Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Squeak is driving me Crazy

I did a search on front end squeaks and found the ones on checking the alignment of the fork shrouds, shooting WD-40 up them, etc, etc.

I tried them all.

I dropped the shrouds and coated the upper part of the forks with white lithium,rubbed it all over the forks, shot some down into the top past the rubber seals, checked the shroud alignment to make sure they weren't touching and the right fork still squeaks. It's driving me crazy.

Anything else I can try?

Have you tried the speedo drive unit and the speedo cable?I`ve had trouble on other bikes i`ve owned with these.It`s worth a try.

Speedo cable is a good call. Those things can squeek and drive you nuts.

I had this problem with my 2004 TBA, right from the word go it squeeked especially going down the road, you just seem to tune in to the bl**dy noise and it is irritating, people were starting to look at me while riding past. On the 500 mile service I mentioned it to the mechanic and he just said a few make a noise and squirted some sort of lubricant up the into the fork shrouds, never heard it again after that. I do know how you feel though "Paranoid"

Had a very aggravating noise coming from the front end at just a certain speed/rpm. turned out it was one of the wire loops that gathers the cables just above the headlight. It was resonating at a certain RPM and was just close enough to the headlight shell to vibrate on it. Drove me bananas until one night I couldn't stand it and got up to speed and crawled up the gas tank and listened real hard for it. Once it was isolated, a quick yank on the loop fixed it. I never would have believed it.

Thanks for the replies, but it is definitely coming from the forks. After I lubed everything up I got on the bike and bounced the front end a little. The squeak is a wee bit better, but still there.

I love my SM, but some of the parts they put on it are definitely sub-standard. I'll be visiting with my dealer in the near future...........

Hi Ken,
My '02 TBA developed a sqeak a couple weeks ago after 35,000 miles. I haven't tried to fix it yet, but I will soon. I am off work (Fri,Sat,Sun) this week with rain on two of those days so I'll jack it up and give it a look. I am going to use lithium spray and clean it with a giant Qtip. I hope it works, I don't need to be driven crazy, I can just walk!
Dennis

Hi there I had exactly the same problem on my 03 SM it was an ex demo & had been stood for a while. I took it back to the dealer & it turned out to be the fork shrouds, mechanic said the spacers sometimes aren't bedded in right & he lubed them & all was fine