Front wheel hum conundrum!

[Tenerester]

This is something that has been bothering me for a while and thought I'll bounce this off with long term S10 owners before I talk to a mechanic.

Last summer the front wheel of my S10 developed a low hum at speeds above 40 MPH last summer (2014 ES with odo 50,000 kms). It hasn't impact the handling and I do not feel any vibration on the handlebars. Upon closer inspection of the front tire, I see some extra wear on one side and the top surface seems to be uneven (wavy).

I have ‘Metzler Tourance Next’ tires on with about 30% tread left. I will be replacing these with Mitas E07s in June before my Alaska trip. But now I am wondering whether merely replacing the tire and balancing the wheel would resolve the issue or whether this is a symptom of something else like wheel bearings or steering bearings or similar failing. Fyi, I have barely ridden this bike off-road (probably a total of about 200 miles on forest service roads), but usually ride it hard on the tarmac.

I may well be overthinking this, but any advise or suggestions would be great. Thanks

 

[zxrider11]

You will like the Mitas E07 rear tire. I have been getting 15,000 miles of street/dirt/highway out of the rear Mitas E07 Dakar version tire.

Have you been checking the spokes on your front wheel? I check the torque setting on my wheels every 3,000 miles and thought none of them have been loose - it is something you should keep an eye on.

 

[snakebitten]

I'm 99% sure when you change that front tire you will not hear that "low hum".

The reason I'm reserving 1% is just in case you have some rare malady that you are actually hearing over a worn, or cupped, or tired front tire.

You should hear a worn (1/2 life and longer) K60. Or some of the cheap knobby.
As for uneven wear, you could chase that rabbit in a lot of directions too. But I'm betting it isn't something "wrong" with your wheel.

By the way, I did trash my front wheel bearings. It was a nasty sound that would come and go. I could swear it was a worn brake pad metal-on-disk.
One of the 2 bearings was dry and coming apart.

 

[Tenerester]

You will like the Mitas E07 rear tire. I have been getting 15,000 miles of street/dirt/highway out of the rear Mitas E07 Dakar version tire.

Have you been checking the spokes on your front wheel? I check the torque setting on my wheels every 3,000 miles and thought none of them have been loose - it is something you should keep an eye on.

Thanks. Spokes are fine. I do check them at each maintenance service.

 

[Tenerester]

I'm 99% sure when you change that front tire you will not hear that "low hum".

The reason I'm reserving 1% is just in case you have some rare malady that you are actually hearing over a worn, or cupped, or tired front tire.

You should hear a worn (1/2 life and longer) K60. Or some of the cheap knobby.
As for uneven wear, you could chase that rabbit in a lot of directions too. But I'm betting it isn't something "wrong" with your wheel.

By the way, I did trash my front wheel bearings. It was a nasty sound that would come and go. I could swear it was a worn brake pad metal-on-disk.
One of the 2 bearings was dry and coming apart.

Thanks for the advise. I sure hope it gets resolved when the tire is changed and wheel is balanced.
It certainly doesn't sound like a worn brake pad, so that's a relief.

 

[RonH]

Humming sound is common on worn tires that are cupped. New tires should fix you right up.

 

[OldRider]

You said more wear on one side of the tire. Was it the left side?

 

[limey]

As Snakebitten says the K60s are noisy when they are worn. New tires no hum.

 

[Tenerester]

Humming sound is common on worn tires that are cupped. New tires should fix you right up.

Thanks.

 

[Tenerester]

As Snakebitten says the K60s are noisy when they are worn. New tires no hum.

I'm actually running Tourance Next tires at the moment and hope to switch to E07s soon.

 

[Tenerester]

You said more wear on one side of the tire. Was it the left side?

Yes left side (when standing in front of the bike).

 

[dietDrThunder]

This is something that has been bothering me for a while and thought I'll bounce this off with long term S10 owners before I talk to a mechanic.

Last summer the front wheel of my S10 developed a low hum at speeds above 40 MPH last summer (2014 ES with odo 50,000 kms). It hasn't impact the handling and I do not feel any vibration on the handlebars. Upon closer inspection of the front tire, I see some extra wear on one side and the top surface seems to be uneven (wavy).

I have ‘Metzler Tourance Next’ tires on with about 30% tread left. I will be replacing these with Mitas E07s in June before my Alaska trip. But now I am wondering whether merely replacing the tire and balancing the wheel would resolve the issue or whether this is a symptom of something else like wheel bearings or steering bearings or similar failing. Fyi, I have barely ridden this bike off-road (probably a total of about 200 miles on forest service roads), but usually ride it hard on the tarmac.

I may well be overthinking this, but any advise or suggestions would be great. Thanks

A low hum? the Shinko 705 on the front of my bike has over 10,000 miles on it, and it passed 'low hum' about 6k ago, moving on to 'dull roar' and now migrating to 'screaming whine.'

Ok, maybe not screaming, but you get the idea. Any sort of dual purpose tire with blocky (compared to a pure street tread) pattern will make noise as soon as it starts to wear. Don't sweat it.