2008 GS Spyder front end droning sound - Ideas?

[canadaspyder]

First time Spyder owner. Giving up my 2-wheeler. I just bought a 2008 Spyder GS manual tranny with 27,000 kms on it. Real nice shape. It passed the safety no trouble. I took it for my first longer ride the other day and I'm hearing a droning type noise coming from the front end wheels at any speed. Tire pressures OK and everything seems tight steering wise. If this was a car I'd be looking at bearings. Is it hard to take the hubs off to check bearings? Or is this a normal sound on Spyders? When I got the safety, you would think the mechanic would have checked the bearings don't ya think?

[Freddy]

You don't need to remove the hubs to check he bearings - simply raise the wheel, check if there's any looseness in the hub, spin the wheel and listen. If you hear nothing other than the brake pads on the disc it's good. They are generally trouble free.

[canadaspyder]

OK. Thanks. Been pretty busy lately. Spring gardening and stuff. I assumed the mechanic would have checked the front bearings out when he signed off on the safety certificate but who knows. Trouble is the previous owner had the safety done in a different town which is about 100 kms away or I'd go directly back to that shop.

[canadaspyder]

Now I'm leaning towards tire/alignment trouble. One tire (right) has a little bit of uneven wear. Could be causing my droning sound. Now to find somebody in Northern Ontario who does that type of work???

[canadaspyder]

Had shop check bearings and was advised all good. I still hear that annoying drone.

[Peter Aawen]

Now I'm leaning towards tire/alignment trouble. One tire (right) has a little bit of uneven wear. Could be causing my droning sound. Now to find somebody in Northern Ontario who does that type of work???

That certainly could be doing it.... tires & abnormal wear can make all sorts of noises. Especially if your 'annoying drone' varies in intensity with road speed!

Maybe you could try swapping the front tires to the other side & seeing if the noises change at all; if it does, then that could well be the source. Could also be worth getting a wheel alignment, but that needs to be done by someone who knows how to align a Spyder properly, and sadly, that excludes many dealers.