ZXR400 - Engine Rattle

[seanyt]

Hi,

I have just noticed a slight rattle coming from the engine.

I only hear it when the cluch is out, as soon as I pull it in the rattle goes. Could this be due to the cam chain being slack or on its way out?

The bike is a ZXR400 L9 with 15k on the clock

Thanks in advance

[mr.z]

Try qiveing the bike a blip and listen for the cam chain, you might hear it slaping, if so yes it needs attention...

Has it allways done it as far as you know? done anything to the engine recently? oil all topped up propperly? changed oil?

Its worth checking out, needless to say canchain going is costly.

@15k i'd have thought it would be ok though surely?
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>RidingSkills<->Tech Tips<->MyBikes<

[seanyt]

Can't hear any slapping noises when I blip the thottle.

I suspect it has done it since I got it (only had it a few weeks), but ive only noticed it recently.

The oil level is ok, but ive not changed it, and I dont know when it was last changed.

Do you think it my have something to do with the clutch? As i said in the original post the noise goes when I pull the cluch in.

Ive seen a few posts on the net about kawasaki clutches being notorisly noisey. Could it just be normal operation?

[mr.z]

My mates is quite noisey, is this at standstill/neutral?

afaik the clutch is fairly straightforward to check (take the plates out and mesure their thickness to check there within tolerances), might be worth going to a kwak dealer and asking their mechanic to have a listen to it to check its normal.. if not then investigate it further (dont get it done there in case they are haveing you on unless you trust them)

Asked about the oil because if its low then things get noiser (as theres less oil floating about to absorb the sound i guess)

Oil + Filter change is worth doing, takes half an hour, wont stop the noise your haveing but will make gear changes a little better if its not been done for a while.

Try not to wory too much unless it gets allot louder or things start going wrong, allot of bike noises can be your imagination, useing my spare helmet it scares the hell out of me because of all the noises i can't normaly hear
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>RidingSkills<->Tech Tips<->MyBikes<

[seanyt]

Yes, its when its in neutral, dont notice it when im driving.

Its proberly me just being overly paranoid, guess im too used to driving my nice quiet Audi A3

I'll get the oil & filter changed very soon, just not got round to it yet.

Thanks for the advice, most appreciated

[craigT19]

i think thats down to kawasaki clutches mate.

never heard of the kawasaki clutch rattle? My zx6 make exactly the same sound untill i pul the clutch in mate, nout to worry about
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Bikes owned :- 2001 nsr125, 1999 zx6r, 2006 yzf-r1, 2009 xmax 250, 2012 yzf-r1, 2015 MT-07
Current bike : - 2016 MT-10
BCF member pops. sadly missed 1945-2003

[bish777]

clutches on most older 4's are all pretty rattly, My gt550 was noisey, and my XJ600 sounded like it was going to blow up till you pulled the clutch lever.
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GSXR1100J

[Jrod]

It's just a worn clutch basket.