Noises - The ol' front tire roar (says Gadget's page)

[VulcanJeff]

The ol' Vulcan has carried me just over 2,000 miles in the ~month I've owned it. Euphoria has morphed into paranoia. Not really. Haha. But now that I've gotten settled into the ol' gal, I'm perceiving all the nuances.

I swear the first couple of weeks of ownership never presented a "roaring" noise coming from the front wheel. Well, not that I noticed. I notice it now though. Gadget says normal, no problemo, it is the Bridgestones making their characteristic sound. Before I hit Gadget's page I was thinking wheel bearing. Or maybe brake? As soon as the bike leans off center to the left, the noise can be heard and felt. And if I'm not mistaken, sometimes the lean angle has a bearing (zing! punny) on how distinct the noise is. Maybe it is a combination of lean angle along with road surface texture.

Anyhoo, I feel better after reading Gadget. I would venture to say the front tire is original. Technically it has some usable tread remaining but I bet if the depth was measured dead-center, the indication would be time for a new tire. (I feel OK pushing it for a few more miles though).

Just wanted to throw this out there and get some feedback from you all, hoping you have some experiences to share.

[macmac]

Classic Brickstone whine...... Total crapolla for a mc tire too, but all makers put on junk rubber to sell a bike off the show room floor. Dunlop F-51 i think does that after time and so won't most other brands. I am just not certain the Dunlop I had on ft was that name. I have a Avon Cobra on now and it is season 2 and quiet so far.

The other possibility is wheel bearings but i doubt these are the problem. To check get the ft end off the ground and lock the bars over hard and grab the wheel at 12 and 6 O Clock and wrangle it back and forth hard. There should be no slop.

[VulcanJeff]

Roger that.

[Bud2rat]

I have a 2001 model that does the same thing. Mine just turned 52k on the clock. So I decided to do some maintenance work on her before the rally. Changed the front and rear wheel bearings (front were bad), new rear tire, serviced the swing arm, drive shaft U-joint, oiled the shock bearings, rebuilt front and rear brake calibers, new brake pads, replaced the brake lines with SS from Galfer, changed the oil and filter. She's ready.

[ringadingh]

Metzelers made the same noise back when I ran them.

[phot]

I first noticed the noise when touring on my Nomad in Europe. Most of my riding in the UK is on smaller roads which tend to be slower and rougher. The first time I ran the bike on very smooth and wide roads, with sweeping curves, I noticed the "humm" which I took to be a wheel bearing and was a bit concerned having not heard it before. It was very pronounced and occurred on all cornering, as soon as the bike leaned one way or the other. I was relieved to find it was tyre noise.

[InkyDoggy]

The one I have on the rear of my bike is a Dunlop made for Harley Davidson with the Harley Name imprinted on it. It whines when getting up over 50 MPH but I guess that is a characteristic of this type tire as everyone with them say they make noise. Can't bitch about it too much though as it was cheap when I bought it used to get by until I get a new set sometime when needed. Plenty of tread left for now.

[dgconstable]

What macmac said.. Bridgestone = garbage...

Having said that my Metzler on the rear of my Nomad is like that. I have new shocks etc on the back. The rear tire has always developed some cupping on the bike.

I'm moving to a car tire once this one wears out.

[cnc]

Run your hand along the tread just off to one side of center, if you feel that it is cupped then that is the source of the noise.

[duffy]

Originally Posted by cnc

Run your hand along the tread just off to one side of center, if you feel that it is cupped then that is the source of the noise.

Yep, cupped tires will make a lot of noise.

[ubernomad]

Originally Posted by macmac

I have a Avon Cobra on now and it is season 2 and quiet so far.

Excellent tire. I'm running Cobra Avons and find them to be a very quiet, comfortable tire with excellent dry/wet grip. Going on 2 years with plenty of tread left.

[ubernomad]

Originally Posted by VulcanJeff

The ol' Vulcan has carried me just over 2,000 miles in the ~month I've owned it. Euphoria has morphed into paranoia. Not really. Haha. But now that I've gotten settled into the ol' gal, I'm perceiving all the nuances.

I swear the first couple of weeks of ownership never presented a "roaring" noise coming from the front wheel. Well, not that I noticed. I notice it now though. Gadget says normal, no problemo, it is the Bridgestones making their characteristic sound. Before I hit Gadget's page I was thinking wheel bearing. Or maybe brake? As soon as the bike leans off center to the left, the noise can be heard and felt. And if I'm not mistaken, sometimes the lean angle has a bearing (zing! punny) on how distinct the noise is. Maybe it is a combination of lean angle along with road surface texture.

Anyhoo, I feel better after reading Gadget. I would venture to say the front tire is original. Technically it has some usable tread remaining but I bet if the depth was measured dead-center, the indication would be time for a new tire. (I feel OK pushing it for a few more miles though).

Just wanted to throw this out there and get some feedback from you all, hoping you have some experiences to share.

Stock tires are bias ply. Not exactly the state-of-the-art in terms of tire technology. They tend to be very noisy and create more internal heat than a equal radial tire like a Avon or Metzler.

Do yourself a favor and buy a good set of MC radial tires designed for cruiser bikes. Make sure you note the weight rating of the tire if you plan to tow or haul a bunch of stuff.

[ubernomad]

Originally Posted by dgconstable

What macmac said.. Bridgestone = garbage...

Having said that my Metzler on the rear of my Nomad is like that. I have new shocks etc on the back. The rear tire has always developed some cupping on the bike.

I'm moving to a car tire once this one wears out.

They aren't "garbage" per say....more like antiquated. Old technology.

Cupping is attributed to inflation pressure, not the tire itself. It can be avoided by running the correct tire pressure for the tire used and checking the pressure often.

[cnc]

Originally Posted by ubernomad

They aren't "garbage" per say....more like antiquated. Old technology.

Cupping is attributed to inflation pressure, not the tire itself. It can be avoided by running the correct tire pressure for the tire used and checking the pressure often.

You can not eliminate cupping completely but the sweet spot in tire presure may help.
My Avon is 4 seasons old and starting to growl, certainly stayed quiter for longer than the stones.
Cupping as I understand it comes from uneven wear due to the design of the tread or in reality on a bike tire the water evacuation grooves. When pressure is applied to the tire in cornering the leading edge of the groove distorts into the groove but the trailing edge has no place to go and so wears faster that the leading edge. If you ran a slick with no grooves you would eliminate cupping.

[VulcanJeff]

Originally Posted by ubernomad

Stock tires are bias ply. Not exactly the state-of-the-art in terms of tire technology. They tend to be very noisy and create more internal heat than a equal radial tire like a Avon or Metzler.

Do yourself a favor and buy a good set of MC radial tires designed for cruiser bikes. Make sure you note the weight rating of the tire if you plan to tow or haul a bunch of stuff.

Stock = bias ply. Yup.

Regarding radials, I have only dealt with them on modern sportbikes. Which have mag wheels. And of course are tubeless. All of my old bikes (airhead, K bikes, Sportster), I had no choice but to run bias ply as radials were not available in the appropriate size. The Vulcan does have radial options so my question is can a tube be ran in radials? My Classic has spoked wheels of course.