should i be very worried?

[Keen]

Shit.

On the way to work today, about 5 minutes from my destination my bike started making a weird sound (its a GS500). At about 3000 or 4000 revs it starts making a tapping sound, repetitive almost like a little woodpecker banging on a tree....

I have no idea.... does anybody have a clue what this might be and if its serious? worst of all I'm selling the bike, I was planning on taking pictures of it tonight and publishing the ad tomorrow
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"he who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man"- Dr. Johnson

[craigT19]

i would be worried... get it looked at mate asap
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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

[Slinn84]

my mate had a similar problem with his gsx750, started tapping, where's the sound coming from? cos it turned out that my mates crank was going, not good, or easy to fix

[stinkwheel]

Does it happen in every gear? what about in neutral? Does it go away when you pull the clutch in?

In my experience, tapping noises like that are usually down to a loose clutch bearing which is cheap and easy to fix.

BUT

They can also be from:
loose tappets (easy)
Loose camchain (moderately easy to hard depending on why)
Piston slap (hard)
Main bearings/big ends (bastard)

So yes, get it checked 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.

[Keen]

ok cheers. Planning on taking it to the bike shop straight from work.

Biggest problem is I HAVE to have the bike sold before the 26th of august. Second problem is its worth f*** all in the first place, so I could do without a repair bill just before selling it.
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"he who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man"- Dr. Johnson

[stinkwheel]

[mylow]

I also have the same problem on my bandit 400v. Had it looked at and they told me it was my cam chain and its nothing to worry about. is it ok to leave it or do I need to get it done ASAP.
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BSM Rider Traing, CBT's DAS and Instructor Training 01454 658 325

[iCraig]

Its more than likely you CCT, just get a garage to take it out and give it a good clean and it should be OK.

How loud is this tapping by the way?

[mylow]

it sounds quite loud to me not excessive but it really bugs me. I've only had the bike for 3 weeks (passed 4 weeks ago). just had it serviced they seem to think its fine.
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BSM Rider Traing, CBT's DAS and Instructor Training 01454 658 325

[Keen]

on mine, after 7k revs you can't hear it anymore, its just from about 4k to 7k....

Bad news. I Checked the oil last night, and it was really low. Dumbass. It has been a good while since I checked it, but in my defence it really shouldn't of burnt that much oil in that time and the warning light never came on (damn my idiotic faith in warning lights). The noise started yesterday morning, topped it up with oil last night after the ride home which is only about 10-15 miles. Still making the noise this morning though. Is it F***ed??

Stinkwheel, would it be worth draining the new oil and putting thicker in? you think this might at least stop the sound?

I'm overcome with embarrassment and shame swears to himself that with his next bike he'll budget for a haynes manual and a halfords 'my first tookit'.
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"he who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man"- Dr. Johnson

[iCraig]

The GS500 is a noisy engine at best, what sort of noise is this Keen?

If its a metallicy noise coming from the top end, then its one of a few things could be valves or the camchain.

On the GS500, the cam chain tensioner or CCT is automatic, and can sometimes get gunged up if oil is lacking or old and therefor not work properly.
Best thing to do in that case is to pull the tensioner out and give it a clean in brake cleaner or carb cleaner and put it back in and reset it.

Another thing are your carbs balanced, as unbalanced carbs can make many untoward noises come from an engine, including knocking and clattering.

Also be very sure its coming from the engine, as other components on the bike may start to move about and make noises as the revs increase. Check things like your chain, brake discs and other things.
Also does this sound happen when the bike is sat not moving when revving the engine?

[Keen]

it does kind of sound like its coming from the top of the engine.... but I know nothing about engines.

I had a check around for loose bits before, checked down pipes as suggested, The chain was just tightened recently, also had a problem with brakes last week so it went to the shop and got new pads and new fliud so it should be in good order... although the whole bike is a vibrating shaking sack of bolts and always has been.

It makes the noise at tickover and in every gear from 4k to 7k.... I took pictures of it last night as planned and I'm gonna post the ad tomorrow anyway. Will drop the price just to try and get rid of it. I knew I should of sold it earlier
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"he who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man"- Dr. Johnson

[Keen]

I borrowed my girlfriends camera and made a short vid to show the noise its making.... posted it here:

https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=602652#602652

can anybody identify the problem from that?

thanks alot,
james
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"he who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man"- Dr. Johnson

[bish777]

Yeah its not too loud, like has been said before it sounds like the camchain tensioner.

Its the bit that sticks out the back of the block, strip clean and reassemble it.
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GSXR1100J

[mylow]

just wanted so say I didn't mean to jack anyones thread, I've never really used any forums b4,
my uncle pointed out next time to start my own thread to save any confusion but thanks for any advise that might have been for me
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BSM Rider Traing, CBT's DAS and Instructor Training 01454 658 325

[Gazdaman]

Don't know about this specific bike, but on the XJ, the cam tensioner is ridiculously hard to get to, and you have to take the carbs off, which pretty much means dropping the engine forward.

Hopefully it's easier for you, you just slacken off a locknut, and let it do its thing, it may need replacing, get a haines manual, it'll tell all.

Gaz

[iCraig]

Keen, thats not the camchain it'd be more of a regular noise than that.

Sounds like to me like one of your downpipes is loose and blowing maybe, which inturn is upsetting the carbs which makes it sounds worse.

[Keen]

I lookd it up and yeah, to get to the cam chain tensioner the carbs have to come off..... seen as I have no ability and no tools... my chances look slim

The noise comes in at 4k and seems to fade out at just before 6k now..... least its a bit better

cheers for all the advice. I think I'm gonna change the oil, someone told me there might be metal flakes in it if something really nasty happened, so at least this will give me something contructive to do... It normal takes 10w40 oil but stinkwheel said to use something heavier... erm.... what would be a good oil to use? I'll check the downpipes again as well.

thanks, james.
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"he who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man"- Dr. Johnson

[stinkwheel]

[Keen]