I have a 2019 Speed Twin. I frickin’ love the bike; I’ve had many but this one is tied for top of the list. It’s a pleasure to take it out. The bike was delivered last September and it has about 3,000 miles on it now. My only complaint is that the front brakes squeal at light pressures. Say you are coming in slowly to a stop sign, or pulling up to park at work: The brakes squeal. If you are coming in hot, no squealing at all. All is well. So I took the bike to the dealer (good people, I have no beef with my dealer), and said, “Fix it. I don’t care what it costs. Just fix it.” They cleaned the brakes, but no change. I then had them switch to different pads (a different compound). No real change. It’s slightly better. So I took it back to the dealer and got the “Sorry, sir, they all do that,” answer which really means “we’d fix it for you but we don’t know how” or maybe it means “in order to fix it you need to go get those $3,000 BST carbon wheels you’ve been pondering but we don’t want to piss you off by telling you that.” All right then friends... has anyone on the forum fixed this problem? What did you do?
Think we all get it at times but I’ve never heard an answer. Sounds emerge from vibrations so possibly put copper grease on the backs of the pads very carefully and swap them around again.
no i've had new discs and pads from triumph under warranty and it didn't fix it they swapped the pads to ebc and no joy it's incredibly annoying and triumph have no answer to it i commute into london every day on mine so lots of low speed braking and it's driving me mad tbh really spoiling my enjoyment of the bike
After every trip (which tends to be short distances) I give the front brakes and discs a squirt with disc break cleaner and wipe with a tissue. Takes about a minute. Seems to be a treatment not a cure. Will be interesting when I tour UK this summer how bad the squealing gets without cleaning.
Thanks, all. My guess is that it’s a harmonic vibration due to the particular configuration of the discs and way that they mount to the front wheel. The idea that it can’t be fixed is bogus. I’ve owned a dozen motorbikes from standards to sport bikes and this is the only setup that squeals. So, how to fix it? I’m contemplating new aftermarket discs, or simply just putting up with it. The OEM wheels are elegant; light and fitting to the bike and I’m reluctant to replace them. Although if one of us Forum members has done it and fixed the noisy brakes I would consider it.
This squealing happened with the T120 as well Triumph ended up replacing a boatload of front wheels with new ones It must of cost them a bloody fortune The new wheels have a rubber backing between the wheel and the disc It is a harmonics problem and later models come with the new rubber disc mount wheels My 2018 Speedmaster had the same type of set up Perhaps you should all get together and get onto Triumph to do something about it They’ll be reluctant because of the costs involved but they’ve done it before and if enough complaints are put together perhaps they’ll do it again
Yep as @littleade has said I had the same problem with my speed twin (sqealing brakes), in addition the gear linkage sheared on a ride out. Triumph were piss poor and despite numerous emails with them they only offered that it was a feature of the bike. I traded it for a tiger sport. The triple spins up better than the twin and rides like a dream.
The parts guy at my local dealership advised going fast and then braking hard to clear residue on pads. I did this and it did sort the squeal for a while but it's only a temporary fix.
My view is for a £10k bike you should not have to put up with sqealing brakes, that is just piss poor. And Triumphs response to this problem across the world is woeful....
I agree too. However it's such a well sorted motorcycle otherwise, brilliant balanced machine that I can overlook a bit of low speed squeal. I could let it wind me up but I don't, it may even make other road users more aware of me in traffic.
I agree it is a craking bike, but you are a lot more tolerant than I am, if you are prepared to put up with the squealing brakes. It got to the point after at least five attempts by the dealer to fix mine that I lost patience with the speed twin. I still love the big twin, so I have a Thruxton R to keep my tiger company.
Bit off topic, I was advised to do that once with a Ducati I had which had just had a major service including the Ohlins forks. Brakes weren't squealing but were mildly juddering. Drove everywhere braking like a maniac, then had a look myself. Of the 4 axle pinch bolts on each fork, 1 was completely missing and all the remaining ones were not even finger tight. Always check the basics.
Try mintex ceratec on the back of your pads and retaining pins it’s very good at getting rid of a squeal, I first used it on my old 2009 street triple R which had a an annoying squeal which triumph couldn’t fix, I’ve had the same with my Street triple RS which cera tec has sorted,also scrub your discs clean.
I do wonder if it is simple as applying ceratec or another copper grease product, why triumph dealers have not been able to fix the problems with the speed twin. There has to be a more fundimental issue with the bike....
cera tec isn’t a copper grease but it is a grease of sorts, Apply it on the back of the pads and also on the ends were they touch the Calipers and on the retaining pins or clip,I clean my discs every time I wash the bike with warm soapy water making sure to clean those small rings on the discs (can’t remember there name).
I love my Triumphs. But like all affordable bikes, they have areas where they cut corners to save cost. Thier brakes are not the best. I have upgraded brakes on two of mine. ...J.D.
I also own a 2018 Bonneville, and one of the first things I did was replace the stock discs and calipers with Canyon Motorcycles’ kit. No squealing at all ever on that bike. There isn’t an equivalent kit for the Speed Twin, however.
