hey there fellas...

i have a 2000 vtr with 16,000 miles on it. bike runs great. installed a set of manual cct's (had valve/cam covers off of bike & timed engine to factory specs as per service manual) to ensure proper cam & chain alignment BEFORE i changed the cct's.

now, i think this has always been there but when i put it back together, i have a pretty noticeable tapping type noise coming from the right side cover. it's pretty obvious the noise is coming from the cover as opposed to the front or rear cylinder head. does not go away with clutch lever pulled in, nor does it go away when trans is clicked into gear. it does seem to be tied to engine rpm, though. in other words, the "tapping" will increase in frequency (not volume) with rpm increase.

like i mentioned earlier...i'd like to think it was always there but i'm leaning towards not. a buddy of mine has a 99 with manual cct's, around 18k on his and there is no noise coming from his right side engine cover. i have ridden this thing 3 times this past summer in the north georgia mountains all day long and have had no problems at all. oil does not have any metallic flakes shining in the sight glass while looking at it with a flashlight. but, this noise is bothering me. i'd like to run the thing for a couple of seconds without that damn cover on to pinpoint the noise, but obviously i'm not going to do that.

i was wondering if any of you have come across anything like this. i know these damn machines are a little clunky and noisey, but good god...i think this is just too loud for comfort. any advise on what to check or change would be greatly appreciated.

 

Mine does too. From what I've read, we have noisey clutches and replacing it won't help, but its not hurting anything.

 

It should be silent...relatively so.

Sounds like you've installed the tensioner a little loose and the cam chain is slapping against the case a bit. How tight did you adjust them?

You can tighten them while the bike is running until it goes away. Just loosen your locknut in advance. Turn the bolt with your hand until it goes away. Stop motor. Tighten locknut. It only takes a 1/4 turn sometimes.

 

hey there matt...

thanks for the reply, dude. believe it or not, i tried tightening down on those cct's while the engine was running, thinking that would be it...it wasn't. as far as the "tightening" procedure, i used the recommendation of the tensioners and what everyone on the forum with manual cct's was talking about. finger tight, tight as you can and then back off 1/4 turn.

it's directly coming from that right side cover...the one with the water pump. it almost sounds like the damn ignition advancer i installed (4 degree advance ignition pulse generator) is hitting, but when taken apart, no signs of wear on the pulse generator, nor is there any metal flakes on the magnetic pick up. i am baffled, dude.

can the water pump bearing make a noise like that? i work as an automotive tech at a dealer and a bearing would make a "growling" type noise...not a tapping type noise.

did you have manual cct's on yours? how and what did you do to tighten them?

 

Is your quieting gear installed? That's the split gear with the springs between it that runs the water pump I think, under the advancer.

 

same problem on my bike. i will update if i find anything specifically. i have a hunch its my silencing gear not being installed; will have to look into that.

 

hey there guys...

thanks for your replies. yea hawkrider...that silencing/quieting gear IS installed on there. there were no parts left over when done, so that was also a good sign.

anywho...i read on fireblades.org a guy on there had the same issue and found the problem. he was confident that it was the starter clutch (also on that side). he basically had 2 repairs for it. one was replacing it with a brand i never heard of...obviously due to the fact that it is a european website with most likely european vendors. the brand he was talking about was unfamiliar to me to even look it up. the other solution was to take the existing noisey starter clutch, and weld the inner hub rivets to the metal backing plate that tey rest on. apparently when apart and you press on the inner hub, you can see the rivets move u a little, hence causing the noise. it makes sense so i will look into it some more. hopefully i can find some info on it and update you guys.

other than that, i'm at a loss as i mentioned in my original post. let me know if you guys (or anyone else) hears of anything else possibly going on with this...or the starter clutch