Grinding noise when cornering

[vmb]

Started noticing a slight grinding noise that can be felt in the handlebar and foot pegs. Only occurs when leaning thru curves at speeds below 40-50 mph. Had rear bearings replaced about 10,000 ago and just serviced rear myself, new shaft, pinion cup, seals, o-rings, dampers, etc. Everything torqed to specs. Metzler 880 on front with Avon Cobra on rear, both in very good shape. Is it just the tires or something else to check? Sure will appreciate the feed back! Thanks, Virgil

[Bighead]

Front bearings would be where I would look.

[8Track]

What tyre pressures are you running? Pump them up to at least 38 front and 42 rear. If you were running lower pressures and the noise now decreases, then the sound you are hearing is tread cupping from under-inflated tyres.

If so keep the pressures up and keep on riding.

I had the same issue on my bike and increasing the tyre pressure helped a lot. As I put more miles on the tyres the grinding sound continued to reduce. It finally went away completely when I put new tyres on.

[Skinhead]

When I ran MC tires on my valks (many miles ago) the wear on the rear tire would cause noise and vibration while cornering.  It didn't sound like grinding though.  If the bearings were replaced PROPERLY, they sould be good with only 10K on them.

[sandy]

It's normal tires singing. As was said, run pressures harder. My Cobras are always at 42F and 46R. No singing or cupping throughout tire life.

[Michvalk]

Check the bottoms of your footpegs

[Momz]

Started noticing a slight grinding noise that can be felt in the handlebar and foot pegs. Only occurs when leaning thru curves at speeds below 40-50 mph. Had rear bearings replaced about 10,000 ago and just serviced rear myself, new shaft, pinion cup, seals, o-rings, dampers, etc. Everything torqed to specs. Metzler 880 on front with Avon Cobra on rear, both in very good shape. Is it just the tires or something else to check? Sure will appreciate the feed back! Thanks, Virgil

Who replaced the bearings and mounted the rear wheel at that time?

If it was a dealer,...then I'd remove the rear wheel and carefully check the rear bearings for smooth operation. If everything checks out OK and your ready for careful re-assembly. Most dealer techs do not properly torque the axle upon re-assembly.

If you have a bearing go bad on a long ride,....well lets say your day is ruined.(Voice of experience)

If your bearing is OK, check tire pressures and all those other suggestions.
Good Luck

[vmb]

It was a dealer on the Mississippi coast that replaced the rear bearings (went out on the trip down). I just serviced the rear myself and found the thrust washer missing and the grease looked very old(hard as a rock) which tells me the dealer didn't lube the rear as ordered but charged for it anyway. How do you tell if the bearing was correctly installed. It seemed OK to my inexperienced eye

[Bighead]

I still would check the front bearings. We all know that cupping tires make some noise but he said he could feel it in the handle bars and foot pegs? Man those tires must look like a gator has been chewing on them
He stated tires appear in good shape.
Just my opinion and it is worth eggsactly what was paid for it

[pancho]

How many miles were put on the bike without the thrust washer in place? Running without it, will cause the driven flange to eat into the wheel surface around the bearing, which will decrease the clearance between the two, and cause the flange to eat into the bolts that secure the damper retainer plate which will cause noise when letting off and on the throttle,, like grinding.

How did all that stuff look when doing the final drive service??

[The emperor has no clothes]

How many miles were put on the bike without the thrust washer in place? Running without it, will cause the driven flange to eat into the wheel surface around the bearing, which will decrease the clearance between the two, and cause the flange to eat into the bolts that secure the damper retainer plate which will cause noise when letting off and on the throttle,, like grinding.

How did all that stuff look when doing the final drive service??

yeah I would agree. If you ran it long enough without the thrust washer you've probably got issues to deal with now.

[indybobm]

This is what my rear wheel looked like the first time I took it off (after I cleaned it up). The PO left off the thrust washer. Ate up the wheel, drive flange, and final drive splines. Not pretty. Hope yours did not look like this!

[vmb]

I ran w/o the thrust washer 5000 mi at least but the rear end showed none of the signs like the one pictured here. From the input here I will be checking my ft bearings. What will a bad ft bearing look like?

[Paxton]

"Check the bottoms of your footpegs"  
+1

[PhredValk]

Bad bearings can look bad, or just fine. Poke the axle an inch into the bearing, put some sideways pressure on the axle with your hand (don't reef on it) and turn. If it's bad you should feel or hear some grinding or clicking.
Fred.

[The emperor has no clothes]

I ran w/o the thrust washer 5000 mi at least but the rear end showed none of the signs like the one pictured here. From the input here I will be checking my ft bearings. What will a bad ft bearing look like?

depends on how bad it is. If it doesn't look bad put your finger in it and spin it around and see if you feel any roughness( should be nice and smooth). You are very lucky not having any damage running 5k without a thrust washer

[Jersey mike]

When I read you were using the Metzler 880 up front it made me remember something from quite a while ago which was tire noise when cornering. I can't remember if it was something I read or was discussed in conversation, but I do know that Metzler recommends 41lbs (I believe) up front, not what Honda has posted for OEM tires.


BTW....how's the ride w non matching tires?