Honda dominator - top end ticking

[stickybackbob]

For my sins, I have a honda dominator arriving in the next few days. I've been asked to ebay it for a friend but have the option of buying it for not much cash.

Now the thing with this one is that there is a pronounced ticking on the top end. I know very little about the bike at present only that the ticking is there so don't know if it rises with revs etc.

I know it's not possible to diagnose over the net and that it's not here yet but apart from checking the valve clearances, where else should I start looking?

The bike is coming with one for spares although it's an 'import' model and is older too so not sure that parts will interchange. Also, the engine is seized on the spares bike and there's a suspicion that the 'working' bike may have been run low on oil.

Thanks in advance for all your helpful ideas

[andys675]

check the head around the spark plug hole for cracks, this sounds like ticking but turns out to be lost compression making a 'snap' noise through the crack, had 2 engines do this, an XBR500 and the dominator engine we were replacing it with
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[stickybackbob]

Cheers for that Andy, will check both engines when they arrive

[Islander]

Worth checking the header for leaks too.

[jjdugen]

Don't these run the cam directly in the head casting? If so, it is probably the camshaft knocking, especially if its been starved of oil.
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[stickybackbob]

[temeluchus]

[stickybackbob]

The bike has now arrived and I can finally hear it running. The tick is not a consistent one and I think it's coming from the cam chain or the tensioner.

Looking around, it appears the tensioner spring can be a weak spot on these but the bike has done 44k so it probably needs a cam chain too.

If anyone's interested, I'll update with more detail once I've got the engine stripped a bit.

Cheers for the info guys

[temeluchus]

[stickybackbob]

[331X2]

The timing might be out a couple of teeth too.

[temeluchus]