I've been trying to isolate the cause of a clunking sound from the front end when I go over hard bumps, like railroad tracks. I've checked gas tank bolts, loose crap, steering head torque, and various other things to no avail.

I think the noise is coming from the front forks. I'm not certain, but it seems like the most likely culprit. Maybe lack of oil, maybe bad springs, may be a lot of things.

Disassembling and inspecting the front forks seems like a somewhat complicated process. Is this something best left to a professional, or can an amateur wrencher like myself handle it? I have the service manual and enthusiasm, but I also suspect there's a possibility I could put the bike in a condition where it has to be trailered to a dealership.

If it's not that bad, are there any particular tips or tools that would make the job easier?

 

What model and year is the bike? Has the washer been replaced? Sounds like that is what it is, or the nut has to be retorqued

 

'09 FXDC. I took a look at the washer - it's fairly stout and doesn't want to move around.

 

Check and retorque the front axle nut. Also try changing the fork oil to a heavier blend.

 

When you guys retorque the steering head bolt are you taking the weight of the front and loosening the lower pinch bolts on the lower tree before tightening? This will pull the trees together during the tighening, not enough to see but enough to take some slop out of the bearings. I also changed the weight of the fork oil to 10w Belray. Now this all worked on an 02 FXD, different forks same concept.

 

This is a long shot but I had a clunk over big bumps. It turned out to be the jiffy stand. There is a rubber stopper on it so it doesn't bang against the stop but it was rotated and move so the metal jiffy stand was hitting the metal stop. An easy check and fix...

 

That's one of the things I had checked, it's hitting the rubber stop. Good thought, though.

Decided "fuggit." Went and bought some new fork oil, and while I'm at it I'm going to slip in some Progressive springs. If this doesn't solve the problem, it's off to the dealership wi' ye.

 

I've seen a lot of posts on this topic and many of them talk about checking the "washer" but the washer is not what causes the clunk. The bearing retainer nut below the top triple tree clamp is usually the thing that is actually loose (assuming clunk is coming from there).

Replacing the washer doesn't fix the clunk, you need to (as recommended above) put the bike on a stand, loosen the lower fork clamp pinch bolts, tighten the top bearing retainer nut, then tighten the top clamp retainer nut that's on top of the washer.

Just MHO, but would recommend trying that first before changing the fork oil, not to mean that's not a good idea too, but if the front end is loose, stiffing up the oil isn't going to help....

t

 

I've seen this recommendation here many times. This Monday I took my 09 Fatbob in for it's 1K mile checkup. I described the same noise as the OP almost exactly. "Noise when going over bumps and railroad tracks"

I asked the service writer about changing the front fork oil to a heavier blend (as I've read here many times) and he looked at me like I was from another planet. There was another service writer there also and they both said that HD only has one blend of fork oil and there is nothing they have that is "heavier" to put in. So I must ask where are you all getting this "heavier blend" as this particular HD shop tells me that HD only makes one type fork oil ?

Anyway, the repair order reads that the service tech "adjusted and retightened the front steering head bearing to within spec" The cluncking noise is a little less noticeable. I also had the rear shocks stiffened by (1) click and that seemed to help also.

My .02

Christian

 

Check the fall away. The process is in the service manual. This solved my front end clunk.