valve noise

[johnyk]

I am getting ready to buy an 07 with 9k miles on it. The bike looks brand new, but when the guy started up it seemed to have a valve tap from the right front cylinder. It got quieter as the bike warmed up, but never went away. How much is a valve adjustment?

 

[44boyd]

could just use a carb sync.

 

[Diablotin]

Noise also depends on the oil you're using.
I noticed that the 15w40 makes the engine less noisy than the 20W50.
The difference becomes less when warmed up.

 

[[email protected]]

How many miles on the bike in question?

I really have no idea what the dealer would charge.

Before worring about it, you need to find out if it is even necessary. These are noisy engines. There are quite a few threads about guys asking questions about noises they hear from the bike and it turns out to be normal. I would suggest you do a search and check out some of the threads that cover this topic. Quite a few have video so you could compare the noise to what you hear. This may help determine what is a real concern vs. a normal sounding engine.

Best way to search the forum is to go to google and type some like the following: "valve tick site:vmaxforum.net" Replace valve tick with other words such as engine noise, noise, knock, tick, etc.... You will find quite a few results.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Very noisy engines in deed. If you know anyone with a vmax that has stock exhaust it would be helpful if you could listen to that so you would have a basis for comparison.
My brand new engine with all new cam chains and a perfect adjustment is just as noisy as my old one with 43,000 miles on it.

 

[SpecOps13]

My 89 is noisier than crap but it runs perfect. Take a ride if possible, warm it up before you run it hard...

 

[KJShover]

My 89 is noisier than crap but it runs perfect. Take a ride if possible, warm it up before you run it hard...

+1

Mine's is on the noisy side too. But, I fixed it. :biglaugh: Can't hear it anymore

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_LNS289Y1M

 

[dwarf717]

could very well be a slight exhaust leak at the head. Will "tick" when first started cold, then seal up as everything expands due to heat

 

[SpecOps13]

That's what happened to me too KJ.... I don't have to worry about what I can't hear anymore....:rofl_200:

 

[m-cman]

Unless the bike was severely mistreated, I can't imagine any problems on a 07 with just 9k+ miles. You are not even near the time for a valve adjustment, which is 26k miles.... :ummm:

 

[dwarf717]

out of spec. valves don't tick, unless the valve is stuck, or the cam is screwed. If either, or were the case the noise wouldn't go away either

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Like an old solid lifter hot rod, 16 valves at .006-.008 clearance (and that's a tight range, book acceptable tolerance can be as great as .012 I think) is going to make some noise. Don't know that I'd call it a tick.
Not all the valves will be exactly the same, wouldn't be unusual to have one much looser but still in tolerance.

Throw in two cam chains and four cam sprockets and your gonna get noise. The cam chains should give you a "whirring" sound and not a tick though.

 

[dwarf717]

Not "Like an old solid lifter hot rod" Motorcycles, unlike an old hotrod, have overhead camshafts. Valve clearances tighten, as time goes on. On an engine with lifters, and pushrods, clearances open

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Not "Like an old solid lifter hot rod" Motorcycles, unlike an old hotrod, have overhead camshafts. Valve clearances tighten, as time goes on. On an engine with lifters, and pushrods, clearances open

I was aware of the direction of wear on these but thats not what I was getting at. Maybe not the best analogy?

What I was getting, is "that like an old solid lifter hot rod" the whole valve train from the cam face to the valve seat is purely mechanical with built in lash tolerances that will make noise due to slap, as opposed to a hydraulic lifter set up which runs at zero lash and makes very little noise.

Vmax exhaust valves tighten over time and the intakes may do so slightly.

 

[fmcandrew]

Mine does the same & I have only 9k on my '95. Noisy when cold, a little better when warm (at idle)...bring the revs up and everything sounds just lovely. Lots of rotating parts in the beast...it's gonna make some noise...

 

[SpecOps13]

This is my 89. You can hear some of the valve clatter... Video's about a year or more old. Lots of changes, appearance wise...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1keUIn5PZ90