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Significant vibration and rattle in left exhaust pipe

Rhoades

Member
I was annoyed yesterday when I discovered an irratating and semi-lound squeak and rattle in the left exhaust pipe at idle on my 2003 Ultra Classic. I found that if I pushed down on the very rear of the exhaust pipe with a small amount of pressure, the noise stopped. It appeared to be originating at the very rear, left side, exhaust pipe mount. I inspected the entire pipe and exhaust pipe covers. I found nothing loose or anything else that accounted for the rattle. Frustrated I went for ride and ignored the problem.

This evening while I was pondering a fix for my problem I remembered reading on this forum last weekend that someone else had noise or vibration problem. They found a loose engine mount...So off i went to look for loose mounts.

What I found was the front stabilizing link was so loose that I could spin the front bolt (center of the bike) with my fingers and was about to fall out. I had to pull the rectifier/regulator off of the frame first to tighten the stabilizer link. While I had things apart I re-torqued the engine mounts etc.

I put the bike back together and fired her up. The noise was completely gone and the also found an immense reduction in observable engine vibration at idle.

As incredible as it sounds I had to tighten the lower stabilizer link in the front of the bike to fix a very annoying rattle that was only heard at the very rear of the bike.

So here is my rehetorical "lesson learned"... sometimes it really pays to look at the other end of the problem to arrive at the solution!

One more comment...I owe the person who first posted a thread about noise and loose engine mounts... a thank you. Thanks!!!!!:)

-Mike
 
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Always good to check the torque on critical fasteners from time to time. Especially on a Harley as things are always moving and shaking.

My bike also started to squeak from the left rear at idle. Turns out it was the rubber mount for the rear exhaust hanger. Little silicone spray and voila! Squeak gonzo...:D
 
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