Oh Dear, my rear end is jingling!

When motating at slow speed (10-20 mph) I can hear a "jingling" sound coming from the rear sprocket area. Not shocks, exhaust, stands, tail light assembly, rear fender. Chain is new and adjusted. No change with a little throttle up or down. If coasting with engine off still hear the jingling but only as I hit a rough patch of road surface. Could the speedo unit be rattling from the inside? It is tight form the outside. Also just noticed that the speedo cable is suspiciously close to the chain...as in 1/8" or less.

MKIII

Ideas?

you say the speedo cable is close to the chain?

the chain is on the left side of the bike and the speedo drive and cable on the right, what do you mean?

regardless of what I don't understand, you could disconnect the speedo cable from the drive and see if the noise goes away

I got tired of the whole speedo thing and took mine off years ago, the tach is just fine with me

possible: chain guard rattling?

rear wheel bearing shot?


I had a similar noise, turned out to be the license plate bracket at the top ears the bolts go through, lotta rattling

I've had similar issues in the past, and it was the chainguard. Check the whole run....is the new chain wider than the old one?
The other rattle I had (on a Bonnie) turned out to be the brake pads rattling on the Lockheed racing calipers - no cure for that one

More speculative....
Would it be worth checking if everything is OK behind the brakeplate? Assuming it isn't a MkIII of course

I think you've got a Mk3, if so, there's a "fingered" disc behind the cush drive inside the hub. It fretts on its fastening and makes funny jingling noises at low speeds.

Cash

On mine the bearing retainer circlip in the drum broke up and the noise came from inside the hub/drum.

Also just noticed that the speedo cable is suspiciously close to the chain

Click to expand...

Aha! it's a MkIII! (God I love deductive reasoning) :lol: :roll:

This jingling is not unusual on MkIII. It is probably the aluminum plate inside the wheel. I would check the bearing lockring in the wheel for tightness, but mine "clinks" a little when moving it around the shop.

That pesky thin cover plate on the right side of the rear hub. Rattles like a tin drum. Those mini screws sometimes won't tighten up. Solution is remove and dab a bit of RTV at each screw hole then refit cover and tweak up the mini screws.

Mick

Yes, it is a MKIII...forgot to post that originally

Not the chain guard. I will check into the hub idea..

Thanks guys!

I'm 99% sure the sound you are hearing is the aluminum plate in the cush drive of the wheel clinking against the hub. When I laced up the stainless spokes on the MkIII wheel on my Interstate "mutt" I replaced the cush drive rubbers and the clinking all but disappeared, so if these rubbers haven't been replaced in a while, this could be allowing the plate to move around more than normal.

I have heard of people using some RTV silicone on the plate. Both my Interstate and the cafe racer clink slightly when not under power. It's not noticeable with the engine running.

If I recall correctly, this plate rests inside the hub and the "spider" or "paddles" that hold the cush rubbers lay against this. Deterioration of the cush rubbers would allow more movement of the plate. The wheel bearing retainer holds this all together, so any looseness would aggravate it also.

I have pulled off MkIII wheels that you could shake side to side and hear the plate clink.

By Jove, that certainly sounds like the solution! I have not changed the cush rubbers since owning the bike...THX!

On my Triumph 1970, an ear on the front fender lower support broke off. The thing buzzed like crazy. I thought the engine was a goner. Whenever you throttled it it made a super racket. I had a friend say the noise was toward the front. On closer, and lucky inspection I spotted it. Bikes are amazing as to the various noises they are capable of producing. You need a young fellow with good ears to help you zero in on where it is coming from. Norton engines are fairly quiet when compared to the racket a Triumph makes.