Sharp Suspension noise when making a right hand turn

[Marlin]

2014 Spyder - Concern - have about 39,000 on bike. starting making a metal sounding click when making a right hand turn after riding quite a number of miles and you come to light or stop sign and turn right and something clicks like once as you turn as though something in either clicking back into or out of syn. Just does it once during the turn? I'm on a long trip and need to know how concerned I should be about this?

[Mikey]

I would start by jacking the bike up and see if you have any loose and moving parts in the a arms, brake parts, wheel bearings, ect! Have you ever changed the brake pads? Maybe it time you checked them out! Time to get your hands dirty!!! Good luck let us know what you found!!

[Peter Aawen]

Check the anti-sway bar & the bar links - the OE links twist, flex, and eventually break, often making odd clicks & noises along the way (do you really need to ask me how I know this occurs?? And how I know it can be a serious 'change your under-daks' event if a link breaks half way thru a hard corner! ) And the heim joints in the early style BajaRon billet links can get tight &/or partially seize, making a really loud 'click' as the joint builds up stress & then suddenly releases under cornering pressure.... Both can also cause clicking as you get on/off &/or as you move your weight on the seat, but the really loud clicks are usually heard most just the once for most corners.

So check the bar links, and all the anti-sway bar bushes while you're down there! Good Luck!

[BajaRon]

Have someone mount the Spyder, grab the handlebars, stand on the footpegs/floorboards, and rock the Spyder left and right vigorously. If this produces the noise, you should be able to get your hand on the articulating parts and locate the offending component by both sound and feel. With a bit of care, this is not dangerous.

It will be more difficult to locate the issue by raising the Spyder. Though this would allow manually checking tightness of fittings and obvious metal to metal possibilities. I would use this as a 2nd step.

[Peteoz]

Along the lines of what both Peter and Ron mention above, I also had that clicking noise on a couple of occasions. The first turned out to be that I hadn’t tightened the bolts on the Heim links sufficiently when I installed Ron’s bar, and the second was when the bearing inside the Heim links froze (road grime etc). I took the links off, used WD40 to clean them, and then finished with a silicon spray and reinstalled them. Clicking gone. If you stand on the pegs/boards, and rock the Spyder side to side, and hear the click, you can be pretty sure it has something to do with your Heim links. If not, subpoena an assistant, and follow Ron’s advice above.

……I rode around 600km with the Heim clicking with no ill effect

Pete