I recently purchased a 'spotless' 2003 954 with 8,900 miles on the clock. It has a detailed service history. I am the 3 rd owner. One brother bought the bike from his brother with 7,000 miles on it. Both men are adults and took good care of the '54.

Upon starting the engine when it is cold, regardless of ambient temperature, it emits a rapping sound. Listening to the valve train and bottom end using a breaker bar pressed onto the casing and the other end pressed to my ear, I hear nothing unusual: just the whirring sounds one would expect.

After about 2 minutes, the bike sounds normal.

Could this be the cam chain tensioner?

The oil is new (0 miles) as is the coolant.

Your thoughts will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Sandy

 

yea thats the standard ticking noise everyone always asks about i think. mine makes the sound along with probably everyone elses bike on here haha. oh and thats "normal" for out bikes apparently so i wouldnt stress it

 

Agreed. Honda are kinda noisy engines, especially that "whirring" noise they make. What you're hearing is probably mild case of piston slap. After it warms up and everything expands, all is well. Nothing to worry about. FYI, if it was camchain tensioner it would do it all the time, not just when it's cold. Only tensioner that ever did it cold was one on old cbr1000f hurricanes. They had a poorly designed hydraulic tensioner.

 

That does not sound normal. How loud is the rapping sound? My bike makes some strange sounds from the chain but not the motor.

 

Loud enough to hear it from outside the garage with the door open. It lasts about 90 to 120 seconds.

I took it to the Honda dealer, which is about 15 miles from my house. I let it sit for about 2 hours in 50 degree F temperature.

Of course, it did not make the noise when the Service Manager came out to listen to the 'cold start-up'.

My plan is to take it to the dealer; leave it over night; and join the Service Manager the next day for a cold start of the 954.

Other than that, the bike is strong, burns no oil, and pulls very hard.

What do you think?

 

i had same question and was told thts how they sound and looked at about a dozen on youtube and they all sound the same i guess its jus like a dry clutch sounds fkd but perfectlly fine but i look forward to seeing wht the dealer says

 

Mine was a bit noisy when i first had it. I had finally burned up my clutch and replaced with a Barnett carbon fiber clutch and heavy springs. Now when i start it and its cold out it literally sounds like something is gonna fly out the side of my motor. It clangs and bangs like a SOB. I have checked everything over a million times, these things are just noisy.