I had this on my 13 Fatbob. Also posted on the forums. For me it turned out that the steering stem nut was not even close to being torqued properly. It went away after that. Also retorqued all the nuts and bolts on the forks as well at the same time. Could have been a combination of everything but the worst offender was the stem nut.

 

its under warranty have it checked out. that's there job to fix your concerns. the brake noise is normal.

 

I would, and most likely will.

But if its something as simple as re-torquing the stem nut. I can do that.

My dealer is god awfully slow and i use the bike to commute. So really dont want to be without it for a few days or week.

Anyone know how to remove the chrome cover over the stem nut? Is it threaded on or just friction fit?

thanks

 

Its just threaded. Easy trick to remove it is put a rubber band around it. Gives you better traction to twist.

 

Thanks, ill give that a shot after work today.

 

I also vote for fall-away set incorrectly. (aka steering stem bearings). This will also cause a front end clunk upon braking.

A good way to check if this is your problem is while the engine is off, stand the bike up, grab a fist full of front brake, and try rocking the bike back and forth. If the steering stem bearings are loose, you will recreate the clunking.

Also, another trick for removing the stem nut cover is use a leather belt and wrap around it like an oil filter strap wrench.

 

yeah kind of frustrating.

Looking over my contract this morning and they charged 1300 for PDI...

When i picked it up, it was missing the gasket for the front brake master cylinder. Made it 10 miles then went back and made them fix that.

Hard to trust dealers like that

 

Don't just arbitrarily tighten the stem nut. If I'm wrong and you weren't.. sorry for being so abrupt about it.. but if you really think that's the problem get the bike on a lift, disconnect the cables, etc. and check the fall away.

Lots of times, if it is the steering nut, you'll hear it when you go over bumps and pot holes.. not just when you brake. If you ONLY hear it when you brake.. I would try the spring trick with the pads first..then move onto the fall away procedure (since it's easier to try the simple things first).

 

Thanks, and yeah i will follow the service manual for the fall away procedure. Im just more curious to see if its even tightened up.

Yesterday at i went to lunch and did not have my speakers on. There is a VERY bumpy old road by my work that i had to take.

Yeah, it does it over bumps not just when braking, im thinking everyone is right with the stem nut idea.

 

Not sure if they changed stuff on your bike but on my 2010, the culprit is the star nut that is underneath the stem nut. If yours is the same, you loosen the top stem nut and you set your fall away with the star nut underneath. Then you torque the stem nut back to down. When you look at it, you will see what I'm referring too as the "star" nut.