Top End Tick

[sidecarKev]

I will definently be giving that bucket swap a try. That could be it. Good call. If this doesn't do it then I will be pulling the head.

I guess I should take a picture of my handy little tool. All it really is is a 3" piece of pipe 1" in dia , drilled a 1/2" hole all the way through about 1" from bottom. cut from bottom up to hole so it made slots. It an area so you can access the retainers. The 1" pipe was a little big so after I cut the slots I got out the hammer and after a few hits it fit how I wanted. Remove the shim and bucket, put the tool on the lifter. I used a piece of wood as a lever to push down on it using the frame as a fulcrum. I had problems with the valve going down so I shot the cylinder with air and after a couple tries the valve stayed, the spring went down and a retainer fell out. The other retainer needed a little help from a magnetic screwdriver. I found that I could lean on the lever with it in my armpit and still work the air and get the retainers out and back in. Wasn't easy.

Another thing in question. It seems you wouldn't have to break the cam chain to pull the head. I was under the impression you had to. Couldn't you just tie a really long string to the chain with enough slack that would allow you to remove the head from the engine? Does that make sense?

Well at least I have something to try. Thanks guys.

[John]

Kevin, you are correct on the cam chain. there is no need to spilit it. The cams have been removed, right? They will need to be. Remove the tensioner, and insert a piece of broom handle, or even a screwdriver through the chain, and let it rest on the head. With all the valves closed, reinstall the spark plugs, and after removing the nuts that hold the head (don't forget the small ones in the center, front and rear of the head) use the starter to crank the engine over. The compression will help to loosen the head to ease removal. They can get quite stuck over the years. As the head begins to come up a inch or so, insert something through the cam chain in the space between the cylinders and the head. It will not fall into the deepest, darkest depths...

[pgg]

Kev, as you've gone this far, I'd be tempted to spend a bit more time to slam off the head and check the whole valvetrain for a cracked spring anyway. With a brass wirewheel on your cordless drill you can polish up the valves and chamber too.

[sidecarKev]

I might do that. Who knows. I think I'm gonna slap it together though and see what happens. If it works out then I might go through the head this winter. Then again I might do it now. Depends on my mood tomorrow.

[dragxs11]

I know probably most of you guys think I'm off here, and I don't know exactly what your bike sounds like Kev, but I'm gunna be annoying and quote what I read since I can't seem to bring it in here.
"Some customers may be complaining of a knocking noise in their xs1100s. This noise is a mild form of detonation that occurs at partial-throttle cruise usually around 3800-4000 rpm. This particular knock is unlike detonation noises you may be familiar with. It sounds like mechanical rattling and can easily be mistaken for a rod knock, primary damper knock, etc. The particular form of detonation that occurs in some xs1100s is minor and does not harm the engine...." goes on to talk about an optional vac. advance unit.
I agree with the rest of you that as long as it's this far apart, it's worth checking out the head completely, but in case you don't find anything wrong Kev. I just though that it could be possible that your findings are true. All three of the xs11's I hang around make a little "valve" noise, but I don't know if your hearing that or something different.

[sidecarKev]

If it was only at that RPM range it wouldn't bother me. I'm getting it right off the bat at idle. Thanks for the info though.

[skids]

There can be a tick sound when the header pipe gaskets leak. Lean running rpms can cause sort of a pinging sound as it back fires into carbs, and it will darken the carb on the inside. My best running bike makes a slight knocking noise like wood dowls ticking together...always has! HiVo chain it rather loud when it happens and it on the casing below the carbs.

[sidecarKev]

Put things back together this morning. Switched around a couple buckets. Put the cams in, put the chain on. All was good. Turned it over to check it out. One revolution, good, second revolution the chain jumped a link. Damn. Didn't put the tensioner in. As I was watching jump the tooth and as I was turning the next slplit second I think a piston hit the #4 exhaust valve. I decided to continue on. Fixed the chain, turned over fine, put valve cover on, started to put plug wires on. Broke #3 wire, now its to short to reach. Now I have to do the wire replace befor I can see whats going on now. Also need to do a compression test to check the possible valve damage. Actually I think its time for a replacement head.

[sidecarKev]

Heres an update of what has happened. I fired up the bike after I fixed my broken spark plug wires. Bike was still noisy, maybe even noisier than before. So off came the head. I bought a different head that claimed to only have 9000 miles on it. Looked good no way of checking though. Anyways I get it in the mail and slapped it on. No more loud tick-tick and its running as good as it ever did. Hit a few snags here and there. Had a hard time getting the cam chain to stop from slipping on the crank sprocket.

Since the bike was down I also swapped out the upper triple tree with one from a special. (thanks again Rover) The special has less offset. The less offset will "rake" the forks when used with a standard lower triple tree. This reduces the trail and makes for easier steering. It worked well, quite noticable. Not recommended for a solo bike though.

All is good now.

[ratbyk]

Success

Happy for you. That was a tough struggle. You now know much more about XS's than lot of us. May it run trouble free for a long time into the future.
Best of luck with it. Now that you have a "spare" head, why don't you strip the old head, clean it up and try and trace down the source of the original ticky tick. i'm quite interested as to what component/components that caused all of this frustration.
Ken/Sooke

[nashville_bill]

Dragxs11, Were did you find the info that you quoted? It sounds exactly like my bike's noise. Mine runs great, but I've been worried about it.