Sounds similar to Lifter noise in cars
 

I'm not sure whether to be alarmed or not, but on the way to work this morning i notice this little tap tap tap sound which increases in frequency as the rpm's go up. It's not loud, you can barely hear it with your helmet on at idle. It's a 2002 with 15k miles on her. Could it be valves needing adjustment already?

Valves wear tighter not looser. When they get quiet is when you have to worry. During cold start up the clearances are at there greatest and increased valve noise is normal. Check for noise at operating temp. 15k is a good time to check clearances though. If the noise is getting excessive its probably not valves but a loose cam chain.

They wear tighter? bit confusing, All i've ever worked on are mazda rotary cars so I've never worked on a vehicle with valves. :oops:

It doesn't sound horrible right now. May as well do the APE tensioners when I adjust the valves, to teach myself the intricacies of piston engines. :p

Thank you for the insight.

Check Calitoz article (recent sticky) on CCT replacement. It's probably time or close. Because of the devastating nature of a failure - close is close enough! I'm at 16k and have about road my luck to where I'm not comfortable with it so while I hate to be without the bike that much longer I'm probably going to do the change during my current crash/rebuild. I thought Lou's article was exemplary and very timely given my own proximity to this very important repair. Greg says you can do this procedure in 30 minutes. Not me, but I can get it done - like the man says - patience!

The valves pound at the seats and wear in toward the cam thus the cam/valve bucket clearances reduce. Good luck

That makes sense. Thank you.