Engine help

[Throop25]

so its come to my attention there is a small knock in my engine on my 1981 eleven special, any thoughts on a rebuild or a line on a replacement. were going to do a compression check tommrw.. im not sure if i wanna know the answer this is my first bike and im kinda strapped for cash at the moment, so any advice would be greatly appreciated

[XJkid]

The valvetrains on these motors are noisy when they are adjusted properly. That is normal. My bike has a small knock too. When the valvetrain is quiet, you need to make adjustments. I also have knocking coming from the crank at idle. I believe this also to be normal. I was racing my buddy the other day, missed a gear, and went up to 9000 rpm. I think if I had a bearing problem, I would have damaged my motor. Others on here have waaay more experience than I. I'm sure if I am mistaken, someone will correct me.

[mack]

Knock

You'll have to be more specific on the location and sound you hear, when it happens and what makes it worse. Lower front, left side is the advance that can rock back and forth and cause a knocking sound if it's not plugged into the #2 carb properly.

[TADracer]

Another common cause of a 'knock' is slight slack from normal stretching in the Hi-Vo primary chain between the crank and the transmission. The slack will make a noise that can be perceived as a knock at idle but has no ill effects on the motor. Will sound like its coming from the bottom end.

[Throop25]

thanks guys, this site rocks