Hi guys,i installed C's on my bike this riding season and have approx 7,500 miles on them and have had an issue with the front tire from the 1sy day it was installed on my 09 flhtcu that had just turned 10k miles at the time.

My question is do you get any moan & or howling noise from a C2 on the front that get's much worse when cornering?

And the howling is so bad when cornering i can feel it thru the stock bars too.

That happened since day 1 and i also had front wheel bearings checked when new tires were installed and they were good per HD shop thats always looking for a reason to sell you something and they said front & rear wheel bearin s were just fine.

But in case they missed bad front wheel bearings to ensure that wasnt the issue i decided to install new front wheel bearings which didnt help & or make any difference either way,no better or on worse.

Also asked them to check over the front tire and front end in general they said it looked fine too.

I have checked everything else out i can think of and cant find anything else wrong,bike is bone stock with stock wheels etc.

The bike has an esp on it so i had the local shop chk it out too and they though it was a bad tire at this point since new front bearings were installed and didnt help which i felt had to be the case at this point too.

HD tech too it for a ride and he re-verified he hear the moaning / howling noise from the front tire and thru the bars when in a turn too & said it had to be a bad front tire.

So,with in mind the front tire was bugging me so much i went for a new tire and guess,nothing changed and still has sam moan / howl from front wheel/tire driving me and the local HD shop nuts.

And with the noise being worse when cornering thats where bad bearings would act more with side loading but they are new and thats also when much more of the tread pattern is in contact with the road so am thinking this bike doesnt like the tread pattern on the C2 front tire.

So do any of you guys with stock more quiet bikes noticed any moaning / howling type noise from a C2 tire on the front of their bike?

Could i poss be an issue with rear tire aln making the drive belt run to 1 side of the drive pulley's that gets worse in corners because belt rubs harder on the taller side shoulder portion of the drive pulleys?

If that was the case i would think the edge of the belt would be toast and or all chewed up are 7,500miles which isnt the case and front / rear tires seem to be wearing ok mostly in middle and bike seems to track straight and handle decent too.

I have been riding bikes on the street for well over 40yrs and in the past it was either bad front wheel bearings , a worn out tire or a bad / defective tire that caused front tire noise/moan which in this case doesnt fix it having me and the local HD shop stumped

Any thoughts , suggestions and or experience with this issue would be appreciated .

Scott

 

I'm on my second set of commanders. I bought the bike used with them on it. The front end always had a vibration, but no howling. I did the same check of the bearings etc. I just lived with it. I punctured my rear and it was cupped pretty bad (puncture was slowly leaking, must have rode on it with low pressure and not realised). The front had enough wear and I got a better price buying both new. Installed the new tires, used balancing beads, and verified proper pressure. Rides like a dream, vibration disappeared, handles like on rails. I'm guessing my vibration was from the worn front tire. Like I said though, no howling.

 

Check to make sure that the tire is mounted the right direction. The tread pattern on the front C2 tire is backwards compared to other motorcycle tires. I had a guy almost mount mine backwards. This should be the view from the front.

 

http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/t...pserbuqyvm.jpg


Here is a link to the picture. I don't know why it won't let me load pictures anymore. I've posted tons of pictures in the past. But for some reason now it uploads the pictures, then they disappear when I post.

 

Argh!! Too many words. You gave me a headache.

BTW..I like my Michelin C2 in the front.

 

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thanks for the suggestion,checked and its mounted correctly.

Scott

 

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Sorry about that!

All the wording is because i wanted to let you guys know the things i already did and what the HD shop said too so you would not be wasting your time suggesting mult things already done by myself and what hd shop had said & done thus far too.

Thank..Scott

 

Thanks for all the suggestions thus far & please keep them coming!

TKS..Scott

 

beads or a XX oz of ride-on?

 

I just put on a set 2 days ago and only rode for about 3 miles because I put in Ride On and wanted to get it distributed in the tires. I noticed the front was louder than my previous ME880s when coasting at about 25mph with the clutch in but couldn't hear anything during normal riding. Didn't bother me at all and I'm OCD about noises like creaks, rattles, squeaks, hums, thumps, knocks, ect. I'd bet it's a characteristic of the tread pattern.