Ticking / knocking

STaytuned

STaytuned

Joined
Nov 10, 2014
Messages
19
Location
SE WI
Bike
06' ST
Hi All,
I have an 06' 1300 and I just started to hear a noise seemingly coming from the left side of the engine. It is a ticking / knocking sound. I have started and ran the bike over the long cold winter at least once a month and just heard the noise in the last week. It starts right when I fire it up and continues until the bike is hot. Now for the interesting part. . . The noise is steady at idle and goes away as the rpm's rise above 2k. The noise comes back as the rpm's drop back down to 2k and below. On deceleration, it seems to knock a little more than tick, but that could be my imagination.

Any ideas?

06' 1300 with 68,000mi

I have owned the bike for 4 years and have not heard this noise before. I have read a bunch of postings and the usual ticking noise from the ST is not what I am talking about. I ahve not checked valves or cam adjuster tensioner or anything. I just took the plastics off and looking for some help.

Thanks in advance. Much appreciated!!!


Cameron
 
I have not checked the valves. I would assume that a valve noise would continue throughout the rpm range and or go away when the bike is warmed up? I did listen to the engine yesterday with a make shift stethoscope (large plastic handled screwdriver) and the left upper side I could hear more of a ticking rather than the whirling sounds from the bottom and right side of the engine. Don't know if that narrows anything down. I will try to find my manual today and see about checking the valves. We recently moved and the garage is a disaster!!!
 
If able post a video or sound bit and maybe we can identify the sound. And valve noise may not continue through the RPM range. At idle it can be there, higher RPMs may go away.
 
Clutch rattle? Put your s-scope on the clutch cover up front. Or try pulling in the clutch while the noise is present. And have a helper pull it in while you listen with the stethoscope.
 
My guess would be valve clearances, but they tend to get tighter, not slacker so I am not too convinced. I know that one side of my valves are hovering on the nearly too tight limit, and the engine doesn't tick like that. But I know the noise that you mean - my 1100 used to do it, and it went away once the engine had warmed up.

Another possibility is a nick in the HT lead or a failing plug cap - an escaping spark will sound a bit like that.

I'd certainly try giving it a birthday and putting in some quality fully synthetic oil, and put in some higher octane fuel, with some injector cleaner added and give it a good run.

But keep checking things out with the 'stethoscope' first. You should probe near the camshaft ends, the inlet ports, the exhaust ports and if you can get at them, the ends of the two balancer shafts - front left hand side. If you think it is a definite knock rather than a tick it could be something inside the piston bore itself, in which case you don't want to be running the engine much. But if it is, it will not go away with revs and it will be very obvious when you listen with your screwdriver.
 
I did an oil and filter change last night with no results. Last season I switched to Rotella T due to availability and price. Thought maybe that was the issue, but lots of folks run that with no issue. I switched back to gn4 as of yesterday. Same noise. Thanks for all the replies, I will keep hunting and pecking for answers. And definitely keep the updates coming.
 
Try watching the spark plug wires in the dark. Makes a loud click noise that goes away as RPM's go up. It's called A spark leak. Good luck.
 
To me, that sounds like the classic beginnings of too much clearance in at least one of the valves. If the valves have not been checked (or, if you don't know if they have ever been checked), I would seriously suggest checking the valve clearances. It's not very difficult to do, but it does require time, patience and the correct tools. There are some good videos and instructions here, and in the Service Manual, on how to do it.
 
If you have one cylinder that is not firing evenly at idle or low rpm it can cause a knocking sound and click or tick as the cam chain or primary gears backlash. Is it idling smoothly?
 
Dave.David said:
Try watching the spark plug wires in the dark. Makes a loud click noise that goes away as RPM's go up. It's called A spark leak. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Used that trick on my 1962 MGA. For such a simple system, there were LOTS of wiring/electrical issues. It was easier to find problems with lights out in the garage around 2am....when everyone else's lights were out. Current leaking through the wiring insulation would run along the wire or skip off onto the engine or frame. Weak blue glows would show where the problem was. Problem wasn't always the high tension wiring.
 
Here's a Youtube video you should see. It shows an intermittent spark that goes away as the throttle is increased.
[video=youtube;jO8ezZ1U53Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO8ezZ1U53Y[/video]
 
Wow, the sparking is definitely something I will check out. I have a buddy of mine coming over tonight after work to check it out with me. I am mechanical, just not sure that I am ready to check the valve clearances by myself. He is a MC mechanic at a local shop, so he has a ton of experience. I don't have the shim kit on hand, but might be ordering one tonight. I find it a little odd that everything was fine last fall and now its a problem. . . Maybe its the sparking issue. I might have to block out the windows of the garage when I get home to check it out.
I'm west of Milwaukee by about 25 minutes, btw.
 
Ok, so we did the valve clearance check and all valves were in spec, so that's good news. We then turned to the cam chain tensioner on the left side and adjusted that per the manual. The knocking is gone at idle, but can still faintly hear it as the rpm's drop after cracking the throttle. So I went on a 20+ mile ride street fighter style with no body work on the bike and it felt great. The sound is all but gone and with the body work back on, I probably won't even hear it. We did notice that with the valve covers off, the left chIn was a little loose where as the right side was tighter across the cam sprockets. Harder to push down or move the chain. Thanks for all the advice and helpful videos. I did check for arching plug wires and everything looks good, so hopefully I'm in the clear for this weekend's ride.
Thanks again everyone!!! You all rock!!!!
 
That is good news that the clearances were in spec.

STaytuned said:
We then turned to the cam chain tensioner on the left side and adjusted that per the manual.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean here. My shop manual doesn't have a procedure for adjusting the tensioner ! Its only mention is to lift out the tool when the lifter gasket has been replaced. My understanding is that the tensioner automatically takes up the slack by winding in the tensioner bolt as a spring uncoils. The only adjustment that needs to be done is to remove the tool that you used to release the tension.
The adjuster cannot slacken itself. It can only tighten.​

I have known the adjustment device to stick a little bit after it has been held in place by the tool when I was replacing valve shims - but turning it out and in a couple of times cured that, and after that it moved in of its own accord every time.
 
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