Front End Clunk

[turbodave_98]

Its a common problem no doubt! My o6 with 3200k has the problem too! I can make it "clunk" by simply rolling forward and quickly applying front brake. If the forks dont compress far enough, it wont "clunk" otherwise it will "clunk" everytime. I'm in hopes that somebody alot smarter than me (not hard to find) will have solutions. I am going to apply some tips already provided in this thread. Keep this thread going this seems to be the first problem with the 06 that is unanimous. Some of you are expecting replies from dealers and or factory. I for one would be interested in the various replies!

My 06 AE started life with me with only an occasional minor clunk, had it checked by dealer and they said it was the brake pads. Now after 5.5K miles, the clunk is more often and louder and occurs over some heavy bumps without any brakes being applied. I do not have any clunk in my 05 FJR with 47K miles. I think it is internal to the fork tubes, IMHO.

 

[Flylooper]

Sunday we discovered the problem. It is the fit, or lack of fit, in the front floating rotors. By rocking the bike with the front brake on you can see and feel the movement where the inner, hub meets the outer ring of the disk. The rivets that keep the inner and outer together is too loose. The clunk seems to get even lounder when the rotor is hot.

This is the same thing I have discovered. Several have blamed it on the brake pads moving, but that is not the case. In my case it was the rotors moving slightly on the aluminum carriers. They moved almost 2mm when the bike was new. As I have put on miles, they seem to have seated themselves in some and don't move as much now.

I wonder if folks with new bikes are blaming the clunk on loose steering head bearings when that it not the source. When my bike was new, I could grasp my rotor from the side (like a steering wheel) and physical rotate it on the carrier and reproduce the exact sound I heard when riding. I haven't tried it lately as the noise seems to have subsided.

I had this same problem. In fact I posted about it here a few weeks ago in advance of a cross country trip I planned to take. It was an annoyance but nothing, I thought, to worry about. By the time I finished my 5,000 mile trip the rotors were REALLY loose. Clearly the rivets were failing.

I took the bike to my local dealer here and he adivsed me not to ride the bike home! He replaced the rotors under the terms of my Y.E.S. warranty.

The problem is a known one to Yamaha.

 

[T120TT]

Its a common problem no doubt! My o6 with 3200k has the problem too! I can make it "clunk" by simply rolling forward and quickly applying front brake. If the forks dont compress far enough, it wont "clunk" otherwise it will "clunk" everytime.

I'm in hopes that somebody alot smarter than me (not hard to find) will have solutions. I am going to apply some tips already provided in this thread. Keep this thread going this seems to be the first problem with the 06 that is unanimous. Some of you are expecting replies from dealers and or factory. I for one would be interested in the various replies!

My 06 AE started life with me with only an occasional minor clunk, had it checked by dealer and they said it was the brake pads. Now after 5.5K miles, the clunk is more often and louder and occurs over some heavy bumps without any brakes being applied. I do not have any clunk in my 05 FJR with 47K miles. I think it is internal to the fork tubes, IMHO.

Dave,

Have you had any problems with your '05 in the 47K you've ridden it? i mean anything besides routine maintenance stuff. Like the "tick" or wheel bearings, etc. What items have you needed to replace in that time? Suspension items?

 

[turbodave_98]

Its a common problem no doubt! My o6 with 3200k has the problem too! I can make it "clunk" by simply rolling forward and quickly applying front brake. If the forks dont compress far enough, it wont "clunk" otherwise it will "clunk" everytime.

I'm in hopes that somebody alot smarter than me (not hard to find) will have solutions. I am going to apply some tips already provided in this thread. Keep this thread going this seems to be the first problem with the 06 that is unanimous. Some of you are expecting replies from dealers and or factory. I for one would be interested in the various replies!

My 06 AE started life with me with only an occasional minor clunk, had it checked by dealer and they said it was the brake pads. Now after 5.5K miles, the clunk is more often and louder and occurs over some heavy bumps without any brakes being applied. I do not have any clunk in my 05 FJR with 47K miles. I think it is internal to the fork tubes, IMHO.

Dave,

Have you had any problems with your '05 in the 47K you've ridden it? i mean anything besides routine maintenance stuff. Like the "tick" or wheel bearings, etc. What items have you needed to replace in that time? Suspension items?

T120TT

I have had ZERO problems with my 05, no OEM parts have been replaced, original brake pads are in good service life. No ticking nor wheel bearing problems. Guess it is a VERY SOUND bike.

 

[Mogambo]

I have an 04 with 9,600 miles (splits duty with my FZ1). My front end started clunking more than the minor clunking it had always made over certain bumps. I took it to the dealer for inspection. One of the front fork seals was blown and very slowly leaking. The dealer replaced both fork seals under the extended warranty, no questions asked.

I know the mechanics at the dealer pretty well and asked them why they thought this occured, since I have never wheelied the bike. Their reply was that in their opinion, Yamaha uses lousy fork seals. Everything is fine now.

 

[Earl Billingsley]

I have a '05 that had the "clunk" when turning the fork to either side while standing still. Don't know if it was happening while riding, but never heard it or felt it. Turns out the threads where the axle screws into the fork tube were stripped. Yamaha repaired under warranty and no more clunk.

 

[inertiacoupling]

My 2008 FJR1300 had a clunk in the front end that I felt when turning parking it in my garage. I did my first front tire replacement (got 9742 miles on the original front Metzler), and I noticed that the axle came loose very easily, and felt it had been not torqued anywhere near it was supposed to be.

When I put my front wheel back on today and torqued everything as in the service manual, I notice the clunk appears to be gone.

So in my case, i think my front axle wasn't torqued properly before I got the bike.

 

[davidw]

I just noticed on my new 2010 a clunk as well when rocking back and forth with the front brake applied. I will check what a few of you mentioned on this thread.

If it doesn't get worse, I will have them check it at my 4K service (at 1200 now).

 

[Deacon51]

My fresh from the crate '08 was the same way, well not as bad. Small pavement imperfections at slow speeds would cause a clunk from the front end. At the 600 mile service it was fixed. Dealer reported that there wasn't any issue, but the clunk is gone. My guess is they just torqued everything to spec.

 

[mcatrophy]

I just noticed on my new 2010 a clunk as well when rocking back and forth with the front brake applied. I will check what a few of you mentioned on this thread.
If it doesn't get worse, I will have them check it at my 4K service (at 1200 now).

Usually one or both of the front brake rotors. These are "floating", and slight movement is not uncommon. To check this, sit beside the front wheel, grasp the rotor in both hands, try to rotate it in each direction. Repeat for the other side. If you feel/hear the clunk, nothing to worry about (my '06 has done this from new and hasn't exploded yet).

If that isn't it, it could be the steering head needs re-torquing.