hi i have a cbr 900rr and it has a really loud squeaking noise that seems to be coming from the rear of the bike. i was wondering if anyone has any ideas. i was thinking a wheel bearing in the rear wheel or is it possibly a defect in the drive chain? Any advice would help thanks jason

 

being that the squeaking you are describing is coming from just the rear i would be confident in ruling out the chain however a wheel bearing is posssible but before you get into disassembling to find out check something easier first and have a look at your rear brake pads...wear indicator might be rubbing on the rotor

 

ya that was my first thought they were pretty low so i replaced them and it still does it. thanks jason

 

Verify that your rear wheel is aligned properly. If your wheel is angled to one side, it could still be the rotor rubbing on the pads. Also make sure the rear axle is tight.

Chains when getting worn out will usually have a very distinctive sound, its not a sqeel, more of a grinding noise. Its funny, but the best way to describe it is the sound of sand in a chain....lol..

The other possibility is as you stated in that it could be the wheel bearing. To rule that out, you really should get them inspected as soon as possible. I would at least raise the rear of the wheel and try to rock the wheel and see if there is play at the bearings. It will be hard to duplicate the noise by simply spinning the rear wheel as there won't be a load on the bearings. If you can't find anything else wrong, pull the rear wheel and inspect the bearings. Once the wheel is removed, you should be able to spin the bearings by hand. They should spin freely and have no sticky spots or side to side play. If you feel any tight spots, its time to replace them.

If I had a noise like that, I wouldn't feel comfortable until it was found. failures on motorcycles are much more serious than on cars.