Clatter over uneven pavement when cold

[ThwartedEfforts]

Confirmed this morning and yesterday morning on ride to work. Bike has covered fewer than 1,000 mi and has recently had its first service.

There's what I can only describe as a metallic clatter from what appears to be the rear of the bike whenever you hit bumps in the road. If you hit a bump the clattering continues for a short while after, leading me to think something is loose.

Thing is though, after a few miles the clattering stops and the bike becomes pretty much silent.


I've noticed the clattering previously but, for whatever reason, dismissed it as a new owner fretting about anything and everything. But these last two days I've ridden the slower, initial section of my commute with my Neotec cracked open and it's been very obvious. It doesn't sound right at all.

Any clues?

 

[Fred W]

Describe the clatter. Is it a metallic sound or duller sounding? Could it be the empty side bags or maybe something loose inside them?

 

[ThwartedEfforts]

Sorry. Should have said. Definitely metallic.

 

[RossKean]

Does it go away with the rear brake lightly applied? (might be the clatter of brake pads)

Do you have a topbox?

Does it change with different suspension settings? Preload etc.

Make sure that the brake tension arm is secure and the relay arm/dogbone bolts are properly tightened. Did the dealer have any need to remove the rear wheel?

 

[philter]

Confirmed this morning and yesterday morning on ride to work. Bike has covered fewer than 1,000 mi and has recently had its first service.
There's what I can only describe as a metallic clatter from what appears to be the rear of the bike whenever you hit bumps in the road. If you hit a bump the clattering continues for a short while after, leading me to think something is loose.

Thing is though, after a few miles the clattering stops and the bike becomes pretty much silent.

I've noticed the clattering previously but, for whatever reason, dismissed it as a new owner fretting about anything and everything. But these last two days I've ridden the slower, initial section of my commute with my Neotec cracked open and it's been very obvious. It doesn't sound right at all.

Any clues?

Several times I have noted that my FJR makes "clanking noises" when going over small stuff, but I never realized that the noise went away as I rode. LOL good call, I don't ever remember noticing that noise later in the ride. HMMM Don't know the answer.

 

[ThwartedEfforts]

Tomorrow morning I'm going to try trailing the front and rear brakes to see if it helps. Having posted the message earlier this morning it occurred that might be the issue.

No top box. I'll also try a different suspension setup in the menu. Which leads me onto what maybe two noob questions:

Which is softest setting... SOFT -3 or SOFT +3?

If I want the bike to ride softer, am I presuming correctly that I want just the rider shown in the display, or do I fake it with additional luggage and passenger?

 

[Uncle Hud]

Tighten your license plate. Check that nothing's loose under the seat(s). Of course, if you're riding VERY fast, the noise could be generated by something in front, but your ears have moved 15 feet by the time the sound gets to them, and .....

I think SOFT -3 is the softest. But I am a moron sometimes. Let's see what others say.

 

[mech 1 twa]

Very fast. Like about to break the sound Barrier. You will need a faster Gen I to do that.

 

[Fred W]

Soft-3, 1- up no luggage is softest. As you increase the rear preload Soft-3 is increasingly less soft, but still the softest available at that preload setting.

 

[Cyclepath]

Interesting thread here.

Years ago when I had only just bought my old Gen 1 off its 2nd owner (I'm da 3rd), I soon noticed a clattering at the front end whenever I ran over a pothole or transitioned from street to my driveway.

Turned out to be loose front fender bolts - so loose they were breaking away the rings in the stock (plastic) fender. Bizarre, and I quickly had to rectify the situation with some special plastic rings from a tarp repair kit + some JB Weld (an epoxy mix with metal filings for strength).

Has been good for almost 5 years now, but I still shake my head wondering how the previous owner hadn't caught that before it damaged the fender mount holes...

 

[ThwartedEfforts]

I'm still getting the noise.

It's not the number plate - all plastic here in EU land. It's not the centre stand or anything like that.

Some of the clunks I hear are the panniers shifting around. They are slightly loose in their mountings, presumably by design.

What I have discovered is that if the drivetrain is slack, i.e. if I'm in 6th at 40mph, the noise is very noticeable. If the drivetrain is taught, i.e. with a slightly open throttle in 2nd, there is no noise.

So. Wondering if it's a YCC-S thing?

 

[mcatrophy]

I'm still getting the noise.
It's not the number plate - all plastic here in EU land. It's not the centre stand or anything like that.

Some of the clunks I hear are the panniers shifting around. They are slightly loose in their mountings, presumably by design.

What I have discovered is that if the drivetrain is slack, i.e. if I'm in 6th at 40mph, the noise is very noticeable. If the drivetrain is taught, i.e. with a slightly open throttle in 2nd, there is no noise.

So. Wondering if it's a YCC-S thing?

Nothing to do with YCC-S, mine doen't have any significant rattles.
Saddle-bags: you can tighten them. The top slot in the frame, where the moving peg fits, has rubber glued to its top. I have thickened this with a piece of rubber sheet cut to fit (from an old inner tube), super-glued so as to thicken the original. This reduces any slack (but might make it a little difficult to push the handle down when fitting the bag).

 

[RossKean]

Did you try light braking. If the pads are clattering around, it will stop with the application of some brake. Will also quiet it down if the noise is due to the floating rotors.

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

You could always try good earplugs. If mine had a clatter, I'm afraid I'd never hear it.

It's not the keyring rattling in the ignition is it?

 

[ThwartedEfforts]

Thanks all for the replies.

I'm pretty sure I exhausted the brakes avenue, as neither the rear nor the fronts had any overt effect on the noise. It was in testing the brakes that I realised the slack in the drivetrain appeared to be the most obvious contributing factor, but I'm damned if I know what that could be or mean.

However, because what I'm listening out for seems to come from behind me, while riding, it's seriously difficult to pinpoint. It's often hard to locate rattles on the interior of a car when you're sitting in it and able to thump, pull and curse at literally anything within reach, let alone perched on something where the wind is in your face. I've looked the bike over thoroughly and gone through all the suggestions here, such as checking the mudguards fixings and so on, but it's exactly how you'd expect a low mileage 2018 Yamaha to be: clean and tight.

I'm going to ride it sans panniers today, and hopefully collar either my wife or a pal to stand on the edge of the pavement as I go past and get a third party view. I'm certain my wife will just say disapprovingly, "It sounds like a motorbike" so I'm holding out for a friend...

 

[art miller]

Take the bags off and see if that makes a difference.

 

[ThwartedEfforts]

Well this is embarrassing. Turned out the rear hugger was completely loose, i.e. lacking all four of its bolts.

You can see there is damage both to the plastic hugger and to the paint on the bike. On the other side the plastic has had an edge worn where it's come into contact with the shock reservoir.

The noise coincided with road imperfections because (fair obviously) it's on an unsprung part of the bike not to mention in contact with the tyre. I can only imagine it worked its way looser and looser over an extended period of time, the loosening bolts giving the sound a metallic edge. I really cannot explain how I'd not noticed this previously: the hugger is an obvious section that gets dirty and gets a wipe when the bike is cleaned.

Has reminded me though how it's so often the case that if you try too hard to hear a squeak or rattle, or make some sort of connection between what you're hearing and what you're doing or how you're doing it, you often miss the stark bloody obvious

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

Yikes! Glad you found the source of the noise. You were right. It was behind you.

 

[Fred W]

What do you need a hugger for? Just curious