Strange sound

[WILDECELT]

Hi All
Got on my bike today started her up drove off and noticed that i could hear a fast ticking sound coming from the bike somewhere? parked up left the bike running it's seems that the sound is comming from around the engine gave the bike a check over all the bits and bobs seem in place ( Hornet 98) any ideas as to what it could be ? Also today my oil light is staying on though i've checked the oil and the level seems ok any ideas also

[stinkwheel]

Stop riding it. Don't start the engine again until you know what's going on.

Whatever is happening, I'm pretty sure the oil lights on Hornets are pressure switches (someone correct me if I'm wrong). This means one of two things: a) Something is wrong with the switch and assosciated wiring. or b) You have low oil pressure.

If you run it with low oil pressure, the engine will quickly turn itself into a lump of scrap metal. The low oil pressure switch on motorbikes is generally set at far too low a pressure for comfort at the best of times, it's not something you ever want to see.

My first step would be to check for a fault with the pressure switch and its wiring. If that checks out ok, you need to find out why you have low oil pressure.

EDIT: Not all doom and gloom though. Last time the pressure light came on on one of my bikes it turned out that my exhaust had moved and was pressing on the outside of the switch. Moved the exhaust, light went out.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Paddy Blake]

Is it a 250 or 600.

[WILDECELT]

Alas to late with the info like a nob i fired her up this morning went to go to work with the assumption that my wiring was faulty causing the oil light to stay on as with most peps i tend to think of honda's as bullet proof ( sry stinkwheel got your post to late) so i head off get a mile down the road still hearing this horrible ticking noise then the big fatel happens engine conks out when i'm about to overtake a car loose complete power and like a lemon i have to coast the bike to the side of the road.
Well to cut a long story short i turned my babe into a metallic whore i've got the replacement engine already in hand and with stripping out the old one and fitting the new one (second hand 17000 miles on it to date) it's going to cost me the best part of £400 including engine.
Well i'm gutted because i have to take the train and bus to work for the next few days and also about the bike ( of course:-) so i've resolved to have a few bevvies tonight which i'm doing now and thanks Stinkwheel for the info though i read it too late
A lesson to be learned

[stinkwheel]

On the bright side, the low pressure warning light on motorcycles usually comes on just in time to inform you your engine is now fucked. The damage was probably already done.

It's a level switch on some motors which isn't so urgent (I think a few yamahas have a level switch) but for future reference, on a bike with a pressure switch, if the light comes on, kill the engine immediately because it means you engine is in the process of destroying itself (or there is a wiring fault).
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[prawny1]

Fazers suffer oil light problems in cold weather, because the oil return from the head is to small causing oil to gather, stopping for a minute lets the oil settle and the light goes out.

Ther is a guy on the net somewhere that has a cure for this problem if you can find the article, just in case anyone gets this problem.
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hellkat wrote:

Some people are only alive cos its against the law to kill them.

[TUG]

my fzr had the oil light problem, then all of a sudden it went away, i dunno why, i'll do some research and see what i find, has anyone else with a fzr had this problem?
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Haz ER-5, innit!

[stinkwheel]

A known problem with quite a few Yamahas I believe, especially divvys. They are level switches rather than pressure switches though. It is rare to get a malfunction with a pressure switch.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[TUG]

i'll take a quick gander at my manual, if it is a level switch then it must of come on when i was breaking or maybe an air bubble?

EDIT: ye you where right it was an oil level switch, would a buble cause a false reading?
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Haz ER-5, innit!