Front Axle Noise, Bearings?

[Pittmania]

A slight hum comes from my front tire at 40-55mph. Also when the bike is on the center stand and I try to spin the wheel it will but it stops rotating fairly quickly. Shouldn't it spin freely? How much do you suppose a shop would charge to replace the bearings or is this something I should do myself? It sounds like my front brake pads rub, but not much. Is this an issue?

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Brakes dragging usually don't hum. For dragging brakes see below;


Most likely the issue is with your brake caliber seals. You didn't mention what year bike you have, but Yamaha recommends brake seal replacement EVERY TWO YEARS,

I've found 4-5 years is more realistic.

Prior to rebuilding mine (S2-4 pistons per side), I got maybe 1/2 free wheel rotation (by hand, as hard as possible).

I installed new seals about 3 years ago, I'm still getting about 4 FULL ROTATIONS.


One way to check, go for a ride, maybe 10-15 minutes, stop with the REAR BRAKE ONLY. CAREFULLY touch the front rotors.

If their dragging excessively, they'll be hot. Air in the system can cause similar issues but time/ wear and tear, the rubber seals just simply harden up and won't retract the pistons like they should...

Do a search, there's plenty of threads on it. The rear brakes hanging up-rare, fronts, very common with age...


BEARINGS;
If you can, remove the calipers and wheel you can check the wheel bearings by hand for any looseness, roughness, etc. If the wheel spins 5+ times after ruling out the bearings (with the calipers off), calipers need attention.

 

[vettrick]

Don't wait too long or this can happen. I really had no indication until the front brake gave out due to wheel wobble.

 

[SandyN]

The hum could come from the tyre tread. My PR3 front did that at 35-40 mph

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[The_Paragon]

The hum could come from the tyre tread. My PR3 front did that at 35-40 mph

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DITTO!!!

I also installed a PR3 and thought something was wrong until I realized it was just the tire with all that siping that hums.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Any updates????

 

[Pittmania]

No updates, other than I went for a few mile ride without using my front brake and then felt it to see if it might be the calipers that need new seals. Discs were cold so hopefully that's good. Maybe it's just my tire?

 

[Zealot]

No updates, other than I went for a few mile ride without using my front brake and then felt it to see if it might be the calipers that need new seals. Discs were cold so hopefully that's good. Maybe it's just my tire?

I used to hear a bit of a hum too, but there didn't seem to be anything wrong - even when I took my entire front wheel off and disassembled it. I only had 22,000km (13,700 miles) on my bike.

You get really worried, and the mood strikes you, I could hook you up with my also humming front wheel axle and the likes. Then you could have harmonic resonance or something.

(Slightly relevant side note, buddy with the same bike had the same pipes as I did - and when we'd ride together at the same RPM it was this crazy humming reverb)

 

[Ohendo]

I had a humming noise at speeds > 25mph, swore it was coming from the front wheel somewhere. Rebuilt the calipers and changed the front wheel bearings; noise still there. Bought a new PR2 to replace the old tire, noise persisted.
Found a thread on here about a similar noise, which was solved by adjusting chain tension. Duh! Checked my tension, loosened it up a bit, and the humming noise was gone.

On the bright side, my front calipers are now rebuilt and my wheel bearings are new. :thumbup:

Just pointing this out so maybe you can eliminate the easy stuff first.

 

[SandyN]

While not ruling out a hum from the front tyre, I have revised my opinion of where the humming may emanate from since replacing my chain.

When I replaced my chain with an EK5302X, I asked the mechanic to check the front sprocket as it had not done much mileage and to replace it if necessary. When I got the bike back I asked him how the sprocket looked and he said it was fine. It turns out he was lying; he never checked it!! As soon as I hit 70-75 km/h I heard this terrible howling (literally) from the sprocket...

I lived with it for a day thinking it might get better, it didn't, so on the second day I reversed the sprocket on the output shaft and immediately the howling subsided somewhat but was evident running against compression. The following day I bought and installed a new ognibene silent sprocket and the noise disappeared.

However, as the new sprocket has worn in it has developed a hum which is not entirely unpleasant.

Hope this helps.