T120 Loud Noise Under Braking

That's interesting Steve.
Are Triumph planning to replace the hub with a new design which doesn't resonate ?

 

Couldn't say to be honest. No mention on the letter, but, I would assume they would be working in it.

 

Just go direct to the wemoto website.

 

Hello,

Just went to Wemoto, and found the HH brake pads --I believe I need 2 sets, but are they the same left and right?

Thanks

BTW I also notice that as I apply both front and rear brakes at low speed, I don't get the freight train squeal any more.

NN

 

Select the correct bike and year.
Fronts and rears will be different and may well be 'handed' ie. Right hand & Left Hand, but this will be taken care of in the pack.
Just pay attention when stripping the brakes down, taking pictures is a good method of remembering how to re-assemble.

 

Ok, thanks, they seem to be the same on the 2016 T120.

I'll take care to check before ordering.

Take care

NN

 

My front brake/disc has started making a loud squealing noise after about 600 miles. Phoned my local dealer today (23/05/17) and he admitted Triumph are 'working on the problem'. He recommended fitting EBC pads which Triumph apparently aren't happy with, but which I'm happy for them to do as I used EBC many years ago to cure the same problem on my new (back in 1982!) Bonneville, so I'll see how this 'fix' goes. In the meantime I've just spent a good half hour in the garage removing the obvious glaze on the front discs using 'wet or dry' paper and 3M 'emery cloth' pads. Just spinning the wheel after removing the glaze I can tell it sounds better already, so this might be a short term fix until I get the new pads fitted in a couple of weeks. I find it difficult to believe the hub is causing the problem as surely it would have made this sound right from the off? I've also had near identical problems on my mountain bike front disc and this was also down to the disc glazing-up over time, and was also corrected by removing said glaze.

 

A fully fledged Bonneville man by the sound of that Leo.
35 years between the bikes, How do they compare ?
I had a Daytona in the 70s and I wasn't impressed.

 

MickEng, I loved the '82 Bonneville (T140ES) as it was really light & flickable, but vibration could be a big problem at times with various parts fracturing or just vibrating off! Kept it for 16 years and sold it in 1998 for money towards a house purchase, then had 14 years off until I bought a second-hand 2006 T100 in 2012 from the same guy I sold the '82 bike to. Traded the T100 in for a new 2014 T100 Black, then traded up to the T120 Black (no chrome to clean!). The T120 is a great bike; loads of power, great looks, very comfortable etc. Just need to nut the brake problem & it will be perfect.

 

The squeal only ever happened at low speed and under rather light braking. Faster, or stronger braking yielded no squeal.

I tried copper grease on the back of the pads to no avail. Triumph are aware of the matter and do not have a recommendation (save to not bother filing a claim as there is no safety issue...).

For me, what worked was to be sure to brake front and back. Done with.

NN

 

Thorough clean of the brakes, copper grease and new EBC-HH pads should sort it.
Don't know if you watch the Delboy YouTube clips, but they are well worth watching.

 

Cheers, I'll do the brake pad change first & see how that goes. I used the 'Copaslip' fix back in the day & that did help, but have to say to anyone using this type of grease to make sure you wear proper chemical resistant gloves as it can de-fat the skin with repeated use.

 

You're best using a little paint brush or one of the copper grease sticks.
The secret is not to get it on your skin, for the average home mechanic the small amount of exposure to the grease shouldn't do any harm, but it will definitely harm your bike if you don't use it.

 

Be interesting to see how long Triumph take to come up with their own fix, unless of course they're letting us do the R&D work for them!

 

Just a quick update. Cleaned the 'glaze' off front & rear discs and the noise has gone completely. Getting new EBC pads fitted Thursday which I hope will prevent the glazing in the first place. I'll update when I've got more info.

 

Starting from first principles, brake noise is produced by vibration - just like a resonating guitar string......but less tuneful. Bikes do not use the disc materials found on cars because they produce unsightly corrosion but chrome alloys often have poorer friction characteristics. Minimising noise is achieved by cleaning up the dust/air interface between pad and disc and damping the the whole mechanism.
Slotted pads, shims, copper grease all help along with light sanding and de-greasing of friction surfaces but sometimes manufacturers assemble things that just want to sing. Nissin are maybe as much to blame as Triumph!
For hygiene, P800 wet and dry, a good lick of SWMBO's finest nail varnish remover (or brake cleaner) and a judicious smear of copper grease will minimise and maybe even silence the squeal........for a while.

 

I find Triumph's position incredible . The sounds that come from the front discs on my brand new bike are as much a defect as if the bike were delivered with a large dent in the tank , which would also not be a safety issue . The only difference here is that I would have noticed the dent and refused delivery .