Squeak Around Rear Wheel?
 

In the past few weeks my bike has developed a persistent squeak or whine coming from the area of the rear wheel. (My wife hears it better than I do. It is definitely coming from behind me.) It is not the rear brake because it only makes the noise when moving. It is not the shocks. It is a steady sound that starts as you pull away.

Initially, I thought that it was a dirty drive belt since I drove in alot of rain coming back from Daytona. I cleaned the drive belt and it seemed to improve, but then came back. I gave it a more through cleaning and again it was good at first and then came back steadily. I do think it is likely belt related, maybe misadjustment or misalignment. (I did hit one pothole hard a few weeks ago.)

I am taking it in to the dealer to have them look at it, but if you have any ideas as to things to ask them to look at, or other theories as to the cause, let me know. The bike is a 2011 RKC and has a little over 40,000 miles on it, but that's not enough to have worn out a belt.

That pothole may well have pushed the wheel slightly out of alignment. I'm assuming you don't have a bike jack? If you do, have a look with the wheel off the ground and slowly turning it. You should see where the belt rubs against the side of the pulley.

Check the tension. Mine did the same thing when it was loose.

check the little rubber insert that holds the muffler on/buffers vibration.. mine came out and made a squeaking noise that was driving me crazy. simple fix.

These are usually the cause and are very cheap to replace ($6 ?). Easy to check, squirt just a small drop of oil where the rubber touches the metal.

Beary

If you cleaned the belt & it stopped for awhile, I'd look into that. My buddy's bike has the same issue & he uses something from HD. Disc brake pads do drag on the rotor
all the time. Just my 2 cents. Let's us know when you find the cause. I don't know if the cush drive will make that type of noise.

Do an overpass with concrete walls and left off the gas, if noise goes away the belts too loose.

I had a similar issue with my 09 Roadking.Turned out to be the wheel bearing. It started out as an intermittent squeak and then a louder squalling noise. Jacked up the rear and could feel the play. Might be worth ruling out.

try spraying some wd on the the rubber pads were the mufflers bolt on under your saddle bags sounds stupid I know but they do make noise I do mine at least once a year its worth a try .

Bingo!