Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech ok, sharpen your tongues - this one's different...

I have buckhorn bars and a Windvest windshield on my 03 TA. I wasn't happy with how tight the throttle cables, clutch cable, and front brake hose was, so I replaced them with ss ones, 4 inches longer, and reinstalled my Jim's spacers under my handlebar risers. Everything fit real well, the comfort factor is even better now....

But....

Now as I ride, I hear a strange harmonic noise... it increases in pitch as my speed increases. Nothing is flapping or vibrating as far as I can tell, but the noise is like a hearing test.... At about 30 mph it starts out as a low "whooooooooo", then as the speed increases it becomes a higher pitch till it is a "EEEEEEEEEEEE"....
As I slow down it reduces in pitch... it is driving me nutzo.
I have tried pulling in the clutch, applying each brake, swerving from side to side, placing my hand over the speedo, the driving lights, the new cables, all over the windshield, everywhere I can reach and the sound never goes away. I turn my head every which way, but the sound is coming from the front end, it's almost like I've got an open beer bottle lashed to one of the forks....which I don't, btw...

Seriously, (moi?) I even put the bike up on the jack and checked for play in the front end, the front wheel, tire wear, runout, and all is ok. But the noise persists... it's like voices in my head....!!!!

Any comments? Fire away...

My WAG....speedo cable. Never had one whine on me, but I know a few riding buddies who've had this problem, and the usual sympton was a noise that changed pitch when speeding up or slowing down. Try lubing it. Either that, or maybe you're getting an aerodynamic noise coming from somewhere in your new setup. Try removing the windvest and see if it goes away? Or how about the cable routing? Did you run the wiring through the new bars and maybe the wind is blowing over the holes like you do when you blow on an empty bottle?

Take a look at the wire loops over the headlight housing (that hold the cables). I had something like that driving me nuts, that would increase with RPM and just got real, real loud. The loops were vibrating on the headlight shell! A slight pull on them was all it took, but finding it was a bear. I actually climbed over the bars at interstate speed and had to listen real close to everything to track it down. Good luck with it.

Good points above. You can also try moving the cables/loom/lines about using tape or tie wraps to temporarily change their location/angle/place from where they currently are (pull one in, another out, tight to the bars, loom wrapped, etc)

U sure it's not the rotor? Mine buzzes a lot, even tho it's the floating rotor, I think it rubs a wee bit. As for the other suggestions, I completely removed that wire cable holder when I internally wired, but yeah could be aerodynamic....

no, it's not the rotor... mine started buzzing when I put the EBC pads on it and it still buzzes the same. I pulled the speedo cable off and squirted some oil down it's gullet tonight when I got home from work. I'll have to check it out tomorrow... So far, that is the most logical possibility, because of the variance in pitch with speed. But it would be odd that it started after changing the cables and hoses... If and when I find the cause, I'll post it.... it may save someone else's sanity someday...

Grump,
Try realigning the clutch cable adjustment barrel's slot?

Try placing a wide piece of tape on the forward side of the new ss cables. The longer cables might be forming a loop(s) cutting the air differently than stock. Look at all the attachment points for the ss cables as well as these may be splitting the air. Also you have shifted the airflow across your ride vis-à-vis Jim’s spacers. The wind Vest might be the culprit. Just some thoughts...

Hi Grump,

Have you located the source of the whine? The bike's whine that is...

Moe,
Not yet. I haven't really ridden much since Sunday due to the oppressive heat and humidity and "isolated" thunderstorms around here. Tuesday was thunder and lightning and wind and rain and power failures at work and 7 miles away at home my wife said "I thought I heard thunder somewhere..." Tonight at work it looked like fireworks on the south east horizon and a guy that lives in that direction called for a vacation day because his above ground pool blew away!!!
I've got a 5 day weekend coming up, the weather's supposed to clear up, so I'll get it figured out post the results....

Hi Grump, Man do I (and all those along the Eastern Seaboard, all the way up even to that certain brewmaster in Canadinqua, NY ) know what you are talking about! Of the 30 days in June it has rained EVERY day. As of this morning we are 1.2 inches away from setting the June rainfall record for all recorded time. And it looks like we'll get that 1.2 inches today! Kinda changes the old phrase asphalt dancing to ‘asphalt dancing and rain storm juking’.

If all else fails, go for louder pipes!

And too bad about the weather. I often think about moving back to the midwest, but not even having to check the weather before an all day ride is pretty sweet! (not to rub it in).

Good luck with your singing motorcycle.

Well, the whine is gone. I don't know for sure what it was, but I altered the angle of my windshield to just a smidge more vertical and the noise went away. It must have been some sort of resonance caused by the air passing between the w/s and the speedo. By tilting the w/s up a hair more the gap between the 2 is ever-so-slightly reduced, and now the "hearing test" noises are gone.

Thanks to all for the input and suggestions.