Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Front end squeak?

I'm at a loss for what could cause this:

Every time the forks "unload" they squeak. They don't make any noise on the compression stroke, but on the way back up they squeak.

To answer some questions ahead of time: stock forks/brakes; less than 1000 miles on the bike; never been down or damaged.

Any ideas?

May sound nuts,but are your springs in the correct way .If you installed some aftermarket variable rate springs you may have them in the forks wrong.I found when I had the front end apart on mine once that I had one spring in upside down .My fork did squeak.It bugged me and now I do not hear it or my ears have gotten worse.Also do you have enough fork oil in there for everything to be getting lubed correctly?

Doesn't sound nuts. I've been kinda planning on installing new springs anyway because I don't like how much it dives, but haven't done anything yet.

So at this point everything is completely stock in the front end.

I wondered the same about the fork oil, but I've never had any leak of oil... Is it possible it could evaporate?

If it does it standing still, have someone listen and touch each lower fork shroud when it happens. If it vibrates it's probably the source.

Thanks Deon!

It did do it standing still--so your post made me think, and go duh!

I have had a leather tool bag strapped to the fork legs and I had tightened the buckles tight enough that it wouldn't slip down and rub on the fender. I guess I pulled them down enough to make the fork shrouds rub. Took the bag off and at least when I'm standing still the squeak is gone. I'll confirm in motion tomorrow.

Now how do I mount the tool bag? I think it's too wide to mount low on the frame between the headers.

Don't know if this is your problem, but, at least earlier versions had a situation whereas the forks would squeak shortly after new. The cure seems to be to shoot a shot or two of aerosol lubricant (i.e. WD-40 or equiv.)up under the shrouds. Try that before you rip it apart. If that's the problem, you'll know immediately (and save yourself a bunch of grief...)

My Speedmaster still squeeks from time to time at almost 18,000 miles. It can be annoying but a shot of Silicone lube such as WD 40 will stop it.

Its funny I was just going to ask if anyone else had this issue.My speedmaster only has 5000 miles and the front end seems to squeek from time to time but only when the temp is 100+degrees....Anyone elses squeak when its hot?
I will try the WD40.

I got a front end squeak and blokes here sent me this link to the tech vault (scroll down to squeaks and rattles)

saying to reposition the fork shrouds, so I undid and pulled down the shrouds a bit and cleaned any dirt I could find. This fixed my problem.