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Tires Hum when cornering

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Old Aug 5, 2014 | 08:49 AM
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Default Tires Hum when cornering

I did a search yesterday for tire noise on curves,,, only found post about Bearing failure... When on the jack lift, the rear tire spins easy with no grind or clicking... Years ago, I had a Sporty that had bearing failure, and this is not it.


My '13 Ultra(bought new 8/5/13) started making a humming noise when cornering at 40 mph+ after I hit about 6500 miles on the bike, riding 2 up going straight it does not do it,,, lean a little to the right and it hums a little,,, lean it to the left and it's the loudest... it still has the stock Dunlops on it... Doesn't seem to do it right away,,, but after riding it for say 20+ miles.. I run 36 lbs in the front & 40 lbs in the rear... and I check them weekly.
Any ideas?
 
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Old Aug 5, 2014 | 08:53 AM
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Noise from tire cupping. Normal. Keep riding... :-)

There's a few solutions

1. Louder pipes
2. Turn the tunes up
3. New tires
4. Ignore it
 

Last edited by Red; Aug 5, 2014 at 08:56 AM.
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Old Aug 5, 2014 | 08:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Sam D.
I did a search yesterday for tire noise on curves,,, only found post about Bearing failure... When on the jack lift, the rear tire spins easy with no grind or clicking... Years ago, I had a Sporty that had bearing failure, and this is not it.


My '13 Ultra(bought new 8/5/13) started making a humming noise when cornering at 40 mph+ after I hit about 6500 miles on the bike, riding 2 up going straight it does not do it,,, lean a little to the right and it hums a little,,, lean it to the left and it's the loudest... it still has the stock Dunlops on it... Doesn't seem to do it right away,,, but after riding it for say 20+ miles.. I run 36 lbs in the front & 40 lbs in the rear... and I check them weekly.
Any ideas?
Normal...mine has done it from day one.
 
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Old Aug 5, 2014 | 08:59 AM
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Yep, I'd say it's normal. I have a 2010 CVO SG, and with the 18" rear wheel, I'm limited on tire choices to the stock Dunlops from HD.

They're pricey at over $220 for a rear, but I'm well into 14K miles out of my back tire. These tires see plenty of twisties, but the centers where down fastest. Now, when cornering, I get the howling, just due to the wear patterns.

Nothing to be concerned of....You'll see as soon as you get a new pair of tires, it will go away.
 
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Old Aug 5, 2014 | 09:01 AM
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That's what my Dunlops sounded like. Got Michelin Commander II, No more singing.
 
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Old Aug 5, 2014 | 09:03 AM
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Love that sound... Means I am on a good twistie road.. Normal, ride safe..
 
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Old Aug 5, 2014 | 09:10 AM
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From cupping which is a result of not maintaining proper air pressure. Dunlops are bad with this, Michelins are a better choice.
 
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Old Aug 5, 2014 | 09:22 AM
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My Michelin tires starting humming in curves at about 9K, had 15K when I traded it off, and they were howling!! But they still had good tread.
 
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Old Aug 5, 2014 | 09:30 AM
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Originally Posted by TheShrink
From cupping which is a result of not maintaining proper air pressure. Dunlops are bad with this, Michelins are a better choice.
.
. Thanks for the replies..


Okay, I understand the tire cupping on the Dunlops... On my '05 RK the original Dunlop front tire had 22k on it and you could feel and even see the cupping on it...
Never had the howl before...


Don't know if I agree that improper air pressure is the cause of my problem, as I said I check my tire & rear shock pressures weekly...
 
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Old Aug 5, 2014 | 09:35 AM
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Tires may be humming while cornering because they don't know the words!
 
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