Author Topic: Front wheel squeel during left lean... (Read 4469 times)

Superchuck · **on:** February 20, 2011, 04:54:47 pm

Hey all... i put about 80 miles on my new electra yesterday and halfway through the day I noticed an unnerving sound. When I'd lean the bike to the left side, at speeds of 35-40 mph (it may do it higher but i didn't push it past 40) but when i do that it has a squeeling sound like something is rubbing. I hit the front brakes lightly but that didn't seem to change or make the squeel stop. It sort-of sounds like rubber, but there's no way for me to see the changing clearance of tire to "fender thingie" not sure if thats the proper term...

so i pulled over into a neighborhood and inspected the front end. At the bottom of the right fork leg the tiny vertical bolt with a nut and copper washer on the other end had been working its way undone, so i tightened it up real good thinking that would solve the squeeling issue, but it didn't. The tiny bolt i'm talking about seems to clamp shut the tiny hairline separation that allows the wheel to be loose enought to remove...? also this is speculation, i'm still awaiting my snidals manual. there wasn't a bolt or area for this bolt on the left fork leg.

any ideas what this could be? it's a very unnerving sound and I don't want to ride on it much for visions of darwin yanking off or seizing my front wheel.

top get a better idea of when the sound happens, it makes it when i lean the bike into a left hand curve, and also when i sway the bike even just barely to the left to switch position in my lane.

many thanks!

The Garbone · **Reply #1 on:** February 20, 2011, 05:06:18 pm

Odd,

I would check that all is good with the speedo drive. Also you might want to check the fork oil, drain and replace.

I would put a piece of wood under the center stand and have someone sit on the bike so you can rotate the tire freely and check for binding and movement. Who knows, maybe they forgot to put the right side bearings or they are defective.

I would also do the same on the rear tire, just for giggles..

Superchuck · **Reply #2 on:** February 20, 2011, 06:59:07 pm

thanks, also i'm totally new to bikes in general, so what is a speedo drive? also any other tips or suggestions would be great!

thanks

chuck

The Garbone · **Reply #3 on:** February 20, 2011, 07:47:47 pm

The brake is on the left side of the tire and there should be a metal or plastic speedo drive on the right. Follow the cable from the speedo and the other end goes to the driver housing.

UncleErnie · **Reply #4 on:** February 20, 2011, 10:59:54 pm

Holy cow- a driver housing is the stinly place I live. The speedometer cable goes from the wheel hub, into the headlight bucket and screws into the underneath the dial housing. The scewing part is a knurled casing or knob kinda-sorta.

I think it's as simple as a fender stay (brace) has come loose. ?Did you go over EVERY nut on the bike, as previously instructed?
I haven't gone out to look at my forks, but I seem to remember they should look the same (could be wrong, though) If one of those drain bolts came loose, I'm betting your forl oil sitch is worse than when you got the bike. That's pretty bad.
Heck- the way they deal with forks in Indai, you may even be missing a spring on the left side.

Finally, as you haven't gone over nuts, move the wheel bck and forthto make sure it's not sliding from side to side on the axle.

singhg5 · **Reply #5 on:** February 21, 2011, 01:19:44 am

Quote from: Superchuck on February 20, 2011, 04:54:47 pm

When I'd lean the bike to the left side, at speeds of 35-40 mph (it may do it higher but i didn't push it past 40) but when i do that it has a squeeling sound like something is rubbing.

I would recommend that you park the bike on centre stand so that the front tyre is off the ground, and then rotate the front wheel by hand. Can you hear anything ? Then turn the handle and see where is the sound coming from.

Do you have disc front brake ? If so, the brake pads may be rubbing the disc. In that case, clean the disc with brake cleaner or acetone.

Superchuck · **Reply #6 on:** February 21, 2011, 06:28:15 am

Thanks for all the suggestions... i looked over the bike when i got it but was dissuaded from cranking anything too tight for fear of stripping the bolts. i'll get out on it in the morning and check it out real well as suggested above. i also noticed that the fender was, how do you say, less than symmetrical, so i'm hoping that's all that it is...

anything else i should check out while i'm at it?

tooseevee · **Reply #7 on:** February 21, 2011, 01:19:05 pm

Quote from: Superchuck on February 20, 2011, 06:59:07 pm

thanks, also i'm totally new to bikes in general, so what is a speedo drive? also any other tips or suggestions would be great!

thanks

chuck

Hey Chuck,

I'm sure you figured this by now, but a "speedo drive" is the speedometer drive.

Superchuck · **Reply #8 on:** February 21, 2011, 03:30:28 pm

thanks, yeah i'm on my way outside right now to try to troubleshoot this thing... putting this half day off work to good use- will report in later on with findings/progress-

cyrusb · **Reply #9 on:** February 21, 2011, 06:57:51 pm

Quote from: tooseevee on February 21, 2011, 01:19:05 pm

Hey Chuck,

I'm sure you figured this by now, but a "speedo drive" is the speedometer drive.

You mean it has nothing to do with underwear? Because you'll get the same noise from a speedo on a hard left......

UncleErnie · **Reply #10 on:** February 21, 2011, 09:17:19 pm

While out in the mountains on this 70 degree day and dry roads (on Brand-X), I was thinking; What do you have your front wheel inflated to? I got to thinking with a fender that's too close, maybe if your tire is too low, the sidewalls would squich out and rub in a turn.
Personally, I prefer a front tire at 30-32psi. If you hae the stock ribbed things, maybe go it 28-30.

Superchuck · **Reply #11 on:** February 21, 2011, 09:22:54 pm

Hahha yeah i was thinking of adding some red spandex to my riding attire-

anyway, i checked out the front hub area and there seems to be a bit of play in the speedo drive... like it slides back and forth between the wheel and the fork ever so slightly, maybe one mm. My manual says there's also supposed to be a spacer in there too, and I don't know if maybe i'm just not seeing it, or maybe it's part of that silver rod that connects through the hub.

Also in my post above I believe the manual refers to my loose vertical bolt as the 'pinch bolt.' I'm guessing what happened is that as the pinch bolt loosened, the forks separated slightly during turns, and when i re-tightened the pinch bolt the fork was farther apart than it should be. I loosened this and tried pushing the forks together by hand but it wouldn't budge. (had a friend sit on the back seat while on center stand to unweight front wheel).

Speedometer is working, fender is on tight, fork drain plugs were already in very tight... didn't check the fork oil levels yet, but will do so...

I'm picturing this 'RH spacer' to be a washer of some sort, which I couldn't find as part of my front hub area... does anyone know either way? it's an Electra AVL.

Also when I spun the wheel i heard the disc brake rubbing ever so-slightly at a certain point in the rotation, but this wouldn't be where the squeel is coming from would it? i figure if it's a constant rubbing, it would be a constant squeeling, not just on left leans...

I'm also thinking my next order of business is to take off the front wheel and put it back on, making sure it's all in the correct order, tightness, etc. Anything I should know before doing that? I know to put some cardboard between the brake pads so they don't seize up, anything else?

thanks! also any other ideas would be greatly appreciated

Superchuck · **Reply #12 on:** February 21, 2011, 09:23:40 pm

Thanks uncle E, I'll go check that right now...

Superchuck · **Reply #13 on:** February 21, 2011, 09:29:49 pm

Front tire is 31 psi, rear is 28.

UncleErnie · **Reply #14 on:** February 21, 2011, 09:37:59 pm

Well, it won't fix your noise, but the rear tire should be the same- or most people use 2 or 4 pounds more in the back than the front. Secret people come by to check these things.

Superchuck · **Reply #15 on:** February 21, 2011, 09:56:48 pm

Hahah well i'll have to remedy that... any reason not to use a bike pump, or should i take a trip to the gas station, quarters in hand?

also, any other suggestions for the front end?

Superchuck · **Reply #16 on:** February 22, 2011, 01:15:01 am

OK so i think i solved my mystery squeel...

Loosened the pinch bolt, then snugged up the main axle nut to eliminate the one mm of play that the speedo drive had between the wheel and fork. Then i took it out for a spin just as it started to freezing rain... got it to 40 once on a straightaway just to try and recreate the squeal (the in-lane lean/sway). I didn't hear anything so I assume the problem is fixed. I didn't want to stay out very long since it was pretty awful riding conditions, but I'm pretty sure I fixed my mystery squeal.

On a side note, is there a maximum torque setting for the front or rear axle? I don't want to be aggravating another problem by my assumed fix of this issue-

I've seen this axle torque listed for other bikes, but not for enfields and there's nothing in my super factory manual about it... I didn't crank it very tight, just enough to take up the small amount of play.

thanks!

UncleErnie · **Reply #17 on:** February 22, 2011, 01:56:30 am

When the nut is really hard to tighten, but then the wrench just swings around farily easily- it was too tight for a minute there. Next time, after the new axle and nut come in, stop before that happens.

Superchuck · **Reply #18 on:** February 22, 2011, 02:33:14 am

hahaha- an exact science!

Ice · **Reply #19 on:** February 22, 2011, 08:52:18 am

In my FS ( Factory Super) page 11-5 provides the spec 65Nm which converts to 47.94 Ft-Lbs, while technically precise it does lack the entertainment value of the Uncle Ernie method.

Superchuck · **Reply #20 on:** February 22, 2011, 12:50:46 pm

Cool, I'll doublecheck mine too but that sounds good... also, my torque wrench has a 4 ft-lb margin of error... should i set it to 46 ft lb if the book calls for 50 lb to avoid overtightening, or is 4 ft lb not that big of a deal and I can set it to 50 ft lb and if it's tighter or looser, no big deal?

singhg5 · **Reply #21 on:** February 22, 2011, 11:23:04 pm

Quote from: Superchuck on February 22, 2011, 12:50:46 pm

Cool, I'll doublecheck mine too but that sounds good... also, my torque wrench has a 4 ft-lb margin of error... should i set it to 46 ft lb if the book calls for 50 lb to avoid overtightening, or is 4 ft lb not that big of a deal and I can set it to 50 ft lb and if it's tighter or looser, no big deal?

@Chuck:

Your motorcycle front wheel squeel is gone, great job !!

Front wheel axle nut can be set between 40 - 50 Ft-lb. If you set your torque wrench at 46 and it has an error of (+),(-) 4, then your nut is between 42 to 50 Ft-lb, that sounds pretty good.