Clicking noise I can't pinpoint

[narow37]

I seem to have developed a clicking noise that I can't pinpoint. At speed the sound is coming from the right rear of the bike and sound like the whirring of the breaks.. My first thought was that one of the rear bearings were going bad. I put her up on the lift and while moving the rear wheel very slowly, I can hear a clicking that does not have any repeatable pattern. I got out a stethoscope and put it on the rear axle and got nothing. I put it on the rear pulley and got nothing. I put it on the clutch pushrod and got nothing. The only place that I can hear the sound with the stethoscope is directly on the drive belt and it is louder when it gets closer to either of the drive pulleys. The sound is more prominent when closest to the front drive pulley. This is not sound from the caliper because I have removed that from the mount. Could this be the belt itself making some noise on the pulleys or does this sound like a bearing going bad. Please give me some ideas. thanks everyone.

 

[reloaderbmg]

how many miles on bike.
is the rear pully worn.
is the sides of the belt [rough]
spray with grafite or silicone, see if its better.

 

[V]

I recently saw a rear "floating break rotor that had a lot of play between the rotor and the clips and pins" you could rattle it with your hand may want to check that

 

[woodbutcher]

shane told me he has about 8300 miles on his now.

 

[narow37]

Reloader - no I checked that and they aren't worn that I would say worn and the belt looks good to me. I thought of putting something on it but wasn't sure wat to put on it. will try it just to eliminate the posibility.

V - I thought of that and the rotor is solid and tight.

 

[lee]

is "getting louder when getting nearer to either of the pulleys" not a repeatable pattern? sounds from that as though it has to be the belt

 

[narow37]

what I mean by "not a repeatable pattern" is that when I hear a click, if I roll the tire back and then forward to the same spot again, I may or may not get the click again.

 

[jeffbradford]

hey narrow,I had the same thimg about 2 months ago,not sure who on here but was told to clean my belt really good.so far so good.hope this helps

 

[RRRUFF]

Yea check the belt really good may have some debris wedge in the belt teeth. Hope it something simple.

 

[narow37]

well cleaned the belt and pulleys and the noise has seemed to go away, I will put it back on the ground and see if it stays away. thanks for the help everyone.

 

[BigDogBro1]

For what it's worth-

I contracted 12 months for a company that manufactured a $3000 recumbant rehabilitation exercise machine. It used the same lobe style cog drive belt geometry as what is used on my 2007 Bulldog. They prided themselves on a very quiet drive system, so I got well educated there on what happens when these belts and pulleys don't match the geometry perfectly.

It's more than likely dirty sprockets and/or belt or stretched or bad belt.

When the belt lobes roll around to meet the sprocket it is designed to perfectly match up and roll into the lobe cups in the sprocket. If the pitch of the belt increases by stretching or poor geomerty drive components it will no longer match the sprocket lobe pitch. When this occurs the belt lobe will not precisely mate with the sprocket and hang up on the lobe ramp. As the sprocket continues to turn and feed in the belt, more force causes the belt to snap into the sprocket lobe causing the clicking sound. These parts if plated can throw off the geometry and cause unexplained noises as well. The plating thickness alone can be enough to cause belt/sprocket mismatch.

Dirt and primary sprocket rusting may also cause the clicking noise. Clean and dry all surfaces well.

This might sound dumb, but try lightly dusting the inner belt surface with some baby powder after throughly cleaning it. This may help the belt surface slip into the sprocket lobes easier.

It's hard to quickly write the expanation so I hope this helps.

 

[narow37]

try lightly dusting the inner belt surface with some baby powder after throughly cleaning it

I actually thought of doing this but wasn't sure if the baby powder might actually be too abrasive for the teflon coating.

 

[BigDogBro1]

I actually thought of doing this but wasn't sure if the baby powder might actually be too abrasive for the teflon coating.

Just as a logical guess, I would feel it's low risk.

While cleaning my bike I noticed the tranny sprocket is lightly rusted where the belt doesn't wear on it. They must not be coated/plated with anything for protection. If you wash your bike alot, the rusting may contribute to the belt contamination

 

[narow37]

yeah my drive front pulley was rusted a little the same way, I was mainly worried about the wheel pulley.

 

[narow37]

went out for a ride today and didn't hear a noise once. looks like cleaning the belt did the trick. thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

 

[BBChopper]

went out for a ride today and didn't hear a noise once. looks like cleaning the belt did the trick. thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

A cool easy fix!!! Cheap too, thats the best!! :2thumbs:

 

[Throttle Jockey]

Bigdogbro1,
That was one hell of an answer! I know one thing...without this site some of would be lost and this place has saved me a lot of time and money.

Throttle Jockey

 

[gclark]

This is the first time I've ever logged in so bear with me.
I have the 2005 Chopper, too, with about 13,000 on it. After about 5000 miles I had that clicking or chirping noise from the right rear area also. Every time you even gently hit the throttle except when turning right on the road. Took it in on warranty and they were no help. Got steadily worse and was driving me and the others riding around with me with me. Makes you think a bearing is going out for a real trip downer. I'd feather the clutch under power and the noise would stop. I'd clean the belt and it would go away for about 50 miles then steadily get louder again.

Finally a fellow rider said it was probably a belt noise on the aluminum sproket from misalignment of the sprockets or the belt is rubbing up on one side or the other on the belt guard. One of the previous responses. I checked and the belt appewared to be rubbing up on the outer guard of the rear sprocket and not tracking evenly in the middle. I took it into a local shop getting the rear tire changed and they adjusted something and moved the belt into the middle, at least it was when I rode out. The chirping/clicking started up again after about 100 miles, steadily louder, and now I see the belt is rubbing on the inside guard. Anyway, I clean it and get about 100 miles and it starts the chiping/clicking again. Annoying on over 100 mile trips.

 

[nokesie]

clicking noise

I'm having a clicking sound also! I tried looking at both sprokets and they look good. Even went as far as taking the back rim and tire off but they also look good? All bearings looked good even put a little extra grease on them just in case. But still clicking. Not every turn, but sometimes twise in one turn?????? HELP