Roar from the front end

[Guest Perennialnovice]

I’m going to try either the Dunlop’s or Avon’s.

It’s 

On 27/09/2019 at 21:13, SteveThackery said:

 

Honestly, mate, it's been discussed to death ever since the NC came out.  Everybody agrees that there is some unfortunate acoustic phenomena 

 

There will surely be ways to mitigate it, such as padding, flaps, damping materials on the plastic panels, et al, but you'd have to be super careful not to interfere with the steering or suspension.  Your insurance company won't want you going anywhere near it, I'm sure.
 

right that if I start putting anything around the steering I could run into all manor of issues if I crash and an insurance man see it!

[Guest Perennialnovice]

On 20/09/2019 at 12:16, suffolk58 said:

Unless you already use them, I'd recommend a good pair of ear plugs.

Yes I do

the moulded type 

Can’t believe I never invested in a pair before.

yes with those in the noise is not an issue- without them it sure is 😡

 

[Guest Perennialnovice]

On 27/09/2019 at 17:34, Bassman said:

If you find the answer please, please, let the rest of us know. I think maybe some people are more bothered by the noise than others I for one am very bothered so I am very interested in your experiments and the results. Thought it was tyre noise still do really, but a brand new Pr4 on the front has made absolutely no difference. there must be an answer.

Will do

I’m worried about putting stuff around the steering now- warned off that idea.

the PR4 are quite as making no difference but Avon Storm 2’s do aparently.

ill put a new front on when my local can get one in...

[Scootabout 2,248]

FWIW I noticed noise with the original Battleaxes but since moving to PR3s and PR4s I haven't noticed it. I do ride with ear plugs almost all the time, though. 

[Rincewind921 107]

I've fitted A41 tyres to mine and found the noise has surfaced. Wasn't quite so obtrusive with the OE tyres. I'll put up with the noise for the better tyres. 

[MPG100 381]

Hmmm, I have 4 different leading brands of earplugs (inc fitted) and have watched the videos / instructions on fitting earplugs correctly but still find the front end too noisey (OEM Dunlops on an nc750x) even with the earplugs in!!! Its definitely tyre noise because there is a huge step change in noise as the bike goes from one road surface to another (inc moving from the coarse unworn middle bit of the lane to the outer tracks polished smooth by car tyres). Am thinking of bonding some sound deadening material into the front fairing inside the fork tunnel. Also I have read somewhere that there is a commercially made fork tunnel cover accessory thingy available for fitting to the Africa Twin...So are folks saying that when they ride with their earplugs in they are riding in near silence??????????? Was thinking of trying  Michelin Road 5 but are folks saying they do not reduce road noise and to fit Avons??????????? Surely there is a solution out there?

[F.Honda750xd 197]

I've actually solved the issue a couple of years ago by cutting up a rubberized plastic sheet about 5 mm thick. One section on the forks another two pieces like wings inside the failing . basically they overlap each other and cut out the tire and road noise. It took a while to cut cardboard templates and unfortunately they've gone. I should have taken pictures with tape measure next to it. I'll get some pictures tomorrow. 

[MPG100 381]

Well done sir! Looking forward to seeing the pics, esp how the rubberized plastic sheet (seller?) is fixed to fairing and forks....

[Ciaran 6,880]

While I find the tyre roar tiresome, far more tiresome to me is the general smorgasbord of noises my NC makes. There's a sort of mild, high pitch whine to the engine which is particularly prevalent around the sort of 2k-3.5k mark thereafter the exhaust noise drowns it out. It's been inspected by Honda and an independent who found nothing ostensibly wrong, it just appears my little S is a bit of whiney. I think NCs are somewhat prone to a collection of weird and wonderful noises from reading all over this forum so I've sort of learned to live with it. A good pair of earplugs certainly helps.

Edited October 17, 2019 by Ciaran1602

[SteveThackery 3,090]

4 minutes ago, Ciaran1602 said:

 I think NCs are somewhat prone to a collection of weird and wonderful noises ...

 

Not wonderful.

[Ciaran 6,880]

7 minutes ago, SteveThackery said:

 

Not wonderful.

 

It was meant tongue in cheek  but you are right. And in truth it has driven me close to trading in. Combined between the racket it makes and other areas of general discomfort (both from the seat and the bouncy suspension) I've come awfully close to trying to scrounge together the money to shift it.

EDIT: However this is extraordinarily wasteful and extravagant. It does the job and does it well, even if the creature comforts are lacking.

Edited October 17, 2019 by Ciaran1602

[SteveThackery 3,090]

5 hours ago, Ciaran1602 said:

 

It was meant tongue in cheek  but you are right. And in truth it has driven me close to trading in. Combined between the racket it makes and other areas of general discomfort (both from the seat and the bouncy suspension) I've come awfully close to trying to scrounge together the money to shift it.

EDIT: However this is extraordinarily wasteful and extravagant. It does the job and does it well, even if the creature comforts are lacking.

 

It's cool - I was being tongue in cheek as well.  

 

Life's short, Ciaran - scrounge together the money and try something else.  It is neither wasteful nor extravagant to pursue your interests in getting a motorcycle that you really love.  It's more than just a device to get you to work and back, or at least I would argue it should be.

 

If you've got room, you could consider a second, more fun, bike, so you ride the NC when you have to and ride the other when you want to.  You can get some cracking bikes second hand for reasonable money.  If you don't have room, then swap it for something else.  So long as you don't keep buying new every time, it needn't be too costly.  The most important thing is this: if it all goes horribly wrong and you hate every other bike even more, then you can always buy another NC.

 

PS: I think you are a hero for sticking with the original seat and suspension.

[Tex 36,817]

 

1 hour ago, SteveThackery said:

Life's short, Ciaran - scrounge together the money and try something else. 

 

I tend to agree. People who have escaped being bitten by the motorcycle bug never even come close to understanding the importance of the damn things to those of us who have been. To us (unfortunates) motorcycles assume an importance far outweighing their simple usefulness and are far more than merely a way of getting to work, or even a way of getting our kicks. 
 

Steve is right. Life is too f***ing short to spend it with a motorcycle you’re not in love with. 

[baben 11,701]

55 minutes ago, Tex said:

 

 

I tend to agree. People who have escaped being bitten by the motorcycle bug never even come close to understanding the importance of the damn things to those of us who have been. To us (unfortunates) motorcycles assume an importance far outweighing their simple usefulness and are far more than merely a way of getting to work, or even a way of getting our kicks. 
 

Steve is right. Life is too f***ing short to spend it with a motorcycle you’re not in love with. 

The old adage is very true. The correct number of bikes s N+1 where N equals the current number you own.

[Grumpy old man 4,670]

1 hour ago, Tex said:

 

Steve is right. Life is too f***ing short to spend it with a motorcycle you’re not in love with. 

Love! I mustn't be a motorcyclist, because I don't Love! my bike. I love the places it takes me, the things it shows me, the freedom of the road it give me, the way it gives me all these things a a relatively low cost, I love making plans to ride it, routes to follow, people it introduces me to, these things that the bike gives me, it could be a tiger, it could be a Vstrom, it could be a fire blade it could be any bike it just happens to be a NC750X. Life is too short to be spending it in motorbike shops and saving money for the next bike to find there is something about that you don't like and on and on and on.

 

Just my take on things

Lloyd

Ps - I do feel a little embarrassed  at traffic lights with the rattly engine but I can live with that.

[Ciaran 6,880]

All good points made. I live in an apartment and the presence of the bike is 'tolerated' by the management company that run the little complex (as I put my car in my space). Anything more than the one and I'll be pushing it too far I think!

 

Personally I think the NC is most embarrassing when you ride it in the soaking rain in traffic. Something about how the water flows down the bodywork and near the radiator means both the current S and the X I had before give off a lovely nice steam effect. I've had several concerned pedestrians come up to me thinking it's on fire.

[MikeBike 5,005]

1 hour ago, Grumpy old man said:

Life is too short to be spending it in motorbike shops and saving money for the next bike to find there is something about that you don't like and on and on and on.

 

Just my take on things

Completely agree. Seems like many are constantly buying. fettling, selling always in the hope that their next bike will just that little bit better. Feel a bit sad for them as it must be one long disappointment and cost a fortune but I think for them that's their fun rather than the aspects you mention being the priority. A friend of mine can't understand why I've had the same bike for nearly 5 years and not want to try something else.

[Tex 36,817]

Lloyd and Mike, valid view points both of you. And in many ways I envy you. Maybe I am starting to feel just a little bit the same way? Percy had his first MOT on Tuesday and it’s been a while since I’ve had a bike long enough to need one of those. But I still think life is too short to ride a bike that pisses you off. 

[Grumpy old man 4,670]

6 hours ago, Tex said:

Lloyd and Mike, valid view points both of you. And in many ways I envy you. Maybe I am starting to feel just a little bit the same way? Percy had his first MOT on Tuesday and it’s been a while since I’ve had a bike long enough to need one of those. But I still think life is too short to ride a bike that pisses you off. 

Work pisses me off, a bike will only piss me off when it becomes expensive and unreliable thus taking money and more importantly time away from riding and experiences 

[Tex 36,817]

1 hour ago, Grumpy old man said:

Work pisses me off, a bike will only piss me off when it becomes expensive and unreliable thus taking money and more importantly time away from riding and experiences 

Fine, Lloyd, but - with respect - you don’t have the depth of experience of different machines (you took a break of many years from riding, I think? Suggesting you weren’t really ‘hooked’ ). And Mike is still on his first bike.

 

Think of wine tasting. The guy pours a (disappointingly) small amount in your glass. You sniff it. You swirl it in the glass, watch the legs drain back and sniff it a second time. Then you take a sip.

 

Human physiology being what it is, each person’s smell and taste are subtly different. What you’re smelling and tasting is different from what the person seated next to you is experiencing from the same bottle. 
 

The first wine you try might suit you and you could stick with it for the rest of your life.

“Hey, try this Shiraz, it’s lovely”

“No thanks, I’m a Merlot man, no interest in trying anything different”.

 

That’s fine. Good for you.

 

You say a bike will only piss you off when it takes time and money away from the riding and experience, for some of us the riding is the experience. Why ride a bike that white lines like a city share trader when a change of tyres will sort it? Why ride a bike that patters over bumps when a change of shocks will cure it? I can only imagine that you’re not noticing the white lining or pattering (or the vibration or the engine rattling or whatever) and that’s fine. Totally bloody fine. But some of us do and we won’t put up with it.  Enjoy your day.  

 

 

[Grumpy old man 4,670]

17 minutes ago, Tex said:

Fine, Lloyd, but - with respect - you don’t have the depth of experience of different machines (you took a break of many years from riding, I think? Suggesting you weren’t really ‘hooked’ ). And Mike is still on his first bike.

 

Think of wine tasting. The guy pours a (disappointingly) small amount in your glass. You sniff it. You swirl it in the glass, watch the legs drain back and sniff it a second time. Then you take a sip.

 

Human physiology being what it is, each person’s smell and taste are subtly different. What you’re smelling and tasting is different from what the person seated next to you is experiencing from the same bottle. 
 

The first wine you try might suit you and you could stick with it for the rest of your life.

“Hey, try this Shiraz, it’s lovely”

“No thanks, I’m a Merlot man, no interest in trying anything different”.

 

That’s fine. Good for you.

 

You say a bike will only piss you off when it takes time and money away from the riding and experience, for some of us the riding is the experience. Why ride a bike that white lines like a city share trader when a change of tyres will sort it? Why ride a bike that patters over bumps when a change of shocks will cure it? I can only imagine that you’re not noticing the white lining or pattering (or the vibration or the engine rattling or whatever) and that’s fine. Totally bloody fine. But some of us do and we won’t put up with it.  Enjoy your day.  

 

 

Sadly I'm at work so won't enjoy the day but tomorrow I'll be riding the little CRF up to Scotland with its rattling, knobblie tyres, loaded up to the hilt with camping gear and will enjoy every minute of the scenery and villages passing by and a bit of wild camping. Sorry if I have offended you wasn't intended and I love the fact we all have different views of love and life. Have a good day 

 

Lots of respect 

Lloyd 

[Tex 36,817]

No offence here, old mate, just trying to make an understandable explanation of my position. Your weekend sounds like way more fun than mine - but that’s a different story! 

[Rocker66 34,375]

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want a motorcycle even as a little kid riding my cycle in my mind I would John Hartley or some other racer of the time. Bikes became an essential part of my life and led me to meeting most of my friends and of course my wife Sue. I think is the reason that I have changed bikes many times as it’s good to experience different types. Having said that I realise that’s what suits me and it’s not the same for everyone. Like many other things in life it’s each to their own.

[Jeffprince 4,921]

Interesting thought for the day re the above discussion....for "bike" read "wife/husband"....

[baben 11,701]

14 hours ago, Tex said:

Lloyd and Mike, valid view points both of you. And in many ways I envy you. Maybe I am starting to feel just a little bit the same way? Percy had his first MOT on Tuesday and it’s been a while since I’ve had a bike long enough to need one of those. But I still think life is too short to ride a bike that pisses you off. 

Tigger has his on Saturday.