Here's an opportunity for some educated guesses. My engine has started knocking and I'd love to know what it is. Today the engine is coming out so I can hopefully get to the bottom of it and fix it.
I think it's a big end rattling away. Anyone got any other theories? I don't want to miss anything this time so your suggestions will be most appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I9AA...layer_embedded

 

Ummm think you are not far off there Steve sounds like tensioner / chain related alright
kinda sounds like my cct on a cold morning, like you say Henry might find pieces of it after pulling the sump....

I 'd second Steve's guess too.

 

Thanks for your starters but I"m not sure it's chain related as the knock is definitely a knock rather than a constant whoosh or rattle which I would expect from a chain problem.
TO answer your question Steve, when she first went back togather there were no noises and all seemed sweet. About 1000 miles later I noticed what seemed to be a loose tappet noise, very faint. I check the tapets and found a cople of them a bit on the tight side but only about 0.01 mm so not like it was really bad.
This noise suddenly got much worse after a good thrash one day when I really pushed the speed up, only for a couple of minutes but when I slowed down again I could hear it straight away.
Anyway, the engine is on its downward journey so I should hopefully be able to find out tomorrow.
Only problem is I'm off on holiday for a week starting Tuesday so time is not on my side. We're driving down to Barcelona and to be honest I'd much rather be away than working on the bike.
Thanks for your input Sprock, all opinions gratefully welcome.

 

If we were listening to a Ford, I think it sounds like a lifter or pushrod.

 

I think I've found the culprit.
After taking out the big end shells and checking them thoroughly I have discovered that some king sized numb skull has fitted the wrong shells to No. 1 con rod.
The bearing surfaces of all of them showed varying amounts of wear none catastrophic in my opinion but the outside surfaces of the shells on #1 were showing signs of wear??????? WTF??????
No. 2 was in a similar state but not quite so discoloured. It was from this side of the engine that the tapping was coming from so I felt I was at least on the f=right track after finding the wear.
I taped each set of shells together and labeled them for reference later.
There is a code number on each Con rod and a code on the end of the crank shaft. These indicate the relative diameters which can then be cross referenced to the manual to tell you which set of shells should be fitted.
My Con rods consisted of three 1's and a 2. The Crankshaft codes were all B.
This meant I should have had three pairs of green shells and a brown but I had all greens.
That means that No. 1 was suffering an additional clearance of about .020 as opposed to .009. That's taking the average tolerances given.
While this may have worked for a while, indeed a fairly long period it seems that it has finally showed up and made its self heard. Damn it, why me?
Actually the whole operation this time was painless. It's taken no more than 5 hours of work from turning the engine off to opening up the crank case and fetching the shells out. There's something to be said for having done it recently.
I couldn't find anything else awry. All looks good in there.
I haven't even taken the head off or the camshafts.
Well, I'll report back as soon as the shells arrive and let you know if this cures the problem. Cost? About £100.00 inc VAT. Sigh.....

 

Wow, Henry, it's getting to a point where you could tear down a motor with your eyes
closed, on one foot and an arm tied behind your back in a vat of burning oil

That's something you get my vote for the week

Waay out of my league .

Amazing how Steve & I came so close to getting it right , lol , eh Steve ?

 

As it happens Sprock the oil was only luke warm. I only have one arm so if I had one tied behind my back I'd have had to do the whole job with my teeth, indeed by your theory my upper jaw would have been tied behind my back, my eyes too.
Yeah...... ahem..... you were both really close with your chain theory's. I'll have to tell you that the venerable Trout PM'd me and thought you were both on heavy drugs. He also thought the whole thing was a figment of my imagination. Now I just don't know any more.
Glad I'm off on holiday tomorrow. A long drive to Spain should sort my shattered mind body and soul, though Sarah will be a bit pissed off when she realises I'm doing the whole thing blindfolded, handcuffed to the door handle with a plastic bag over my head.
See you all in a week...... Yeeeeeeeeeeeha!
By the way, any of you done a compression test lately? I need some figures from you all for comparison. Mine were all within 25PSI of each other but I need some Forum data.......
Loves ya's all!