For a little while the bike occasionally has a small top end rattle on start up. Only lasts barely a second. I assume its while the oil gets up there as when warm it does not do it with frequent re starts. is this normal/an issue ? 2013 bike with 23k miles, Factory roller bearing engine.
Just had a big service with valves etc. bike is relatively new to me so not sure if its done it forever or just started with me.
Other than that it runs like a champ.
That sounds about right my Sport does that too.
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Hi !
Oil drains down out of heads into sump whilst the bikes standing unused !- only takes a few seconds of pressure from the pump to coat the bearing surfaces and fill the voids!
Thats why its important to use the right grade of a good quality oil!
Asa long its only a second or so it should be fine!
i used to have similar on an older (round rocker box model!)
I used to pull the plug caps off for the first few cranks so get oil up to the top end then pop em back on for start up! worked ok cause it was a carb bike with fuel taps, might not be so practical for a bike with fuel injection!
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Cheers, odd thing is it is not all of the time. My concern was whether the pump was losing efficiency, but it is barely a second if it happens. The Tech at the shop noticed it but did not seem concerned.
have you noticed any difference if you use the centerstand or sidestand? oil might drain down different due to oil way positions ,casting shapes, etc!- what about how long it has stood un-started ie might be a difference between 3 hours and a day!.
Any possibility of wear in a rocker shaft ?bush etc?- have you checked to see if the rattle always comes from the same place? are you certain the tappet clearances are all spot on!.
Its human nature for things like this to bug us!.
I never found the cause( or to be fair any out of spec parts) on my old bike! in the end after adopting the procedure above i kinda pushed it into the back of my mind( but never truly got rid of it! )the bike went on to cover another 32k in my ownership and the next owner never had any issues in a further 12k miles! strangely when he did a top end rebuild at 112k the noise did vanish ! but that included new pistons/ rings etc- as well as new rockers /shafts/tappets and all seals and bushes & gaskets so i guess something was out of spec!!!? but whos to say what it was!.
I guess my point is that it didnt fail catastrophically in 44k miles so whatever it was it couldnt have been to serious!- just annoying!
best of luck!
Steve
I assume all clearances are good as they have just been done. Not sure if the centre stand etc makes a difference. I shall investigate that. Yesterday started it after a day and night on the side stand and no noise. another day it may do it. i think I shall just ride it until the noise becomes a real issue and it rattles all the time. If its on its way to a rebuild then I have no choice but to use it until that time.
Cheers
good plan id say!
The 8v have hydraulic tensioners for the cam chains . There can be a bit of noise on startup until the pressure gets up . Sticky tensioners can take longer to quieten down
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