98 tourer noise

[slabghost]

I must be getting used to the bike although it's still new to me. I'm getting a noise usually under load at random rpm. It sounds almost like quietly pouring pea gravel. It lasts only a few seconds at a time but is very annoying. Then on my last ride with it I got intermittent buzz feel in the footpegs. It seemed to alternate with the noise. Once home and stopped it smelled like hot rubber.
Any ideas here?

[Chrisj CMA]

Put the bike on a lift (rear) try to make the wheel move side to side.  If it moves it will be a slight "tic tic" feel.  That would be a bad wheel bearing.

[Marinakorp]

check your front tire for uneven wear... and then the rear rear.

[John Schmidt]

Check under the front fender. There's a couple pieces of lining under there for noise suppression and they sometimes will come loose. When the front tire rubs against it, it will give similar noises and also smell like hot rubber. Easy stuff checked first!