On my f4, bought from a charity, the money from the sale going to a hospital to help with covid related devices (respirators and stuff). The bike ran great about 200mi, then started dying when hot and a squeaking noise coming from the lower left side of the engine. Any thoughts on what it could be? Video attached of the noise. It only makes the noise when hot, on cold start, no noise. I only got worse after taking the video last year. The bike is now next to repair, after fixing my f4i.

 

Longer video in case the one attached is not working:

 

Doesn't have that rotational squeak sound. It seems more like a bracket is missing a bolt or something like that. I'd remove all the fairings and have a listen then. Might help to better localize the source of the sound.

 

The bike is not operational for the moment, the cam chain has a VERY serios rattle, you can hear it banging against the cover, the chain tensioner is good, my guess is, the chain guide is shredded.

 

Alright, so I took off the head cover and the right side cover. The chain seems ok, the cam chain tensioner appears ok, but on the inside you can see grooves made by the chain, see attached pictures. Also i lined up the cams with the crankshaft according to the service manual, but the lobes of the cams are the other way around than in the service manual.


also the cam guides appear to be good. Frankly, i'm stumped.

 

How do you mean that the cam lobes are the other way around than in the service manual? Picture?

 

sorry, my bad, was looking at the no.4 cylinder, not no.1. They are correctly aligned.

 

Are you checking the valve clearances while you have the valve cover off? Makes sense right?

 

Right, so, i took off the cam chain, CCT and both guides. They all look in excelent condition for 60kmiles, the chain especially has almost no play in the links. So my confusion is this: if the timing is in great shape, wtf was that awful rattle i heard from the engine last time i fired it up?

 

i really don't want to undertake a job that size, because parts are really hard to come by where i live, at the end of the parts supply chain. Is it that necessary? Most riders over here, never undertake anything, except basic maintenance, it is not uncommon for a bike to run its entire lifetime with the factory coolant.