The brakes on my 2014 Heritage Softail make a very strange noise when applied while going over any kind of a bump: The best way to describe it is, they quack like an angry duck.

At first the problem seemed intermittent, as I hadn't figured out the bumpy road part. My dealer's tech had to take a long test ride to hear it, but finally it made the noise. So, he inspected the rotor, calipers, and pads on the front end as that seems to be where the noise is coming from... and all checked out fine.

After the service visit, the light bulb went on about the noise only happening when applying the brakes while going over a bump of some sort - Botts Dots will do it, a bumpy road will do it, the lip of a driveway will do it... Normally it's one quack and done, but the other day I was coming to a gentle stop on a bit of a washboard road, and the noise sounded like the Penguin on the old Batman TV show.

Being as the noise is braking related and seems to be coming from somewhere forward, I'm wondering if it has something to do with the antilock braking system... being as the antilock controller is mounted in front of the motor. But, that's just a WAG. Has anyone else encountered anything like this, or have a good idea what might be going on?

 

Never heard of this before. If the tech gave all the brake components the green light...well...I'd still get a manual and check them myself. Most of them are mailing it in and the manuals give inspection procedures. Another thought based on it coming from the front and only happening during breaking is your front suspension. When you're on the brakes, even when going slowly, it loads the front end. The extra load on it when strikes it bump might be causing the "quack" from the front end. Could be you need a fork oil change.

 

as Little mike said.. couple yrs back I had my INDY change out the fork oil...

He didn't add the right amount back in ... about 2 ozs low.
the result was I had a Softer front end and it'd make a snap noise when going over any bumps with or without brakes applied..

It made the noise when the forks rebounded and not on compression..

 

This sure sounds like something I have going on with my 2014 Road King CVO...except I'd describe it as a 'humming duck". It can't be coming from the forks...it really seems to be occurring at times that the anti-lock breaks may normally activate. The sound stops as soon as I release the breaks the least little bit. Does anyone have an update on this possible issue? I have only had this bike for 3 weeks so I'm concerned it may be a problem.