Squeaking noise in front end while riding

[Valkman67]

Hello-

I've got a red 2014 Valkyrie and love it- but one thing is driving me nuts!
Most of the  time, at any speed, there is a squeaking noise whenever I ride over the most minor or bigger bumps in the road.  The bike runs great and haven't had any other problems, so far.  I got it just about a year ago and have 3,600 miles on it.  My previous '98 Valk did the same in the last couple of years- but I attributed that to it's age.

I'm getting my first oil change in a couple of weeks and will have the shop see if they can pinpoint the noise.  Has anyone else had this issue?  Any input is much appreciated!

Thanks,

Tom

[hungryeye]

Try retorquing all the screws and bolts up front, that is one of the 1st service tasks. You don't need a torque wrench, just put a wrench or screw drive on the fastener and make sure it is snug. I don't notice any squeak in my 2014, I'd also check for mice in the air cleaner   

[idcrewdawg]

It's the gerbils complaining. 

[mikesgotmods]

I know this sounds stupid, but could it be the cables that run down behind the headlight from the hand controls?  I keep meaning to dab a little white lithium grease on the point where my cables route through the guide bracket. Mine has been squeaking since the day I took her home from the dealer, but I'm always so exited to go riding, I keep forgetting to lube where the cables rub. Also after I get going I don't hear it anymore over wind and engine noise. I hear it at stop lights if I move the handle bar or extreme low speed, but no other time. Anyway, just a possibility, check it out for an easy fix if that's the noise.

[Robert]

I may have the same thing and have tried to chase it down. Its not as frequent as it once was but it occasionally is still there. A big bump wont do it a washboard road when the bike heats up and you get this hollow squeaking infrequently. I took the tank off and lubed all the mounting points and tightened the coil support and put rubber on it. I think the next time I pull the tank off to get to the air filter I am going to tighten the engine mounting bolts and the crash bars.

[SteveC]

I have the same problem, really hard to pin down 'where'.  I have 2 Cirbin seats, and noticed the noise when I switched from the OEM.  So my current suspect is the rubber contact points between the rubber feet on the seat and the paint.

Now don't go celebrating yet, but putting electrical tape over these 'feet' seems to have fixed it.  Still testing, I'd be interested in hearing from others.
Steve

[ledany]

Nissin callipers ?

[hungryeye]

If none of this cures the squeak, get yourself some Bluetooth in your helmet and turn up the volume...

[goldstar903]

If none of this cures the squeak, get yourself some Bluetooth in your helmet and turn up the volume...

Fixed! 

[Robert]

SOLVED

I did find the squeak in my bike and I am wondering if more dont have what I believe caused my problem. Which at first I thought was in the front forks.

The engine on these bikes are hung by 6 bolts with nuts that go through eyes on the frame. The ones on the left as you sit on the bike have an adjustment with a bolt through the center, the ones on the right have just a bolt. What I found is the center bolt on the right was loose and no where near spec. The other bolts that hold the engine were all tight. I am wondering if more dont have this problem.

The spec for this bolt is 29 ft lbs mine if I had to guess maybe was 15 since I got one or two turns on the bolt. I did use a torque wrench which I dont usually do but was curious about how far out of spec it was. I am still not sure totally if this is the problem since I have not had the time to really run the bike and the noise was not constant. But regardless this bolt should not have been that loose. I went through all the rest of the bolts along with the crash bar bolts and only found the crash bar bolts were a bit loose nothing to bad. I loosened and greased the radiator mounting bolts and of course put my KN air filter in and assembled and road tested it.

There is nothing hitting the frame and nothing else that I touched that was this loose. I went all over  the engine and bike since the tank was off and you can see pretty much everything like this. The bike does feel better but it will take some riding to see if this did the trick.

Even if you dont have a squeak I would still recheck these bolts for all those that do maintenance on their bikes. You can get to pretty much all the engine mounting bolts without taking off the tank but since they are bolts and have nuts on them its just easier to get a wrench on them. The ones that adjust (left side) you can recheck without the special tool if you hold the bolt and tighten the nut without turning the bolt. This will keep the adjustment but tighten the bolt. Mine weren't loose and were pretty tight but I would still check them all.

In this pic its the only bolt that is at 29 ft lbs



One last tip for all those with non ABS bikes,

The brake line for the front brake goes into the front engine cover and loops back out it is not connected to anything except at the ends where it has blocks that the rubber lines screw into and is roughly a c shape. This can be the source of some rattles since its really not secure and actually touches the coil supports. In some spots they do have rubber on the metal line but not in all spots. I bent and rerouted mine a bit and put a wire tie on it to secure it since it does vibrate. I dont think this ever caused a real problem but just didn't like the fact it could and does vibrate and hit the support.

[Valkman67]

Steve-

You were right... it IS my Corbin seat!  I dont' know why I didn't try this right after you suggested it but today when it was squeaking, I lifted my butt off of the seat- and- no more squeaking!  I sat back down and it was back.

So, I'll have to try what you suggested and put some electrical tape on the rubber posts.

Thanks again to everyone and safe riding!

Tom

[goldstar903]

What makes you think that is was your seat and not your a$$ making the squeaking noise?  

Just kidding!  

[SteveC]

Steve-

You were right... it IS my Corbin seat!  I dont' know why I didn't try this right after you suggested it but today when it was squeaking, I lifted my butt off of the seat- and- no more squeaking!  I sat back down and it was back.

So, I'll have to try what you suggested and put some electrical tape on the rubber posts.

Thanks again to everyone and safe riding!

Tom

Thanks for the affirmation Tom, I really wasn't certain that was the issue.  I think we need something better than electrical tape, any ideas?

Steve

[Jess from VA]

My Ultimate squeaks too, mainly the backrest post stabbed into the slot (I use a Mustang backrest on my Ultimates, it's a better fit for my low back than the ultimate backrest.  And the posts are identical size as far as I can tell).  Several years ago, I wrapped it tightly in electrical tape.  It stopped squeaking completely, then a year later I practically had to use a chain fall to yank it out.  The tape had melted and it was a job to clean up.

I never taped under my bumpers (not that I wouldn't).  I have cleaned the area and waxed the paint and armoralled the bumpers.  Not a complete cure, but an improvement.

[hubcapsc]

Steve-

You were right... it IS my Corbin seat!  I dont' know why I didn't try this right after you suggested it but today when it was squeaking, I lifted my butt off of the seat- and- no more squeaking!  I sat back down and it was back.

So, I'll have to try what you suggested and put some electrical tape on the rubber posts.

Thanks again to everyone and safe riding!

Tom

Thanks for the affirmation Tom, I really wasn't certain that was the issue.  I think we need something better than electrical tape, any ideas?

Steve

I haven't noticed the problem with the Corbin y'all mention, but before I got the Corbin
I was using a Utopia backrest, I got it right when it came out, it had just been developed.

The Utopia guy sent along, a week or so later, a couple of peel-off-stick rubber pads to
protect the rear fender from the heads of the bolts that hold the Utopia bracket in the passenger
seat, I bet these would work great as the "something better" you are looking for...

There's probably an isle at Lowe's that has similar peel-off-stick rubber pads...

-Mike

[hungryeye]

How about a little dab of grease on each pad??

[Robert]

You can put silicon grease or die electric grease on the seat rubbers to stop the noise. But also make sure the seat is adjusted properly on install. It should just lay there very easily with no pressure to put the rear mounting bolts in. There is an adjustment on the seat itself on the rear mounting bolts bracket. Dont forget the rubbers under the rear chrome mounting either.

[SteveC]

You can put silicon grease or die electric grease on the seat rubbers to stop the noise. But also make sure the seat is adjusted properly on install. It should just lay there very easily with no pressure to put the rear mounting bolts in. There is an adjustment on the seat itself on the rear mounting bolts bracket. Dont forget the rubbers under the rear chrome mounting either.

Didn't know abou the adjustment, that's new to me, and it should help. 
Thanks!
Steve

[Valkman67]

I haven't tried grease but did put electrical tape on the rubber pads and the squeak is about 95% gone.  Thank GOD!!

[Fsixer]

I had a squeaking issue as well. Mine were the throttle cables where they go down through the hole behind the headlight bezel. Mini strapped them to the other side of the bracket that holds them and it stopped it. They were rubbing on that plastic trim piece.

[mikesgotmods]

Finally got around to greasing my cables where they go behind the headlight. Problem solved!!

[Fsixer]

Finally got around to greasing my cables where they go behind the headlight. Problem solved!!

Cool. Yea it fixed mine too.

[dinosnake]

Thanks for the tip guys, I just got a squeak starting this weekend and, thanks to this thread, when I removed my butt from the seat the squeaking stopped so I knew it was the Corbin.

In my case, it was the front aluminum bar that slides under the forward hook clamp, metal-to-metal contact (and probably enhanced by the rear screws being a bit loose).  Removed the seat and lightly oiled all bumpers and the bar, no more squeak.  Corbin should have used a thick nylon forward bar, self-lubricating, rather than aluminum to avoid metal-to-metal, but there you go.

[goldstar903]

I too was riding today and heard a squeak, and then realized that I had just squeaked one out!

[postoak]

Over the last week I had developed a squeak that only occurred when I put the bike on the stand and turned the wheel all the way to the left to park it.

Thanks to someone mentioning throttle cables, I sat on the bike and turned the handle bar all the way to the right and looked at the cables on the left side and noticed that they were in front of instead of behind this metal keeper.  I stuck them back behind the keeper and the squeak went away.  
 


EDIT: I was just looking in the service manual and they don't show the throttle cables routed behind that metal keeper -- but, oh well, it stopped the squeak putting them there.