Stupid Noise!!!
 

So i was having the clicking noises and i swapped out the ccts with trucks manuals, got em set up and did the pair removal deal while i was in there. So i go riding(finally) and slow down at alight and the damn tick is still there. Go home and adjust the ccts some more(while running)-(finger tight,1/4 turn out was fine) and still this noise. Imagine a small dog like a yorkies nails clicking on a wood floor. Sounds kinda like that. Fades in and out a bit, loud/quiet. Not present on startup when cold. Most prevelant upon startup after a ride when good and warm. starts to show up around normal op. temp. Coming from the front of the engine somewhere. Any guesses? Maybe sloppy valves? HELP!!! Thanks fellas.:confused:

Does the sound go away when you rev it up?? If so it is most likely the carb slides as they do slam open and closed at low rpm.

Could be that you've got a loose valve. Also a very slight exhaust leak will make a ticking sound very much like a loose valve. Check your PAIR attachment and gasket at the cylinder head and the exhaust pipe connection. But do not over tighten, or you'll be sorry.

At least check the valves.
Even before you invest in shims or do any of that work,
you can always get in there and do a careful inspection of each valve.
Write down your measurements for each and save it for when you do the adjustment.
Sounds like sloppy valve clearances.

+1 On exhaust leak, just because everyone else is going to blather on and on about valves. A leak can make the same noises, and is much easier to find. I would start with it.

Mine clicks like hell too. Its got under 5k on it with frequent oil changes and babied on the street........After 3 techs have had their eyes and ears on it since my little accident, they all said that it is a natural sound from this model. This is only my personal experience, and doesn't mean everything is necessarily A-OK with your bike.

Blathers more about valves /

lube your chain. you never know what kind of noises your chain might make.

First thing I'd do is crank down the front CCT another quarter or half a turn and see if it gets quieter.

For whatever reason I have to run the front one at least what seems tighter to stop to rattle.

Sounds like paranoia to me. Every engine makes weird clicking noises when you listen to them thinking something is wrong. As long as its not a high pitched chatter indicating the CCT's are loose, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Sure, check the valves, but engines tick, there's a lot of moving parts. Find someone else with a 'Hawk and listen to theirs.

Thanks for the responses guys. Im not sure if im advanced enough to check valve clearances and all that yet. Although i did have the covers off and crap everywhere to do the ccts and pair removal. I am going to check some of these things and see what i come up with. Is a ticking valve a ticking bomb? Thanks all.

No, when i rev it the noise matches the rev.

I'm with Drew - replace all your exhaust donuts. Cheap - easy - click usually goes away.

give it a shot.
 

I have thought once or twice it may be coming from the exhaust but dismissed it thinking that couldnt be it. I'll give it a shot though.

Do the exhaust donuts, then check valve clearance... If you can swap CCT's you can do that... It's not that hard... If you find them to need replacing, you can let a shop do that if you want to... but checking is easy...

If the noise is still there then... I'll bet my bike that it's the carb slides... You aren't the first to obsess about that... ;)

Ticking valves mean squat but sound, lol .
dont worry about ticking valves blowing something up.
(as long as its just a tick, clacking is a whole other matter)

At least with loose valves, you know they arent too tight!
sounds like a punchline lol.
(you cant hear the evil tight valves)

I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I know this;

In the absence of certainty, you do the free stuff first, the cheap stuff second, and everything else later.

I'd crank down that front cct first (called "free") and see if it makes a difference.

Since we are on the topic of noises, may I steal this thread just so I don't start another one?
After doing my CCTs, I started getting a very pesky rattling noise just under 3K rpm. Not lower, not higher. Just around 2800`~29000 there is a vibrating/rattling noise coming from the front. can't pinpoint it and I can't catch it if I'm standing still, only while riding.
Could it be a loose screw in the air box? has anyone experienced anything like it?

Your flux capacitor is loose. Tighten it with some nuclear thread apoxy and check the fluction hoses for abrasion. Or it's the cards on your spokes. That was my problem. Seriously, I'm in the exhaust leak club. Expansion of metals is something that you won't hear cold and will hear cooling after a ride only if you sit around and wait for the bike to cool, which not many of us do. With the pipes cool, try to move the mount at the cylinder exhaust port. Any movement is bad, and probably your problem. If you're running slip-ons, check the seam between the stock header and the slip ons.
Rubber side down.

Yeah well I happen to agree... Well on the smarts your on yer own, but free first, and I should have put that in my above post... Try the CCT adjustment and also try a moist rag over the exhaust joints... Seals of good enough to know if it's an exhaust leak in most cases...

I swapped the ccts with trucks-the noise was the reason to do it- and it just seemed like good science after reading on here for a while. But lo and behold, still noise.

To add to RK1's suggestion of "free stuff first", I might add "easy stuff" as well.

Someone said "listen to another Hawk". Not a bad idea if you know someone who owns one. My Auto students used to ask me "what's that sound" while we would be standing in front of their car with the hood open. Most often I would simply say "that's the sound of an engine running".;)

And like Circuit Burner said, the silent tight valves are the ones to worry about.

I'll have to check my exhaust gaskets as well.

That's about the only thing I haven't addressed.

I have that same noise on the front cylinder. I think this is the way the SH sounds. My bike runs awesome with 34,000.

I found someone with a hawk and listened to there's today. Mine is making a noise at all rpm's and it is loud while on the bike (right over the front cyl.) wheather idling or riding. The guy I met, his bike made absolutley NO noise other than the whine associated with our bikes. I'm pissed as I just put a ton of money in this bike.

I'm gonna hijack and revive this thread. I just noticed mine making a ticking sound which is not continuous and only happens at idle. As soon as I rev the engine it goes away. I've had the bike for 3 years and have never noticed it. It's more of a defined tick than I've heard before and like I said, it's not continuous. Maybe about 1/3 of the time when it's idling. Any ideas? Should I be dismantling rather than riding?

How fresh is your oil? How tight are your exhaust connections?

I just changed my oil. It was doing it before and after the change. I haven't checked the exhaust yet but the strange thing is that as soon as I rev it, the sound goes away. It doesn't get faster or louder, it just goes away.

I have no ticking noise. my bet, your bike is going to explode into many thousands of pieces. you will, of course, be branded a terrorist after this happens so the first thing I'd invest in is a safehouse

that is all.

seriously though. I used to get the same noise on my KLR at idle, but only when cold, usually coming from the water pump. no idea if this helps at all, just something else to mull over :P

I still have the noise and no nuclear explosions as of yet. Mine is at idle,acceleration,deceleration but only through the first couple gears. Presently shes torn down at a friends getting a valve inspection/adjustment. Plus new cans, and probly tps adjustment. Down time.... poop.... I will report any findings though.