When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
When I am riding I hear some vibrating noises coming from right around my air filter area and another one coming from the area underneath my speedometer. I have seached high and low for a loose bolt or anything of that nature and have come up empty handed every time. Sounds sorta like a washer on a bolt that isnt fully seated. Anything in those areas that has a reputation for loosening that I could check? Could just be my little brain rattling around in my big 'ole head!
Heat shields have been known to come loose and cause annoying rattling as well...If you really want to figure out what it is get a buddy to sit and listen while you rev the bike till you pinpoint what it is.
You don't say what model you have. Is the noise more noticeable when the gas is low? If it's an EFI bike there is a bunch going on inside the tank. I was amazed at the difference in engine noise bounced back from the windshield on my new bike, while the bike is very quiet without it.
I will bet that he has a bike with fork tins, and that is what is rattleing. Next time you hear the rattleing, take your left hand and grab the fork tin just in front of the risers and I will be the rattle goes away.
Ive got a softail custom. The rattle aint that bad. I dont hear it if I am stopped at a light and rev the motor. I hear it only when Im movin down the road. Its not bad either, Im being nitpicky. To really hear it Ive kinda gotta turn my head sideways. Just the wind from noise from my helmet alone is enough to pretty much drown it out.
Ive searched high and low all to no avail. Im starting to think now that it is more of a whistle than a vibration. Is it possible that the wind passing through/over my cables is making a whistling noise from the wind?
Try the mufflers ! Pull the baffles out ,it always makes the rattles go away.
Didn't mean to be snip but almost every time I ride my H.D. it makes a few new noises. They are rarly the same from time to time so I only address the ones that hang around the longest ....
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's challenges aren't abstract; they show up in dropping shipments, shrinking dealer traffic, and strategic decisions that aren't yet translating into growth.