T120 Brake Squeel

I had horrible brake squeal at the front when I first got my bike. The dealer replaced the front wheel with a modified one under warranty. The modified wheel has a sound absorbing pad between each disc and the spokes, see images, the black disc is the cure. Seems Triumph could not cure the problem which was noise reverberating through the spokes but they have removed the noise!
If any T120 has this fault and is within warranty, see your dealer asap.

 

Interesting, see its kind of a fix, lets hope the absorbing material is impervious to oils, road muck, sun etc.
Also a point to make is I have never heard this problem with other wire wheels, could it be that the type of spoke they use. Does anyone have stainless spokes fitted?
I've recently read that Triumph stated that you ride the bike and brake hard to remove the glazing on the pads which is the cause of the squeal.

 

Pretty much all disc brake's squeal ! It's just a matter of whether or not the rest of the set up , rim , suspension etc amplifies the noise or not ! You can have a temporary increase or decrease in the loudness for many reasons. Change in the weather, tyre wear , changing suspension settings, worn or new pad's , even brake fluid's age !

It just depends if it's audible , loud or quiet . it varies bike to bike car to car !

 

Morning Cupoftea, I asked the salesman about the spokes when I bought the bike, he said they are not stainless, too brittle apparently

 

I agree that any disc brake can squeal depending on various conditions, however, this was in no way acceptable. The noise was terrible, embarrassing in fact, especially in a narrow street with the amplification effect.
When the dealer told me they were going to replace the wheel with a modified one I wondered how that could cure the brake noise.
Well, I don't think it has, instead, they have isolated it via the modification.
In order to do that they have had to redesign the wheel to accommodate the modification without altering the overall appearance of the wheel.
I my case the new wheel, which incidentally was supplied complete with discs and pads, has cured the noise issue, and an added bonus, the brake is better too!

 

Sales talk. I love them.
I've had stainless spokes in my bikes for 20 years, never broke one.
It's the cost that keeps them from changing them. When I find a bonnie I'm going to change the spokes to s/s and make it tubeless.

 

Talking of spokes, I've not had a spoked wheel for many years and the one thing I remember about them is "cleaning". I'm hoping to buy my first Bonnie in March 2019. Just seen the anniversary special edition. Anyone got suggestions on the best way to keep the spoke clean.

Phil

PS. Happy New Year.

 

Try not to ride it

 

Best way is to leave it in the garage.

 

Bonnie Phil
I use a wax polish better sealing properties. My bonnie is a 2010 and of course only 5000 miles but the spokes are still like new.
Ride Safe
Joe.

 

If you are that worried about brake dust etc corroding the spokes which they eventually will I would get them rebuilt using stainless spokes then you will never have problems

 

Yeah, that's hilarious. Anyone with an intelligent answer?

 

Buy a speed twin

 

The joys of physics and chemistry!

The first Law of Thermodynamics (the Law of Conservation of Energy) states that energy cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system. Your kinetic energy (mass x velocity) gets converted to heat when you apply the brakes and that then gets dissipated to air. Generate enough heat and the brakes will glow (light) but you always get some vibration that creates noise... an unforeseen design quirk obviously created a bowstring in production models that needed a vibration damper to kill the sound. Greasing the back of pads and fitting shims is usually enough.....

Corrosion is another bug bear where multiple components of differering materials with different electrical potentials create galvanic corrosion. The things that really accelerate the process are water and air but salt turbo charges it.

Firstly salt absorbs water from the air making it possible for corrosion to occur without the obvious presence of water - and for longer periods of time. Second, salt increases water’s ability to carry a micro current and so speeds up the corrosion process. Third, the chlorine in salt can break down the protective oxide layer (rust!) that forms on the surface of some metals - aluminium in particular should you damage the powder coat on your alloys.......

Lesson? As Joe recommends - a protective wax barrier especially at the thread/nipple interface and to keep water ingress from the rim. Something oily will work but is needed more often.

 

Hi Joe,

Thanks for intelligent and constructive answer. I'll give it a go.

 

I’m a bit mystified by the front disc brake squeal reports to be honest. I’ve got a 2016 T120 with an unmodified wheel/disc. It squeaked for about 50 miles around the 500 mile mark and nothing since several 1000s later. The only time it squeaks is when I’m rolling it backwards down the drive with the brake lightly squeezed - not really a problem. The front disc squeal doesn’t seem to be a ‘reliable’ problem on all bikes. If it was a problem I would have gone back to the dealer pronto, but it’s not so I haven’t.

 

Well....I did say it wasn’t a problem and I was prepared to live with it but when I mentioned it to my local dealer that there was an occasional squeak he contacted Triumph and said they would replace the front wheel under warranty. No quibble stuff, quite impressive really,

 

Hi Gazzatriumph. I must have got lucky with my dealer / person they dealt with at Triumph as my wheel was replaced without quibble on a 2016 T120 last month. I must say this level of service builds my loyalty if I had your experience I wouldn’t feel so well disposed towards the brand. Hope you can get something sorted.

 

Have you tried removing the pads and slapping some copper slip on the back plates? Not on the front (obviously)?

That might reduce the squealing.

And ur sure it’s not your pillion that’s squealing?!?