Right at the beginning about 2-3 seconds or so in I hear a quick rattle sound. That's what it was like on mine. I didn't really hear the fork issue sound the rest of the video. On mine to me it sounded like one of the cables was bouncing against the fender several times in rapid succession when going over bumps. At lower speeds it was so loud to me that I thought people I passed could hear it. Mine was a free fix at the dealer that took a couple hours. I considered putting the sound insulation on the underside of the fender as suggested in this thread...but instead it's been fixed. I'm happy so far. Too bad I did not think to record the audio of it.

 

What exactly did they fix on your chief?

 

Not to be rude Islesrule123, but the details are a few posts up. 🙂

 

Some of us have reported hearing a clanking noise from the front forks at low speed. This is the Indian Service Advisory regarding this issue. View attachment 638896

I know this thread is a couple months old, but I'll add my 2 cents, since I'm experiencing the same issue with my 2022 Chief. I was out on a ride and rode over a fairly modest bump. Next thing I know, the bike's making that rattle when it was dead quiet up front before. I'm not super picky usually, but this is a brand-new bike...not even broken in yet. The front end should not sound like a trash compactor every time you drive over a pebble. I'm fortunate enough to have 3 Indian dealerships within 25 miles of my house, so I took the bike to the closest one. They agreed that the sound wasn't normal...two of the techs also ride brand new Chiefs and they don't have the issue. They were awesome about taking the bike in, and said they had to replaced the seals. Had to wait a week for the parts to show up, but then they were down two techs because of COVID. So the bike was down a couple of weeks. They disassembled and inspected the front forks, replaced the seals and returned everything to factory spec. The tech who did the work said he test-drove the bike after he got everything buttoned up and it was dead quiet again...until he hit a bump. Then the noise came back. They opened a new case and said I should just take the bike home.

So I took the front fender off as suggested by another poster, and the noise did change from a loud clank to a small click. Amazing how the fender basically acts like megaphone for the noise. Plus, it turns out that I actually like the look of the bike without it (kinda choppery), but that's beside the point. I have no intention of permanently removing parts from the bike to mitigate a manufacturing/engineering issue.

Bottom line is I'm still riding and enjoying the bike, but I'm not going to let the issue drop. I'm going to take the bike back to the dealership I bought it from at it's 500 mile service interval, so killing two birds with one stone. It's all well and good for Indian to say the defect doesn't affect the performance of the bike, and I'm convinced that's true. So that makes it a cosmetic issue. Either way, it's a defect in their product that needs to be addressed. If the paint started peeling off the tank or the emblems started dropping off two days after bringing the bike home, would that get addressed? It wouldn't affect the performance of the bike. I'll post on any progress.

 

You’re lucky they were able to get parts. My dealer and the Indian corporate techs can’t get an eta for parts for my bike. The noise is annoying but I just twist the throttle harder. Hopefully there’s a fix soon. I heard they’re in cad design now for the new forks. That’s at least what Indian corporate told me on the phone. Fingers crossed

 

Bike is in the shop getting the new suspension fix finally. I’ll update you guys on what the final result is

 

here is the updated notice for the suspension noise if anyone wants it

 

Just got my fix kit ordered, and service will be done in a couple of weeks. I was told that it should take about 3 hours.

 

Still waiting….. kit came with no seals

 

I have a Chief Dark Horse 2022. The forks have rattled over any bumps since day 1. I reported this straight away and would not accept it is correct on this model. A motorcycle is for transport and enjoyment. This fork noise spoilt the enjoyment. I was told that bike on the showroom does the same. My response is that you have two that are wrong! Then told the build date of mine and the showroom bike was after the production line had changed to different parts in the forks that gave the Rebound Noise. Again I disagreed and said that maybe they had still used the old parts until they ran out.

Hopefully I have an end to the fork problems. I have had my 3500 service and both Forks were rebuilt with the New production parts (as per the Indian notice issued in this post). 150 miles ridden and so far No Fork rebound rattle noise. Feels so good.

 

I have a Chief Dark Horse 2022. The forks have rattled over any bumps since day 1. I reported this straight away and would not accept it is correct on this model. A motorcycle is for transport and enjoyment. This fork noise spoilt the enjoyment. I was told that bike on the showroom does the same. My response is that you have two that are wrong! Then told the build date of mine and the showroom bike was after the production line had changed to different parts in the forks that gave the Rebound Noise. Again I disagreed and said that maybe they had still used the old parts until they ran out.

Hopefully I have an end to the fork problems. I have had my 3500 service and both Forks were rebuilt with the New production parts (as per the Indian notice issued in this post). 150 miles ridden and so far No Fork rebound rattle noise. Feels so good.

My rattle came back after riding over these horrible New York roads. I gave up on it and once the equity is greater than the loan I think I’m getting a Harley even though customer care gave me an extended warranty.

 

Mine came back after a month so I opened a case again with Indian to have them redone

 

The kit won’t arrive to my NEW dealer until late July, so it must still be a pretty big issue. It’d be a shame if Polaris did a full on recall and had to replace our forks with the Sport Chief forks (doesn’t hurt to dream). Did anyone notice a difference in ride quality? My forks are so harsh that I feel like I’m riding a bucking bronco down mildly bumpy roads!

 

That would be the ultimate answer or to offer a big discount if we want to upgrade.

 

We own a DHC and a SCL, and they both rattled at low speed over bumps. We had the recall done on both of them and it solved the problem. It's been about a year and it's still fine.

The rattle from the gas filler is the pick-up tube/strainer bumping the tank. Had that fixed when I had warranty done on the debris in my gas tank.

 

I haven't had any noise coming from my forks luckily and they take a fair bit of abuse with a 2 mile stretch of lane splitting that is littered with potholes and raised sections of road. Mine must have the updated/manufactured correctly parts.

 

That is more than possible as the fault was with a rebound valve in one of the forks. From what I understand it was a batch issue.

 

An update on the forks. First my dealer is very supportive and not a problem. Now I have had the forks rebuilt and no noise. Then a few weeks later the left fork seal went. The dealer did this under warranty. Now just had the right fork seal replaced.
I had my 5000 mile service done a couple of weeks before. The dealer gave me my service bill and only charged for the oil and service parts. They took care of the Labour free, because of the problems. They have my loyalty.

 

To update my fork noise, my bike is back in the shop and the updated parts kit is there waiting to be installed. I’ll update once I get the motorcycle back from them.

 

I just bought a new chief bobber dark horse. Checked ride command and there was a notice saying that if I hear noises from my forks I should contact my dealer. I do have the noises and I contacted Bill Smiths who are a new dealer here in Cheshire Uk. (Note that I did not buy the bike there). Instantly booked in for new inner fork tubes, seals and bushes. Brilliant. I’m perfectly capable of fitting it all myself but they insist. Two hours, apparently. Top score from my dealer and Indian UK.

 

Congrats on the new ride!

 

2022 Indian Chief Body and Frame Technical Service Bulletins

2022 Indian Chief Body and Frame Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs).

www.aboutautomobile.com

Sorry - this link didn’t give as much info as I’d hoped.

 

You have to contact your dealer if you have the clacking - there was no formal recall. Polaris didn’t advertise the service bulletin.

 

The local dealer still says the noise is normal. The other dealer keeps fixing it but I hit a bump and it comes back. My tax dollars hard at work in the Empire State.

 

Yeah mine came back pretty quickly too. I just turn up the music now.

 

So I called the dealer today and they said there is a 2.0 bulletin for the front forks. They will replace the whole fork tube. Just updating you guys out there who may still have the issue.

 

Ive had the same issue with my 22 super chief limited.First a repair kit was ordered. Then they told me they couldn't disassemble the right side fork because a bolt inside was stripped out..huh? How did a bolt get stripped if its never been takin apart before. Anyway ordered new fork assembly. Been 4 months on backorder. No eta. Dealer told me to call Indian. Out of patience here. Tired of waiting on callbacks from Indian

 

That's not good. Sorry to hear. We by new and quality products and expect usability and reliability. oops, I almost wrote we could have bought a Chine clone for a lot less, but wait, made in China?

 

My clunking has gotten pretty bad again. I need to talk to the dealer and see what can be done. I'm pretty sure at last replacement they did a whole new fork tube but i'm not 100% sure.

 

Yeah my dealers has thrown their hands up and told me to call Indian

 

Hello everyone, I was able to solve this problem on my chief bobber without changing any parts.
In fact, you just need to add adjusting washers (in my case these are 3 washers of 0.1 mm each) the sound is made by the node marked in the picture, perhaps just a manufacturing error or something else.

All you need to do is add a few washers that will remove the gap between the metal sleeve and the retaining ring.

the size of the pattern I chose 26mm / 35 mm / 0.1 mm

Additionally, I noticed that the amount of oil in the fork was lower than written in the motorcycle repair documentation .

About 450 ml of oil drained from each shock absorber, the instructions say it should be 550ml, fork without oil leaks, and mileage 4 thousand miles.

 

Appreciate the info. My 2022 Chief Bobber is in the shop right now getting the warranty work related to this issue. I'm not sure what Indian is doing to resolve the problem, the guy I spoke with on the phone mentioned a complete rebuild kit. I've read on this forum that some owners had to have the rebuild done a couple times. I have Indian doing the work because it's covered under the warranty, if the clunk returns I'll probably rebuild the forks myself and I'll keep this info in mind.

 

Ye pre-loading the spring “with washers” would remove any play, good post 👌 maybe the Indian fix is a spacer 🤔
Vladimir did you measure the spring length and if so was it in spec with the service limits?

 

Hello everyone, as promised, I am writing about the results of my searches and solutions to this problem.

I wrote above that you need to add washers to remove the backlash, and this solved most of the problems, but not completely. The knocking disappeared, but if you drove about 5 miles, it began to appear again, and if you let the motorcycle sit for about 5 minutes, the knocking disappeared and appeared again if you drove or rocked the motorcycle for a long time.
I tried for a long time to understand what exactly was happening, and noticed that the rebound spring was simply dangling (added a photo).
I replaced this spring for the sake of experimentation and the knocking went away completely, I drove it like this for about 200 miles and the problem did not appear again.
This may not be the right decision, but I don’t have the opportunity to contact a dealer yet. Additionally, I switched to w30 oil in the fork, it’s hot in our country now, and after a short ride it was as if the fork was empty, oil change left the front end feeling tighter after a long drive in hot weather.

 

Hello everyone, as promised, I am writing about the results of my searches and solutions to this problem.

I wrote above that you need to add washers to remove the backlash, and this solved most of the problems, but not completely. The knocking disappeared, but if you drove about 5 miles, it began to appear again, and if you let the motorcycle sit for about 5 minutes, the knocking disappeared and appeared again if you drove or rocked the motorcycle for a long time.
I tried for a long time to understand what exactly was happening, and noticed that the rebound spring was simply dangling (added a photo).
I replaced this spring for the sake of experimentation and the knocking went away completely, I drove it like this for about 200 miles and the problem did not appear again.
This may not be the right decision, but I don’t have the opportunity to contact a dealer yet. Additionally, I switched to w30 oil in the fork, it’s hot in our country now, and after a short ride it was as if the fork was empty, oil change left the front end feeling tighter after a long drive in hot weather.


View attachment 797611 View attachment 797612

I want to emphasize that this is exclusively my way and I do not recommend repeating it on your motorcycle if you do not want to experiment.

I believe this should be resolved solely by the dealership.

 

I had my forks replaced under warranty and it came back pretty quickly. I really wish they got these things right originally as the noise is annoying but I just turn my headset up a bit.