What's that ticking sound?

I'm sure it isn't a bomb but since the weekend when I had that zero MPH
coming together with a Nissan and dropped the fatblade on it's left hand
side, there been a ticking noise coming from the engine. I can't tell
where exactly for all the plastic but my guess is the top.

Cam chain? All I know is it didn't do it before.

There's also a vibe coming from the "more than gay blue screen" now as
well, but that goes away when I whack the mirror.

 

Urm, what sort of ticking, does it speed up with the engine or only
happen when cold etc, more info man...

I wouldn't have thought a falling over would damage anything inside the
engine and cam chain noise would disappear when the engine gets warm.
You could have knocked a plug cap loose and the ticking is it arcing out
or there could be something catching in the fan.

Replace the screen its gash.

 

After a service my bindit had a ticking noise which turned out to be the
plug cap rattling inside the engine casing. This was because the rubber
grommet at the top had moved and the whole lot was rattling. I pushed
the grommet back into place and the ticking stopped.

Either that or a fairing fastener has come adrift.

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, mups said:

I noticed it this afternoon when I started it from cold. It didn't seem
as noisy when I got back from the shops.

Don't know about that. It was still running laying on it's side with the
back wheel going round and I didn't cut the engine until after I'd got
up and called the driver a silly man for not seeing me.

Would this laying on the side thing cause the bearings to run dry? It's
not a rumbly noise but after picking the bike up again it did sound a
bit "whizzy" for a minute, rising in pitch with the revs.

That is certainly something I can check. The ticking noise remained
constant though, AFAICT.

I thought it came as standard but I'm reliably informed they would have
been clear and there was an identical bike parked next to mine at the
bike show on Saturday and his/her screen was clear although there's
looked like an official import.

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, Martian said:

It sounds more mechanical than something that's come loose but I'm going
to give it the once-over tomorrow if it isn't pissing down with rain.

I've discovered some ultra-hom blue lights screwed inside the fairing by
the radiator, presumably by the last owner. Gawd knows what else I'm
going to find.

 

It's an unmarked police pursuit bike. The ticking means that the
self-destruct has activated.

 

Whinging Courier was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:

Well, certain engines really don't like that (Triumph triples for
example) so chances are, your's didn't either. Don't know the
arrangements re oil pickup and all that but I can't imagine it was too
happy sucking in air instead.

Probably lost its oil feed to the top end?

Mind you, I'm quite pished at the moment (both in the alcoholic and in
the 'off' sense).

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, platypus said:

****. I wondered what that massive spring under the seat was for.

 

That's the rear shock, you fool. The self-destruct is under the tank.

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, platypus said:

****, and double ****. There's one under the tank as well!!??

 

Maybe but I wouldn't have thought I would have been long enough to
damage anything. Depends how much of a bollocking you gave the driver

If the ticking doesn't change with engine revs then its probably not
engine wizzy round bits, apart from that dunno.

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, mups said:

Not long. Just enough time to suggest he might be visually challenged
and perhaps he should go on his way.

I'll give it a run out tomorrow and see. Apart from a quick nip down to
the shops I've not ridden it since Saturday. I do know it needs the
carbs balancing though, the idle's a bit rough and it stinks of rich
mixture at a standstill.

 

Tank and rear?, its a twin shock.

 

The CBR used to make an odd clicking noise, if I was running it and had
forgotten to turn the fuel on - that didn't seem to be affected by the
revs, though of course it's not likely to be that.

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, Rexx said:

Err, yeah. The redline/smoke test produced loads of black smoke so
it's off with the tank and a good filter clean.

As for the ticking: it's not got any worse so in a week or two I'd have
got used to it. That'll get fixed when I decide to do everything else.

Cheers

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, sweller said:

Either that or I'm seeing double. I must have had a bang to the head.

 

Motorcycle engines nowadays use almost exclusively plain bearings
(apart from a few in the gearbox), which *must* have a layer of oil
between the metal surfaces. A few seconds of running dry is enough
for the bearing to "pick up".

The real question is whether the oil pick up would run dry if the bike
was on its side. I've head of Ducatis damaging bearings when wheelied
for too long, but I've never heard of a jap four doing this when on
its side (or its back wheel, for that matter).

 

Mike Burnstead says...

I wouldn't have thought so either or your top end would be fucked after a
few cold starts. VF750 anybody?

 

Champ says...

You're old, so you might know.

When I was kid, reading about the GSX-R1100 (which I was *definitely*
going to get, as soon as I passed my test). Some mag or another was
muttering about not wheelieing for too long, because of a lack of oil to
the top end and consequently fucking the engine. From your comments
above I presume that this is wrong, am I right?

 

Whinging Courier says...

I saw double long before I had my bang on the head. I have prisms in the
lenses of my specs to correct severe double vision.