knocking-need help!

[motoman]

Sounds like "ignorance is bliss" has fortunately work for you so far. Follow what I and others have suggested here as all these guys are trying to help you avoid diaster, mostly form personnel experience. Not physically being in front of bike, we are just trying to cover all the bases. Take what is suggested seriously, and remember, the only dumb question is the one not asked. Wanna see a new XS'er enjoy what we old XS'ers have enjoyed for years... a fairly maintenance free scoot with more than enough power to raise the pucker factor, plus the satisfaction you can maintain that by making necessary fixes yourself with the help here. Any one of these gentleman and ladies here with the combined knowlege would without a doubt trump the best known mechanical/technical wrench in the world period. Being a sometime participent of the Honda ST site who has an even larger organized following, IMO I can count on one hand those who have an equivalent knowlege of mechanical/technical ability, as I'm almost sure Mad-Max would attest to. Almost positive he would single out the same folks as I would pertaining to that. Anyway, take it slow, and ONE thing at a time so you can verify your result, whether it be a positive result or not before moving on to another. Enjoy the process....it has rewards.

[Ken Talbot]

ok, here's where i'm at. i pulled the plugs, rotated the engine to the "c" mark. i loosened the 12mm nut on the cam adj. i tried to turn the 10mm bolt in, and it feels like it's bottomed out. i backed it out 1/2 turn, and i was able to get about 1/4 of a turn past the start point.

Whoa big fella! Put down the wrench and step away from the bike. That 1/4 turn past the start point was probably the bolt stripping out of the soft aluminum housing. As explained, that bolt sits against the flat side of a spring loaded plunger, and tightening it beyond spec can only cause trouble.

The good news is this is easy to fix with a helicoil, and it will come out better than new.

[cheezy]

i know now that i have the vac advance tied to the wrong place, and will correct that first thing. i have and inch pound torque wrench that i will use on the cam tensioner. i will listen carefully when i back the tensioner out to see if it clicks. i appreciate the advice, and i don't mean to sound arrogant, i'm a newbie to this xs, but i've resurrected a '77 goldwing, a '79 cb750, and a 83 xj750 midnight maxim. i promise i will follow all of your advice to the letter! i've tried to use the search function so i could research before asking questions, but it doesn't seem to work very well. after everything you all have pointed out, i think i have some vacuum routing issues that i need to straiten out after i gently set the cam tension. new plugs and fresh oil, then onto the carb adj. thanks again everyone. i hope i can help someone else out in the future. on a side note, these xs carbs are a piece of cake compared to that old goldwing

[cheezy]

i set the cam tension, then corrected my vacuum lines. the bike fired up and ran good enough that i'll start color tune and sync this week. thanks to everyone that commented, especially motoman and crazcnuk. i think the vacuum adv was the whole culprit. man, i thought the motor was toast, and i was completely depressed on friday at work. now there's nothing going to stop me from getting this bike back on the road, except i'm still waiting for a clean title.....

[motoman]

Glad to hear it's all worked out for you! Hope the legal issues comes back as painless!