubber got soft when riding on hot pavement. had small pea gravel inbedding deep in the new tire. I like the Avons.

[Cruzen]

Do not dismiss the noise! I had a similar noise/vibration that I started noticing last summer when I reached speeds of > 60 mph. However, I dismissed it, thinking I was being too OCD about it. It finally got really bad on a trip in Sept. While "pre-flighting" the bike for the return home, I looked over the rear tire. There was a bulge in it that was probably going to explode any time. I can only imagine how much fun an exploding tire at 75 mph on an expressway would have been. Once we got the tire off the rim, one could see a slice/separation about an inch long on the inside of the tire, leading to the bulge.

Don't ignore what you're feeling/hearing. Error on the safe side and work tirelessly to find the root cause. Not to be melodramatic, but it may be a matter of life and death.

I had a similar issue which I explained in detail on this board years ago.  On our return trip from Durango, Colorado to Scottsdale Arizona we were crossing the Indian reservation in Northern Arizona in an area that does not have cell phone service when the relatively low mileage Avon rear tire delaminated while we were doing 80mph on a 95 degree day.  What happened after that is a long story of almost getting hijacked but lets just say that we finally got the bike towed back home  and had a replacement Avon tire installed by our local dealer.  The fear of having an accident under those conditions really impacted my lady and it took several weeks before she would get back on the bike and months before she would consider another trip of any length. 

Two years later we were heading back to Durango.  On the same piece of road I felt the back of the bike getting a bit loose when going less than 50.  I did not tell my lady what I felt nor did I let her believe that there was anything wrong but we held our speed down to 55-60 for over a hundred twenty miles till we got to Durango and I told her I was trying to maximize my gas mileage.  The next morning the dealer in Durango tested the bike and said the rear tire was going bad.  When he removed it we saw that the inside core had separated from the outer thread.  That was when I got my first E3.  Now I know a lot of folks have had good service from their Avon tires and some of them live in the same heat conditions that I ride.  My lady and I fully suited in leathers weigh in around 350-360 and our luggage etc weighs in around 35-45 lbs so we are not over loading the bike.  That all said, my lady said she will NOT get on the bike if it has another Avon tire on it.   The noise I am experiencing now seems more metallic hence the reason I have been asking about bearings etc. 

PS: Avon never responded to our phone calls nor any of the letters and photo’s that I sent them.  I kept that first delaminated tire on my property for several years to show them but they never contacted me so I finally disposed of it.

[Cruzen]

Sorry for reviving this old thread but I recently installed a Dunlop E3 on the front of my 99 Valk Interstate.  Running 40 psi in the front and about 42 in the rear E3.  The tire has that out of balance sound at any speed above 45mph and it gets really noticeable at 70-80.

That roar you hear when you rock the bike may be where the tread has worn flat and makes noise when it hits the 'corner' of the tread.

At the time I noticed this the tire had about 200-225 miles on it so there is no flat track on it yet.  Now after some around town riding it has about 100 more and the noise is still there.  Later this week it goes back up on the jack and I will pull both brake calipers and spin the wheel to see if I can get the noise when there is no load on the bearings.