Fairing tapping sound

[cushman eagle]

My '99 has developed a light tapping sound,as if one is lightly tapping two door keys together.
It only happens if I have ridden over 12 miles and the road has some roughness to it.I never hear the tapping at speeds over 55 mph,and it occurs on rebound from a bump.
I have had the fairing apart 3 times trying to find it,because it is annoying but I can find nothing loose
The noise seems to be coming from the left speaker,can a failing speaker have those symptoms?
On a smooth road I do not have the tapping.

[Barry]

Many years ago a friend of mine had a similar problem on his Honda 750. Symptoms were exactly as you describe. It turned out his original fork springs were going soft. One spring was 1/4 inch shorter than the other. He just added washers to make both springs the same length. That was at 50k miles. He put 135k miles on it before retiring it to the back of the garage. Did you ever find the source of the noise?

[cushman eagle]

Not yet,but it became noticeable after I resealed the forks.
The fork springs looked to be the same length,and both took considerable strength to press the retaining caps down to put the clips in!

[cushman eagle]

Does anyone know if there is anything inside the radio that could make a tapping, intermittent,sound,as if you were tapping two keys, together?
Berry brings up a point about the forks,is there anything I could have done resealing them to cause the left one to make such a sound?
The sound started after I resealed them!

[Barry]

Are you still running on the original springs? Maybe the fork brace got turned around or needs re-torqued?

[cushman eagle]

Yes,original springs.As disappointed as I am with the progressive 416 shocks I installed,I really hesitate to install progressive fork springs.
The fork brace is not installed backwards,but I will check the torque again!
Thank you for the insight!

[Barry]

You're not the only one disappointed with that shock. Carl and others recommend the 412-4221. When my rear shocks started leaking last year I made the switch. I just wish I'd switched sooner as it really improved the ride. Roads around here are really rough and I get a nice ride without bottoming out. To keep things in perspective, the originals lasted 31 years and had only 3 fluid changes.

If the air collar retainer ring somehow popped out of the groove, then maybe the air collar itself is bumping against the top of the triple tree on rough roads? There's just so many possibilities. Keep us posted on your progress.

[cushman eagle]

Yes, Barry,After you mentioned the brace,I decided to double check the bolts and direction of the brace.
I also wanted to see if there was any binding in the fork upper tubes.
I removed the brace,which was in the correct direction and loosened the triple trees,noticing the left tube was not in the triple tree quite all the way
I finished loosening the tree,rotated the fork tubes to make sure there was no more binding,then reassembled it.
As dropped it off the center stand,I noticed the front suspension was freer to move than after I resealed the forks.
Now I am wanting to get on the bike and see if I found the problem
Thank you for the suggestion.

[Mr Jensee]

The regular front Progressive fork springs are a much improved addition. The compression and rebound are entirely the fork oil weight you use. They do improve the steering response.

[cushman eagle]

I finally found the source of my tapping sound
I tore the fairing back off again and started checking the torque on the fairing support frame,and of the 6 bolts,2 were tight.
If I remember right,Gene had mentioned that,but without checking the torque,they did not appear loose.I rode it 4 times since I did that work 2 weeks ago,and it is back to the quiet ride I remember.

[triton28]

It truly is amazing that something as minuscule as some loose bolts can cause great annoyance when one is attuned to one's own machine. I'm glad you got it sorted out as that would/does drive me crazy until I find and fix it.
Dave