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Terrible Noise from front of bike.

joliver

joliver

Member
Member
2015 Kawasaki 1400 ABS
66,000 KM
Never an issue until there was.

I took my bike in to the dealership to get the tires replaced and the fork seals replaced.

When I took the bike in it was fine. Asked them to check the front brake pads just to see how they were doing.


I started driving home and a strange sound came out of the front: sounded like something was rubbing. It makes a clunking sound. Got a friend to trailer it tack to the shop - they are located 2 hours from my house).
They looked and it and phoned me and said it seemed fine. Went and checked it out and no it was not fine. Left it there and they said they cleaned the brake pads and when I tested it, a while later it seemed "mostly OK." They checked the shaft drive as well as they thought it was hard to tell where the noise was coming from. Claimed it was fine.
Drove it home yesterday in a rain storm and it seemed OK.
Today I went to take it for a ride and the clunking/rubbing noise is back big time.
I put the bike on the centre stand and the front tire seems to spin reasonably well.
Ideas????
Help!
Jim
 
Time to find another shop,.cuz I would have NO trust using this shop for anything...!

Wonder if the didnt put axle spacers back in, or tightened axle properly,.or at all axle could be spinning in the fork..
 
So the faster you go, the faster it clunks? Nothing you can feel when it's clunking.
 
Bud said:
So the faster you go, the faster it clunks? Nothing you can feel when it's clunking.
Click to expand...
No, it does not seem to change. In fact I have only really noiced it a low speed. I drove it home yesterday and did not hear "much."
 
I had a steering head bearings on my C10 and does not feel like that at all. I wonder how dangerous it would be to drive to another shop. If everything went to hell, BCAA would trailer it to the shop. If I phone them from home, unlikely they would want to do it but I on the side of the highway, they would.
Of course rally don't want to get hurt.
Konehead34 said:
Time to find another shop,.cuz I would have NO trust using this shop for anything...!

Wonder if the didnt put axle spacers back in, or tightened axle properly,.or at all axle could be spinning in the fork..
Click to expand...
This seems to be most logical. There was no problem until they took off the front tire. I am mechanically a zero. How could I tell if this was the issue? How dangerous would it be to drive it?
 
If you haven't lifted the front wheel and checked the forks for something loose, you really should. A good shop will.
 
+1 to what bud says. Get it up on the center stand. Then put some weight on the seat to get the front wheel.off the ground. As u said there wasn't a problem until the took the front wheel off. I'm betting ur gonna fine something...

How about wheel.bearings? Something wonky up front!
 
Konehead34 said:
+1 to what bud says. Get it up on the center stand. Then put some weight on the seat to get the front wheel.off the ground. As u said there wasn't a problem until the took the front wheel off. I'm betting ur gonna fine something...

How about wheel.bearings? Something wonky up front!
Click to expand...
I am agreeing with "wonky up front." Got the tire off the ground and I could not feel anything. Thinking of just driving it to a different shop. It is about 3 hours from here.The brakes seem work fine. Going to work on it tomorrow - my motivation is as wonky as the bike's front end.
Thanks for your suggestions.
 
Konehead34 said:
Time to find another shop,.cuz I would have NO trust using this shop for anything...!

Wonder if the didnt put axle spacers back in, or tightened axle properly,.or at all axle could be spinning in the fork..
Click to expand...
You nailed my thoughts! I was thinking a missing wheel spacer or two. It is very easy to misplace one when removing the wheel. The other thing could be that the front suspension was not centered when fork clamps were tightened. You could try to loosen up the lower tree bolts and axle nut/clamps. Once loose, cycle the front suspension through normal travel a few times and tighten back up.

I have done a lot of work on my bike adding parts and doing the valve job. Previous owner only took to the dealer. I found incorrect fasteners, wrong wire routing, missing fasteners and more from what the dealer mechanic left me.
 
OK -took the bike into the shop. Apparently one spacer was not put in properly. The bearings on one side are shot.
It is as it is.
Jim
 
joliver said:
OK -took the bike into the shop. Apparently one spacer was not put in properly. The bearings on one side are shot.
It is as it is.
Jim
Click to expand...
How shot - this shot? This is a pic of a set (yes thereā€™s two here) of bearings from a bike brought to me with complaint it was wandering on the road and making clunking noises.

Wayne, Carol & Blue
 

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I drove it to the dealership for repair: 315 km (200 miles). It was not a wise and prudent thing to do. It got progressively worse and the trip progressed. They said "it was a mess." I have not seen it as I had to get myself back home while they waited for parts. It is now fixed but and won't be able to pick it up for 10 days.
 
joliver said:
I drove it to the dealership for repair: 315 km (200 miles). It was not a wise and prudent thing to do. It got progressively worse and the trip progressed. They said "it was a mess." I have not seen it as I had to get myself back home while they waited for parts. It is now fixed but and won't be able to pick it up for 10 days.
Click to expand...
What did they do? Wheel bearings?
 
....u can't leave us hanging like that!...they had to have told u what they replaced/repaired b4 they did it.
 
This thread and other articles makes me think about my wheel bearings. Miss Tourmaline is turning 20k this summer and has been on the planet for 14 years. Think I might plan on replacing at my next tire change, which will likely be at the start of next season. Seems like good insurance to avoid issues with such critical parts.
 
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