Well I did the valve clearance check today and they were ALL within specs, Timing chain is not loose etc. At least I feel better about the noise now, I geuss it is just a very noisy engine like so many others I have read about. I can go quite a few more miles now since I did the clearance check at 12,500 miles. I also re-tightened all of my exhaust bolts since I just put new header gaskets in a couple weeks ago. So bottom line, I geuss the loud ticking is normal and I won't give it another thought!

 

Thanks for the report, it's nice to know these engines can go that far without the valves needing adjustment. Too bad you couldn't find the source of the ticking, I guess it's just how these engines are. Aside from the cam chain mine isn’t too noisy, but it only has 4500 miles on it. After another 8k miles my valvetrain might become a little more vocal, like my ZX-9R...