2012 GL1800 champion trike. I’ve been looking at the discussion on drive shaft u-joints issues. Not yet pinpointed the noise.

Well guys I ended up taking it to a mechanic that works on Goldwings and had him take it for the ride. He came back and said he didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary and that this was one of smoothest running Goldwing trikes he’s ridden. My wife and I took it for a ride yesterday putting around 300 miles with no worries. So I’m thinking I just wasn’t used to the different sounds a trike might have. STA Champion 2012 with 20000 miles. Pot holes and big bumps are annoying but otherwise handles great. Hoping to install progressive springs up front when I service the forks hopefully leveling it out, sits a little low.
 
Well guys I ended up taking it to a mechanic that works on Goldwings and had him take it for the ride. He came back and said he didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary and that this was one of smoothest running Goldwing trikes he’s ridden. My wife and I took it for a ride yesterday putting around 300 miles with no worries. So I’m thinking I just wasn’t used to the different sounds a trike might have. STA champion 2012 with 20000 miles. I pot holes and big bumps are annoying but otherwise handles great. Hoping to install progressive springs up front when I service the forks hopefully leveling it out, sits a little low.
Idk. I’m very new don’t know all on what is expected. I’ve gotten a lot of information on a lot of different topics just trying to learn as much as I can.
If you share why you're thinking about alternator bearings and u-joints, you might get a responce or an answer.
Hi, I bought this trike with only 18000 miles on it. Trailered it home and started riding. Only trike ever ridden. I just heard sounds I didn’t hear riding my 2013 Goldwing 2 wheeler. So far I thinking everything is good.
 
By a cheap stethoscope @ Harbour Freight, this will help you rule out a noisy alternator, a noisy U Joint will be more tricky

You can ride by a building slowly, gas it a few times, do you hear a squeak or any other noise?
 
By a cheap stethoscope @ Harbour Freight, this will help you rule out a noisy alternator, a noisy U Joint will be more tricky

You can ride by a building slowly, gas it a few times, do you hear a squeak or any other noise?
It’s hard to tell but I almost sounds like possible output shaft gears or bearings or u-joint. I did notice a slight vibration showing up in the mirrors and feeling it in my butt. Not too bad though.
 
By a cheap stethoscope @ Harbour Freight, this will help you rule out a noisy alternator, a noisy U Joint will be more tricky

You can ride by a building slowly, gas it a few times, do you hear a squeak or any other noise?


A bad u joint or CV joint can cause a vibration, typically you will feel it thru the seat and floorboards
It’s hard to tell but I almost sounds like possible output shaft gears or bearings or u-joint. I did notice a slight vibration showing up in the mirrors and feeling it in my butt. Not too bad though.
V
 
By a cheap stethoscope @ Harbour Freight, this will help you rule out a noisy alternator, a noisy U Joint will be more tricky

You can ride by a building slowly, gas it a few times, do you hear a squeak or any other noise?


A bad u joint or CV joint can cause a vibration, typically you will feel it thru the seat and floorboards

V
Yeah. I was thinking ujoint from the beginning. Champion told me they dought ujoint being having only 20000 miles but some have had issues early. I just don’t want to mess up the output assembly on the bike
 
Well guys I ended up taking it to a mechanic that works on Goldwings and had him take it for the ride. He came back and said he didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary and that this was one of smoothest running Goldwing trikes he’s ridden. My wife and I took it for a ride yesterday putting around 300 miles with no worries. So I’m thinking I just wasn’t used to the different sounds a trike might have. STA Champion 2012 with 20000 miles. Pot holes and big bumps are annoying but otherwise handles great. Hoping to install progressive springs up front when I service the forks hopefully leveling it out, sits a little low.
If pot holes and big bumps are annoying now, just wait till you install progressive springs because you'll be even more annoyed. Don't do it! If anything just replace the springs with a new set of stock springs and level your trike out the proper way by installing a set of billet fork extensions. Not telling you this in order to make a sale, but I do sell these and this is the proper fix, before you waste your money and are more disappointed in your trike.
 
A bearing can make a lot of noise, you can jack up the rear spin the wheels in neutral to check a wheel bearing and output shaft for noise and too much end play
Check the wheel bearings for top to bottom play also
 
If the Goldwing mechanic you're using is an an experienced Honda Goldwing Tech, then Id suggest you not second guess him on suspect noises. Honda Goldwings produce their own set of unique to them noises like alternator and transmission whine that are perfectly normal and some are a bit more pronounced than others which is also normal. If the Goldwing Mechanic tells you not to worry, then using a stethoscope to amplify the noise is not going to convince you otherwise. Forget about it and enjoy your new to you trike.

Another consideration is you will likely hear more and different sounding noises reflecting off a trike's fiberglass body than you will off of a standard two wheeled Goldwing.
 
Something you could try for front end harshness, not sure what you've done already. Try running with the pressure at max 38psi or less. And make sure that the ADV (anti dive valve) on bottom of left fork is disabled. There are several methods how to do this. If the ADV is stuck in activated mode, you are guaranteed a hard ride and will feel every bump. There are also several possible reasons for it to get stuck but that's for another time. With a trike, the ADV is not really a crucial thing to worry about.
 

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