I have a noise from my 1200S front end when I go over bumpy roads at slow speed (might actually be there at higher speeds too but that I just can't hear it). I know there's been a tech bulletin that covers it. For those of you that have had the noise and had it fixed: a) did it sound like a nut had dropped loose inside the fairing? b) could my noise be brake pad knockback or something else? Where there any other symptoms? c) did the fix completely eliminate the noise? I've booked the warranty work to be done but I don't want to do a 200 mile round trip if I'm just guessing about what the cause of the noise is. Is there any way to tell for sure if it's the 844 issue?
Mac, I've the same problem with my 1200S (only 2 months old) and the metallic nocking noise is only noticeable at slow speeds and on bumpy ground. I had the shim mod done last Monday and it's made no difference whatsoever so it's back to the dealer for further investigation and when I discover what it is, I will let you know as it drives me bonkers too!
U can get a knocking noise from the screen carrier (the bracket that slides up and down) it comes from the bottom fixing mount, which you cant see very easily. I think some people have tried to shim it to make it quiter..? Dont know if this is of any help to you??
Good topic Mac.....it would be good to know if there's a way to diagnose the front forks 'knock'.....often hard to describe these things though but a description of the circumstances under which noise is evident will help! Annoying.....wrong shims possibly or maybe wrong diagnosis altogether :-( I presume in general people who have the shim fix do notice the difference? Good point, I did 'shim' mine successfully, it's a bit of a bugger to do! ;-) (I have a set of photos somewhere I was going to put together with a few notes on what I did) Easy enough to eliminate temporarily to see if it's the source of the 'front end noise' or not, just wedge a piece of cloth or sponge under the bottom tip of the screen to 'tension' the bottom mount and stop it moving.
It seems so at this point.......not sure if this is something that develops (mileage related?) or is evident from new. It's one of the issues/faults that Ducati won't check for or do anything about until the owner raises the subject..... http://ducatiforum.co.uk/f6/secret-fixes-2421/ See also: http://ducatiforum.co.uk/f6/front-fork-rattle-sorted-2898/
Thanks for the replies. Another potential source of a noise I found today was that the hugger has lost a bolt and was quite loose.
If you have Ohlins it requires a small shim (washer). It's the internals (no damage, just irritating) knocking inside the tubes. It's a Warranty job. Should be gratis.
My rattle developed before I'd done 600 miles from new. It was when I took it in for it's first service that I mentioned it. Now it's been shimmed it's much quieter although not absolutely silent. I can live with it.
Okay I lied when I said I could live with the front fork rattle. I can't! It's just as bad as it was originally despite being shimmed. I went back into my dealers and they had a look. Yes - the front right hand fork leg is rattling and needs shimming out. I pointed out that it had been done before but they said that there are different thickness of shims and it may need more than one to sort out the noise. There was also a tiny bit of play in the bushes on the other fork leg (despite only having covered 2500k) but this is quite normal apparently. I can't feel anything so I can live with that for now. So the upshot is that it's booked in again on Wednesday for the forks and coolant change to be done. I'll let you know how I get on.
GRRRRRRRR!!!! Forks re-shimmed and still not right. Possibly a little quieter but I can still hear that damned rattle!. A marked contrast to the courtesy Multi with non-Ohlins forks. These were absolutely silent. I would have turned round and taken it straight back had I not been in a hurry to be somewhere else. I'll be back on the phone tomorrow. On the upside the coolant was changed at the same time and is now a bright pink colour instead of blue.
In case anyone is interested I've an update on the fork rattle problem. I took the Mutley back to the dealers for them to have a look at it again today (3rd time). And of course they confirmed that the left hand fork leg still had some play causing the annoying rattle. The mechanic tried to explain the problem. Apparently they use combinations of 2mm or 3 mm shims to take up the free play and although they managed to sort out the RH fork leg the play in left leg fell between shim sizes. 3mm is not enough but 4 mm (2 x 2mm) is too tight. The amount of play must be minuscule but you wouldn't think so when you hear the racket it makes. So, what's the solution? It will have to be a complete new fork leg! The internals cannot be replaced apparently. They will have to check with Ducati to see if they will replace the fork leg under warranty but I won't know the result until next week. Further update to follow.
Left fork leg now replaced and the rattle is 90% quieter. However, there is still a distinctive clunk, possibly from the other fork leg It was only apparent when I was almost back home on my bumpy lane. I was straight back on the phone to the dealer but the service manager wasn't available. Message left to phone me back but still no contact! Wonder why? I know I risk becoming a pain in the a**e about this issue but it's a real irritant and detracts from the pleasure of riding the bike. I don't see why I should have to put up with it. The standard bikes forks are silent so why should Ohlins be any different? Am I the only one suffering with this issue now?
No I have the issue too. Had the forks shimmed but it's come back again. Got to take the bike in as fuel sensor has gone so will try to get them to pop a couple more shims in...
Slothbear, good luck with the shimming. I hope it sorts it out for you. I've been back to the dealers yet again and the service manager has taken a sound recording of the residual clunk to send off to the technical department at Ducati. He says they can't detect where exactly it's coming from but hopefully the technical department may know what it is. I'm still awaiting their reply. Whilst having a chat with the service manager I asked if this problem with the Ohlins forks was the reason that they were being replaced with another make on 2013 models. Although there was no explicit admission he left me in little doubt that it was.
bilbs, Yes eventually. I heard nothing from the dealership regarding the sound recording so after tolerating the noise (good ear plugs) for a few months over winter I got fed up of waiting and took the bike back again in the spring. They re-shimmed the forks yet again and that seemed to have done the trick. Even after this there seemed to be some noise then one day I suddenly noticed that it had disappeared altogether! Very strange. So if there's anything to be learned it's that polite persistence with your dealer seems to work. Good luck.
I too get the annoying loose bag of spanners rattle....but as it has no noticeable effect on performance, I just turn the volume up on the ipod!
