Hi, all, I notice when I crank up my 954 it has a rattle , sounds like lifters when its cold, when it his like 118 degrees I just rev the motor slightly and it goes away. anything to adjust etc? I swear before i had the transmission redone with a R&D setup by local shop it did not rattle, may just be me, I don't completely remember if it rattled or not. Thanks

 

Im going to say its normal, when its really cold out my bike sounds like its going to come apart when i start it. A bit of valve train noise is pretty normal for the 54.

 

going to second that, started mine for the first time in real cold weather this week and it sounded like hell till it got warmed up then it was purring like a kitteh

 

check the cam chain tensioner mine does the same thing just havnt got around to changing it yet should be like 80 bucks

 

My motor is real solid sounding but my buddies 954 has its share of noises.
His motor has less miles then mine at 9k where mines has 12k.

They are all time bombs ticking anyway.

 

Yah I changed my CCT at 20k and it still makes noise. I have been told by numerous people that this is normal for the 954. I have not ever had any other bike that makes this much lifter noise but everyone here has assured me that this is normal. Put 10k on my bike since I got it. Has been doing this ever since I have bought and she still purrs like a kitten.

 

Mine makes a funky noise during startup too. Once she warms up, all is good. It's been doing that for awhile... I wouldn't worry.

 

Here is something that all 954 owners should be checking just as a precaution as I had thought my bike was making an obscene amount of noise on startup. Same exact symptoms as everybody else, start the bike and it rattles like crazy but after warmup was fine. Sounded like the valvetrain but no way to be sure. Finally, last weekend while working on the bike I decided to grab hold of the header. The header has never been off the bike.

The left most runner (while sitting on the bike) was loose enough that I could wiggle it easily. Likewise, the left most header flange stud/nut was loose. Almost finger loose. Tightened it, checked out the other runners, fired the bike up and it sounds like the day it came off the showroom floor. The heat is what was stopping the rattle after warmup.

Just a thought. Check your header flange nuts/studs. Fixed my woes.

 

Checking for loose bolts and ensuring the CCT is adjusted PROPERLY is always a good idea, but the noise you are describing is perfectly normal for the 954. No worries.

 

Thanks for the tip Roach. Also welcome to the site.