Top End Tick

[ratbyk]

Ticky Tick

I'm leaving a week today for the Bozeman Mont. XS meet. Going to start to get kinda hectic around here in a couple of days. May not be able to get back to you much longer.
Really really try and determine what or where the excess clearance is before you actually start to open it up too far. Nothing worse than having it all apart and still not finding anything. Puts a big empty in your stomach.
Luck,
Ken/Sooke

[sidecarKev]

Well guess what I did tonite? I was somewhat able to push on the lifters to see if one was different from the others. #3 intake kinda felt harder to push than the others. So off came that cam. Checked it again now since it was much easier. Yep, different than the others. Pulled the lifter out, no problem there. Made a tool similar to what Ken said. Piece of pipe woth cutouts to access the retainer. Turned the crank so #3 was TDC. Problem, valve kept falling. So I got out the airgun with a rubber tip. Shot some air in there while pushing down. It worked and one of the retainers fell out. Ok, one more to go. Did it again, push and air. Dropped the air and the valve sat there long enough for me to fish the other retainer out with a magnetic screwdriver. Yeah! Okay time to see those screwed up spings or something. Pulled the springs and you know what? They look fine! So I guess I have to reassemble the darn thing and mabe take a closer look at the exhaust side.

[sidecarKev]

i'm still frustrated

I just realized its gonna be alot harder to put those spring retainers back on than it was to take them off. Gonna need a helper for sure.

[ratbyk]

Still Diagnosing

Now while the spring assembly is out of the way, grasp the tip of the valve where it protrudes up from the valve guide. Try rocking it back and forth to check valve to valve guide clearance. It should move, but barely. Just the smallest amount of side play. If there is excess valve guide clearance it could be the source of your noise. Not likely, but possibly. (told you you need a helper)
(also suggested several times to really try, in fact not just try, FIND the source of the noise before disassembling)
Can you feel that empty feeling starting in your stomach yet?
To bad, I feel sorry for you, don't give up. You are still learning the mysteries of the internal combustion engine. There is a lot to learn.
Ken/Sooke

[sidecarKev]

I was convinced that it was that valve. I already checked the valve guide movement. Just a little bit of play.

No need to feel sorry for me. I'm just a little frustrated. 90+ degrees in the garage doesn't help. I'm cooling off now. Thinking about what to do. I'll get it figured out (with your help) sooner or later. Might as well change out the cam chain while I'm at it. maybe a little early at 32000 but who cares.

[John]

What mystery? It's just suck, squeeze, bang, pitooie. The four cycles of the internal combustion engine.

[beechfront]

must be contagious

i started noticing a tick on the right side tonight...


not the type of thing i want to hear a the week before a big trip.

[ratbyk]

Suck-squeeze-bam-patui-We got

John, it is all the ticky tick, knock knock, slap slap things that are indicating early self destruct that are proving to be the mystery.
More minds and experience are always welcome. Bring a positive attitude though. Read the file though and give us your best experienced input.
Ken/Sooke

[ratbyk]

Yet More Tickies

Beechfront, Strom would say (has said), it is an old bike. It is supposed to tick. A used car salesman would suggest thicker oil, louder radio, or ear plugs.
Now there are 4 choices. Bet you look deeper than any of those suggestions though.
Ken/Sooke

[sidecarKev]

To late to turn back now.

[beechfront]

HAHA - yeah ken you're probably right. I've just been Xtra paranoid lately

I might pull the valve cover off & check clearances again just for s#@ts & giggles....

it only seems to TICK when it is fully warmed up. I'll put some miles on during the next week to see if it gets any worse. if not i am not going to worry about it. has probably been doing it for years.

pretty much as long as it will move down the road i'm still going. It's gonna take a lot more than a tick to keep me from going next week. not that i xpect anything bad to happen... i have more than one backup plan.


i've also been fighting the stupid front brake all evening. Can't get the air out for the life of me. I've given that up and am gonna take it in tomorrow and have somebody else do it.

time for a beer.

[ratbyk]

Front Brake

Beechfront, pull the front brake master off the handle bars. Leave every thing hooked. Now tilt the master to a slightly more vertical position so any air trapped up inside the bore will change position. Re-bleed now. If not successful tilt even farther and try again. When I put a rebuild kit in Ratbyk I had trouble building pressure too. This trick solved it.
When I put a rebuild kit into my 500 Honda I made sure that I bench bled the master before installing it on the bike. It worked building pressure immediately when I had bench bled.
Ken/Sooke

[ratbyk]

Open Plug Hole

Kevin, put a spark plug back into #3. Loose is OK. Or put a rag over the hole. You do not want the surprise of something falling in then discovering the hard way next time you spin it over.
It happens so often out in the world that I try never to leave a plug hole open(except if I have to at that particular moment). Also never leave the mouth of a carb open. Cover it with a rag. It is unbelievable the number of perfectly good engines that have been destroyed because some forgien object has fallen in undetected.
Ken/Sooke

[sidecarKev]

Ok, I got to thinking again. IF I don't find anything wrong with the valve and/or springs on #3 exhaust side I was thinking of replacing the head. There is something wrong somewhere. If I can't find it I'll just get rid of the whole darn thing. Looks like they go dirt cheap on ebay or maybe someone here has one. I know, I know, what if I get a head without knowing its background, might be junk too. The chances we have to take to keep them on the road.

Anyways, I'll have to break the cam chain and remove the head. Question is: Can the head be removed while the engine is in the bike? Is there enough clearance? By the looks of it, it looks pretty close. Anyone done it?

[Ken Talbot]

I took the head and cylinders off of an engine just this past weekend. There is enough room to do it without removing the engine.