1988 R100 RS with a very loud metallic clanking noise which seems to be coming from the front forks. It's much quieter in the shop when I bounce on the front end. But on the road at very slow speed, when the wind noise is gone, it sounds like someone inside the muffler with a ball peen hammer. Every jolt to the front forks is reported with a loud Clank !
Everything on the outside is tight. Fork oil has been changed. There in no slack in either the head post bearings or the wheel bearings. Headlight shell and fairing frame are tight.
Thanks in advance.
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
Did you ever figure this out Wobbly? I have the same ride and on my third front end (K-Bike front ends much cheaper!!!) This past summer Whitney and I headed out 2 up to the GS Giants shindig in Idaho. We hit the ND stateline and I had a similar noise up front come out of nowhere and noticed the front brakes felt absolutely gross. Come to find out we lost a brake pad and the plate was making a hell of a noise. We rode out and back with only the rear brakes and used the motor to slow us down in elevation. Ruined the rotors but found a set for $25 (K-Bike again) on Ebay. Keep me posted, would like to hear what the culprit was.
The bike in question is fitted with aftermarket EBC self-centering rotors. They stop about 3 times better than the OEM rotors. What allows the rotor to self-center is that the hub and rotor are separate parts and not riveted together as on the OEM rotors. On the EBC version, the hub and rotor are instead held together by 8 spools. These allow the rotor to transmit braking power to the hub, while still allowing the rotor to move side-to-side about 1mm.
My rotors must have seen an eminence number of stops because the steel spools have wallowed out the aluminum hub ever so slightly so that now there is play between hub and rotor. Any time the brakes are applied at low speeds, there is a metallic "clack" as the braking force takes all the free play out of the floating rotors. The same thing is happening at higher speeds, but it can't be heard over the wind and engine noise.
So it wasn't the forks at all.
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
Thanks for the concise explanation of the source of the noise. You have given me another way of thinking about my own niggling problems with an '84R80RT and a '74R75/6.
unkilmal
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