[bobbyk]

started the bike tonight for the first time since my last race last weekend. there was a strange sound coming from the front cylinder. the sound was sort of a cross between a fast knocking and a clacking. the bike started just fine and had no problem idling. my first guess was a broken valve spring but i didn't have time to open it up. any other ideas? i recently did the cam swap, too, and the bike ran great.

 

[avc8130]

Hmm...this doesnt sound good. We just did the cam swap to Swampy's 03 and it started making some noise up front. We are going to rip it back down. Check valve clearances. I hope nothing is wrong with either of them!
ac

 

[bobbyk]

after i did mine, it made no noises and ran great with noticeably more power. the noise just started last night. i'm thinking it's a broken spring or bad tensioner. i should say i'm hoping.

 

[avc8130]

How do you determine a bad tensioner?
ac

 

[wacky_woodchuck]

How do you determine a bad tensioner?
ac

The easiest way???? There isn't one. But I would take it off and then check it to see if it springs back. It also might be jammed open from when you did the swap.

 

[zoltan]

Aside from the noise, how is the bike running? Could it be your cam chain? They make kinda of a clacking sound before they tighten.

 

[avc8130]

Well, swampy's is an 03. So you dont really spring anything back...more like you torque the bolt.
ac

 

[bobbyk]

Aside from the noise, how is the bike running? Could it be your cam chain? They make kinda of a clacking sound before they tighten.

well, with that noise i didn't want to rev it up. i'll pull off the cover at some point and have a look. i've also heard from an SV specialist that the SVs tend to break the retaining clips on the valves.

 

[wonderjosh]

how loud is it?

 

[bobbyk]

how loud is it?

can't really describe how loud it is, but it's very audible even at idle. you might think that something was just loose.

 

[pepperell]

you ever figure out what it was?

 

[bobbyk]

you ever figure out what it was?

uhm, yes. this is kinda embarrassing, but at the track i had forgotten to tighten the crankcase plug, which of course fell out. i put some duct tape over it until i got a new plug. the noise went away after i replaced the plug.