I've got an 09 road king that has developed this horrible noise. It has 1500 miles on it and went in for it's 1k service at 1000 miles about 3 weeks ago. The dealer switched to synthetic at that time. All that I noticed then was more of a whine in 1st and 5th gear. About a week and a half ago I noticed this scrape noise and it has gotten worse since then. In the morning when it's cold it makes the noise for a mile or two, 9 hrs later when leaving work it might make the noise for a 1/4 mile or so. I can hear it up to about 50 mph and it is rpm related, not speed related. It only makes the noise when there is positive or negative tourqe, has to be accelerating or decellerating. Louder on decell. I can hear it just fine over the jackpots so it's pretty loud.

Now, to describe the noise... It's a metallic scraping sound or whooshing sound. Kind of like a cars rotor scraping on the metal backing plate. During normal acceleration it happens 2-3 times a second, depending on rpm.

I had it into the dealership last weekend for this concern and they diagnosed a faulty clutch pressure plate which they replaced under warranty. They said it was oval shaped and rubbing on something. Got the bike back 2 days ago and it still makes the noise...

So, anybody else had this issue? Anything to try, anything to look for? I diagnose vehicles for a living but am finding it hard to ride and hang off the side to listen for a noise at the same time. If only I had a dyno, then someone could tourqe it up while I stand beside it and pinpoint the source. Near as I can tell it sounds like it's coming from the primary.

Thanks for any help...

 

If it's not the normal 1st 5th gear whine inherent in the HD tranny, it could be the tranny itself or the clutch or the compensator, or the crankshaft or the primary chain or the timing chain adjuster or the... Not trying to be funny, but ifit's not your as designed tranny whine, you'd best get your dealer to look further or at least document it. Just re-read you title, are you sure the sound may not be from the exhaust piping being loose or rubbing somewhere.

 

I'd take it back to the dealer and let them know its not fixed.

 

The first thing I tried before I took it to the dealer was to loosen the jackpots, reposition them and crank em back down. There was no change... I have not looked at the rest of the exhaust system or the engine mounts but I will try that tomorrow.

As for going back to the dealer... they really didnt give me a feeling of confidence in their ability to fix something, and they certainly didn't check to see if their "fix" made a difference. It is also an hours drive to the dealer and it's tough to find a ride. I will take it back there if it comes down to that but wanted to try the forum first....

 

Maybe the belt/sprocket or something in that area that's loose?

 

back up for the morning crew... Anybody had this kind of noise before?

 

Can we assume they checked the compensator for the proper torque?

 

I checked the rest of the exhaust system and the mounts today and all seems well. Guess I will need to get it back into the dealer so they can fix it, hopefully for real this time...

 

Also forgot to mention that it's getting worse. Made noise for about 10 miles this morning, and I could hear it up to 60 mph. Oh well... should make it easier for the dealer to figure it out. I just hate being without a bike

 

One of my riding buddies had strange sqeak develope on his 07 FatBoy. The bike only had 4,000 miles on it. I could hear it squeak under accleration when I was riding next to him. I took his bike to dealer for him and sure enough it wasn't making the noise.
Then after about 10 mins of riding the squeak came back. Under acceleartion/torque it was loudest.
Dealer adjusted the belt. Sqeak gone. It sounded like it was something serious, but turned out to be just adjusting the belt.