I have had this front end noise coming and going for a while now. I have finally pinpointed the sound and its origins. It seems to me that the front outside pad is loose and after braking it losens up and rattles. How do i stop this? I bought new vibration clips from JP cycles thinking that was the problem but the shap is different. They swear they are the correct ones. What gives? caliper is good, pads are new, everything has been serviced frequently. I cannot for the life of me get this rattle to stop.

Please someone give me a thought on how to combat this sound that makes me feel like my forks are going to pop off at high speeds!!!!!

 

Edy - I jumped on this thread thinking we might have the same front-brake problem, but we're opposite! I'm interested to see what you hear from others. My problem is also an annoying front-brake noise, but I think it's the caliper riding against the rotor; the noise stops when I apply the brake, then picks up again as I move out. I don't intend to hijack your thread, but I'm hoping the advice we get will help us understand how we might approach both problems.

I would have thought your problem would be loose calipers rattling against the rotor, but it sounds like you've taken care of that problem. If you apply slight braking pressure, does the noise stop?

Good luck. Ride safe.

 

noise does stop when braking. The caliper is loose and the new vibration clips from JP cycle didnt fix the issue. Its still rattling around

 

Rocinante,
I think the problem you are having is similar to one that I experienced - the fix is easy and straightforward. Sounds like the pistons in the front caliper are gunked with brake dust and need to be spray cleaned with brake cleaner. Here is a link with pictures:

http://www.lyndallracingbrakes.com/service_tech.htm

If the sound is caused by the brake pads squeeking against the rotors, a light sanding of the rotor surface with fine emory cloth will usually cure the squeek.

Hope this helps - it worked great for me.

 

Edywazoo,
Check the brake pads to make sure the edge of the pad is actually on the retention spring clip. On my road king, the spring clip has a gap in the middle and the edge of one brake pad got caught in the spring gap, letting it rattle in the caliper. This also forced the pads to be off-center in the caliper, causing one pad to wear unevenly relative to the other pad. I removed both pads, cleaned the pistons and made sure the pads were in the center of the caliper and on the spring clip when reassembled (all pistons extended about the same amount) and the problem was gone.

 

Excellent guidance, thanks! And the pics on the Lyndall site are very helpful. The garage is almost cool enough to give this a try. It's not a squeak, just a scraping sound, like the pads just aren't coming completely off the rotor. Gunky dust is a logical culprit.