I'm getting a rather pronounced metallic clank that seems to be somewhere on the left side. Usually only does it once quite loud when I hit the first rough spot in the road. After that it seems to go away or is reduced to more of a rattle, but again it has to be on a rough surface. I pulled both bags and the mount and bag rails so I had a clear look at the rear half of the bike. Put it up on the centerstand then checked, banged, kicked, hammered with a rubber mallet, found nothing. Only thing that even gave a slight rattle was the forward chrome exhaust cover which I discovered had lost one of the rubber insulators. Replacing that didn't make any difference so next I pulled the left shock, thinking possibly the bushings were shot...they aren't. Since I had the shock off I went ahead and changed the HD spring for the standard spring. Did both shocks, gives a softer ride but have it set kinda on the high side to compensate for my ample keester. Without the bags or any of the brackets and rails mounted, I went for a short ride to see if anything had changed. Still a slight sound, really bothers me because I can't seem to pin it down and don't know if it might be dangerous. The thought did occur to me, I wonder if the left swingarm bearing might be going bad. Guess that will be the next thing I'll check, really has me stymied.
This isn't the reason I couldn't make it today, I think you all undestand. So I stayed close to home and took the time to do some "clank" searching. Also got in some badly needed cleaning but that's a given when you have saddlebags. So, if anyone has any suggestions on where or what to look for, I'm open to ideas. In the mean time, I really need to go through all the crap I carry in the bags. You'd think I was planning a trip to Alaska judging by the contents.
