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Front End Wobble/Rubbing Noise/Instability

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Last night, I put the bike back on the hoist and removed the calipers to rule out any dragging or related noise. I used a stethoscope while spinning the wheel as fast as I could, both forward and backward, and I used the stethoscope on both the left and right forks and both spacers. There was virtually no bearing noise or growl. While there was no load on the front suspension and the wheel was spinning slowly, I would expect some noise if the bearings were as bad as the sound suggests when riding.

This makes me suspect that my five-year-old tire might be the culprit. It has some visual cupping, though not a lot. The other day, I was riding on a road with a straight, tar-filled groove, and when I entered it, the noise amplified significantly. I'm assuming this is because the entire surface area of the tire, not just the center, was making contact with the road. As soon as I exited the groove, the noise dropped considerably, which strongly suggests the tire is the source of the noise.
 
chamberdogg said:
Last night, I put the bike back on the hoist and removed the calipers to rule out any dragging or related noise. I used a stethoscope while spinning the wheel as fast as I could, both forward and backward, and I used the stethoscope on both the left and right forks and both spacers. There was virtually no bearing noise or growl. While there was no load on the front suspension and the wheel was spinning slowly, I would expect some noise if the bearings were as bad as the sound suggests when riding.

This makes me suspect that my five-year-old tire might be the culprit. It has some visual cupping, though not a lot. The other day, I was riding on a road with a straight, tar-filled groove, and when I entered it, the noise amplified significantly. I'm assuming this is because the entire surface area of the tire, not just the center, was making contact with the road. As soon as I exited the groove, the noise dropped considerably, which strongly suggests the tire is the source of the noise.
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It really sounds like your bearings are just fine! ... and yes with the original tire the noise was terrible and it did sound like a dead bearing!! ... Changed tires and the grinding noise all but went away!!

Star-Lord said:
I noticed a significant drop in road noise when I switch out the stock tires, to the Metzler tires.
Click to expand...

Yes I also did go to Metzler, first to the 'Cruisetec' series (that one wore a bit odd) now I am trying the 880 'Marathon' series .. so good so far ;)
 
An update from my end: took matters into my own hands and pulled the front wheel off (super easy btw compared to other bikes) and took it to a local tire shop and this is what they found:
-Tire was completely cupped to one side and was shot; as if I made a lot of right turns
-When intsalling a new tire, they noticed a slight wobble when on the balancing stand
-Bearings were correctly installed

They advised that if it wasn't the tire, something in the forks is causing a weird wear and could be that: the internals are installed incorrectly, low or missing fork oil on one side or they are not aligned.

I can confirm when I installed the wheel back on, the forks appear to be aligned based on a straight edge so my next step is to tear the forks off and see if I have a small leak or if I'm low/missing oil one on off them.

I'll report back.
 
Maybe review the following YT video prior to tearing the fork tubes apart (which I recall from other forum members, is extremely difficult due to BMW's over use of LocTite); the video covers the alignment and tightening process of the front wheel of a motorcycle.

You can go on the BMW website and download the wheel set installation document, in order to get the correct torque values if you don't already have that information; from the Main Menu/SERVICE/MANUALS/INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

https://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/en/service/manuals/install-manual.html#/section-further-manuals



 
Star-Lord said:
Maybe review the following YT video prior to tearing the fork tubes apart (which I recall from other forum members, is extremely difficult due to BMW's over use of LocTite); the video covers the alignment and tightening process of the front wheel of a motorcycle.

You can go on the BMW website and download the wheel set installation document, in order to get the correct torque values if you don't already have that information; from the Main Menu/SERVICE/MANUALS/INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

https://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/en/service/manuals/install-manual.html#/section-further-manuals



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Thanks for the heads up about the loctite 🫠🫠🫠

It was an absolute bear trying to get the handlebar risers off the last time, I'm not sure why they use so much red loctite on everything
 
So another updated after about another 2 months at the dealership; they can't find the cause of the problem.

They attempted to swap in a "to be known good wheel and tire" from another Roctane they had on the floor and it made to worse. They also discovered that the 2 other new Roctanes on the floor are also doing it.

At this point I'm just about to give up. My only options are to either find another dealer in South Texas willing to dive deeper into it (with better expertise) or get this thing returned on Lemon Law which is also not a fun process.

If anyone has any other ideas, I'm definitely open to them. (I also have thought about changing it to the smaller 19inch wheel to see if it's the stock 21 and also just tearing into the forks to see if I can diagnose the issue. Potentially the neck bearing as well. )
 
Do you have the ability to raised the front wheel off the ground, where you can spin it freely in order to observe the issue; if so, you'll must likely hear the disc brakes making a rubbing sound - at least that's what my bike still does after 13,000 miles and heavy use of the front the brake.

Maybe remove the two brake calipers from the troubleshooting effort; remove the brake calipers and tie them off and out of the way, so that you can spin the wheel and listen for any change in the observed noise.

I experienced the different humming noise while on different tarmac coverings across various roads, which seemed to improve drastically after switching to the METZLERS tires; I have the Model B, I also placed felt up and within the shock cowlings, which would ring like a bell if I knocked on them - that also seemed to be a source of amplifying the road surface noise from the stock tires..

I've never experienced any sort of wobble or misaligned wheel issues; see if you can have your front wheel put on a high speed balancer, maybe you need a weight installed. Also, I'm curious as to where the tire manufacture's balance markings (YELLOW or RED DOTS) are in respect to the rim's valve position; again, having the wheel balanced by an EXPERT might help with all of this...
 
Star-Lord said:
Do you have the ability to raised the front wheel off the ground, where you can spin it freely in order to observe the issue; if so, you'll must likely hear the disc brakes making a rubbing sound - at least that's what my bike still does after 13,000 miles and heavy use of the front the brake.

Maybe remove the two brake calipers from the troubleshooting effort; remove the brake calipers and tie them off and out of the way, so that you can spin the wheel and listen for any change in the observed noise.

I experienced the different humming noise while on different tarmac coverings across various roads, which seemed to improve drastically after switching to the METZLERS tires; I have the Model B, I also placed felt up and within the shock cowlings, which would ring like a bell if I knocked on them - that also seemed to be a source of amplifying the road surface noise from the stock tires..

I've never experienced any sort of wobble or misaligned wheel issues; see if you can have your front wheel put on a high speed balancer, maybe you need a weight installed. Also, I'm curious as to where the tire manufacture's balance markings (YELLOW or RED DOTS) are in respect to the rim's valve position; again, having the wheel balanced by an EXPERT might help with all of this...
Click to expand...
Thanks for the insight; I did take the front wheel to a local shop to put on a new tire and they did show me how the front wheel has a slight wobble to it but they said nothing serious. They recommended I checked the fork alignment and possibly check if one of the forks has low/no oil.

I'm going to try and see if I can source a 19 inch wheel for cheap and see if that makes a difference.
 
brownbandit said:
I'm not sure why they use so much red loctite on everything
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Red? Sofar only found ´blue´ strength.

The reason is two fold. It acts as lubricant and thus simplifies assembly. Secondly it is a safe locking method.

About locking methods it infomative/useful to do a bit of research.
The short version is that bar the Nord Lock ( https://www.scooterinfinity.uk/nut-...-tubeless-wheel-rims-vespa-lambretta?tag=king ) , locking rings are useless.
Nylock nuts work in some applicatins but their issue is that users will reuse them which greatly reduces effect. For assembly the drawback is obvious-
In racing and aeronautics the critical fasteners are mandatory secured with special locking wire. There are manuals about how to.
So there the why of locking fluid on all and sundry.
 
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