Reason

Well that's good to hear. Anyone else get that rattle in 6th also?

Could too much oil be causing noisy lifters?

codfish124

a lifter??? theas dont have any lifters the cam is right on the valve with a shim the shim gets woren down the cam can get woren down and cause that noise id check your oil theas thing will burn a litle bit make sure you keep it toped off

Reason

Yeah, I'd noticed it burns some oil. Seems to be a bit worse in the winter.

My manual and gboezio both say the Hawk has lifters, sure doesn't look like fun to get into. Also, preliminary tests indicate too much oil does not appear to be the cause of the problem.

codfish124

ya i guess they doi call them lifter i thought they were shim buckets but they shouldnt ware out they just hold the shim from sliding out

RCVTR

Does it go away when the engine warms up?

The lifters are a "bucket" that fits over the top of the valve and shim.

I don't think it's lifter noise. It's a good idea to check valve clearance. Not that big of a deal if you're somewhat mechanical. Valve clearances tend to get tighter over time, not looser. This is due to wear of the valve seats.

You may be hearing the piston skirts rocking in the bores.

Tweety

Nobody said they where worn out did they?

The tolerance on the valve is to large... ie the shim and "bucket" or whatever you wan't to call them can move around, which definetly can make that noise... A new shim of the right thickness should solve it...

But if left as it is too long it could cause wear in the wrong places...

Reason

Doesn't seem to go away when warmed up. The video was taken maybe 15 minutes after a 20 minute mostly-freeway ride.

When I was warming it up this morning to change the oil it was definitely louder in the front cylinder; I'm not sure what I heard when I put my ear near the back cylinder was from the back cylinder or if I was still hearing the front cylinder.

RCVTR

Is it possible you have an exhaust leak?

Reason

An exhaust leak is entirely possible - how would I know? How would that contribute to the noise?

Also, I just ran it up to Alba Motorsports and they had a listen, and it didn't seem to be making the noise. Their guy couldn't hear it and neither could I. So I appear to have been wrong about it not being temperature-related

shayne

One tip for looking for noises is to use something to conduct the sound to your ear better, such as a socket extension. Put this to your ear and then place it on the engine. You will be amazed at what you can now hear that could not before. This may help you locate the source of the problem.

With 13K on it I would be inclined to rule out piston wear. Maybe if it has had poor quality oil in it the rings may be gummed up or something, but I would be focusing on CCT's or valve clearances to start with.

Reason

Poor quality oil, you say? Well, here goes my embarrassing moment. I was so happy to have the bike (after 4 years of being to broke to afford one) that I would just ride it after I bought it. Didn't check the oil again for a month or so, and it was too low. So I stuck some automotive valvoline in it, ran that for 600 miles or so, mixed with whatever was left.

If that gummed up the rings, is there an easy way to un-gunk them?

gboezio

If your clutch does not slip, forget about that oil thing.
I checked the video again, it's pretty much normal valvetrain noise, it get worst over time.
The 6 th rattle may be chain/sprocket related, but can't tell for sure.

GoBlu

I agree that the 6th gear rattle is the chain. I had the same type of issue. Could not figure it out. Put it up on a lift, checked the chain, spun the wheel... nothing. I even had friends with me. My chain was in great shape, lubed regularly. I then took it to the shop. We put it on the dyno. The noise was very loud in 6th. It took 2 mechanics to finally see that ONE link was catching. (It just had to be the old guy who has been working on bikes for 30 years and had to put on his reading glasses just to see the chain) It would snap around the sprocket.

I would inspect the chain VERY carefully.

shayne

Not that I can think of. Make sure you are using good stuff now though.

Reason

Alright, thanks for all the thoughts, advice, and suggestions. I've decided I'm going to at least try to take it apart and have a look. If it gets too hairy for me I'll just have to save some cash up and pay someone for it.

Anyway, I'd appreciate suggestions for prep. Seems like I'm always caught a bit off guard when I do something, like the instructions say to stick a clean rag in the spark plug hole halfway thru the job and as it turns out, I don't have any clean rags. Now it's an extra half hour to the store and back. Thats just an example, but you get the idea.

I guess I'll be going as far as getting into the lifters, so - taking off the valve covers? Does that sound right?

I borrowed a jack from a friend, but he's got a cruiser and it doesn't look like it'll fit my hawk. It's this one:
http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/acc...ack/index.html
Do I need to have the bike centered?

Thanks.

gboezio

The rear is very easy start there in case it's the bad one.
Get a 3/8 u-joint for your wrench and a 10mm closed end wrench, many extentions 3 and 6".
Just measure and don't pull the cams and tentioners or make sure you know what you do before, when the valve cover is off, take measurements check tension with the flywheel mart to RT on the fire stroke (valves closed) or the valve springs will pull the chain and it will apear tight.
The front one is such a Bit##, getting to the bolts is a major PITA, fairing removed, you may have to take off the rad brackets, oil cooler and whole fairing.

Reason

Thanks for the reply. It's streetfightered so at least that eliminates removing the fairings.

Reason

Well that could have gone better. Man. I am just not a mechanic. Took off the tank and the top of the airbox before I realized that the front cylinder is in front, not under the tank. Opening that sucker is beyond me, so I put the box and the tank back on. Dropped one airbox screw and one front tank bolt under the airbox, took about 10 minutes to retrieve the former and another 2 or 3 for the latter.

Anyway, I started it up to see if I made anything worse. Ran for about 3 minutes then died like it was out of gas (it's not). Now I can only get it to start if I give it about half throttle, and that is ROUGH sounding.

I only took off three hoses, and I put them back where they go. Two large ones, I assume a fuel line for each carb, and the little one towards the back. Any ideas on that? I am going to have to pay for a mechanic to look at the main problem, but if it won't start he won't hear it to diagnose it.

gboezio

There's a hose coming from the front cyinder that goes to the back of the petcock, it does that when it does not get it's vacuum signal, go back and check it's placement

Reason

Well that was definitely not the problem. You can tell because when I returned the petcock to the "ON" position, problem solved! :cough cough:

Prime

Hello!

I have the EXACT SAME NOISE comming from my engine aswell and I am very curious about how it is working out for you ?

A while ago I exchanged the CTT´s (to updated stock CTT´s) as a first step, but it did´t solve it and the noise is still there.
My bike have now run for 2800km and the valve clearence was checked at 2500km and it was within spec.
I have tried to locate the source of the noise and it seams like it is comming from somewhere behind the right crank cover (near the WP), but I am not sure at all.

/P

Reason

I haven't followed up on it. I asked for local help in another thread and a guy from the forum gave me his contact info, but I've been busy with other stuff and haven't called him yet.

Is it getting louder on your bike? Sometimes I wonder if the noise was always there and I just never noticed it when the bike was newer, and I pay more attention to it now because I'm worried about it. But the last time I rode it, it sounded a lot louder to me. The subjectivity is killing me.

Prime

I bought my bike a year ago now and I am pretty sure it wasn´t there then.
The feeling is that the sound is getting louder...

My clutch is also bothering me with some noises and it also feels as if the engine vibrates a bit more than it did earlier.