Just happened to me. Heard a rattle while riding and and didn't want a repeat from the last noise I heard. That one turned out to be one of the bolts on the windshield bracket losening up. By the time I found the cause of the rattle and was able to pull over, it had fallen out. Made for a slow ride home with the shield a bit floppy. Memphis Shades was real good about the specialty hardware (and I used Loctite blue on reassembly)
Anyway, not wanting to repeat that again, I was touching/ holding each part I could reach, seeing if I could locate the rattle while riding. NG. Nothing I touched got rid of the noise. Turned a corner, rolled over a small bump in the road and heard a metallic clatter on the ground. Figuring it was from the bike, I immediately pulled over and saw something shiny in the road behind me. Turned out to be the left side heat shield in middle of the road. Luckily I wasn't going fast (probably wouldn't have heard it), and lucky no traffic coming up to roll over it, thanks to a red light. Had a few light scratches in it. Rattle noise was probably one tab separating from its weld and the vibration & bump in the road was enough to separate the 2nd one. No parts broken, just weld separation. Took off the muffler and had a local shop put 2 tack welds and all is good again. Maybe cause of the windshield, but I would have sworn that the rattle sound was from up front.
