Weird noise from engine?

I know its a different bike, but the nephew and I finished up a Suzuki 650 this summer for him. I has the cam float problem and in Suzuki's it is a lot worse then your video. Once we get it warmed up and riding at higher rpms it goes away. The first time we heard it I thought we had a rod knock. Tore things apart and "fixed" things and its still there. The guys on the GS forum assured us it wouldn't be a problem. He's been riding it all summer and no issues.

 

Cool thx for the post! I'm feeling more comfortable about it now! I thought I had a bottom end problem at first! Scary! Lol

 

Ok so I decided to take this bike for a short cruise to cycle through the gears and to see how she rode!
I could still hear this noise while cruising through the gears! This video was taken just after cruise! I've been hearing what everyone says but my gut is goin squirly! Can the guru's pls listen to this vid and confirm in their opinion this cam end noise situation?
Cheers!
Sounds bad after a short cruise!:

 

That sounds much more like the primary chain rattling around to me. It is a very different sound than I heard in the first video.

 

It sounds like a sloppy idle to me. I remember my Maxim-X sounded like that when the carbs were not balanced (or synch'ed) properly.

 

round here somewhere you'll find a how-to for adjusting the cam chain by Rick-o-matic, do that. then take care of the lumpy idle, do a running sync and tweek the mixture screws.
once it's running smoother a lot of that noise will go away

 

Ah, it's project time looks like! Is it possible that the chain is making noise now cuz of the shim job? I ask cuz I never heard that noise prior to that! Mind you I also never took it past 1st gear in my fairly long driveway! Time to search some how to ' s!
As far as the sloppy idle goes, the bike came with a K & N air filter, could that affect the idle? I've not messed with the mixture screws and only checked butterflies with a pin!

Thx for the awesome help guys!!
Cheers!

 

Having trouble finding a how to for the cam chain adjustment! Can anyone help out with this that has better searching skills than I? Thx

 

http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/index.php?threads/the-information-overload-hour.27544/

- CAM CHAIN TENSIONERS:

The secret life of cam chain tensioners can be explored further at:

http://xjbikes.com/forums/index.php?threads/24597

and

http://xjbikes.com/forums/index.php?threads/28447


Yamaha specifies that for the manual-tensioner models, the adjustment should be checked and adjusted (if necessary) every 5,000 miles. Automatic tensioners should never need checking, as they should adjust themselves, well, automatically!

Here's some tips on how to go about doing this adjustment properly:

http://xjbikes.com/forums/index.php?threads/23008


And here is a very nice visual, so you can understand how it actually operates:

http://xjbikes.com/coppermine/displayimagepopup/pid=7682/fullsize=1.html

 

Thanks Chacal , I just noticed my XJ900 has the automatic tensioner!

 

Thanks chacal! Very much appreciated!
Cheers!

 

Ok, so after reading through the info Mr chacal so graciously posted for me, I think that I may have an automatic tensioner which I think I cannot touch it! Now I'm a little stumped thinking that it needed an adjustment to help with this noise!
I've attached a pic so that someone may confirm this for me!
I guess my question is now, what's my next step for this noise?
Thx!

 

On a bit of another note, I'm gonna make a vacuum sync device to sync the carbs and was wondering what I should do with the vacuum line that goes to the petcock? Should I remove it and run it on the prime position? Or should I tee into it with the Guage? I expect that would change the reading tho, no?

 

You'll have to remove the tank to do the sync. If you use the tank as a auxilary tank remove the vacuum line and put the petcock on prime when running your bike. Turn it back to on when it's not running. Use the rubber cap/clamp for the vac port you are testing to blank off the port the vac line goes to (usually #3).

 

Ok thx! I was also wondering if it was necessary to do all of them at the same time? Is it possible to measure the vacuum with a Guage of each carb individually?

 

per RickcoMatic 2011:
The Bolt with the Lock Nut that you incorrectly adjusted ... is the "Lower Rear Cam Chain GUIDE Locking Nut"

If you think your Cam Chain needs adjusting, ... you have to Manually present the slack in front of the Tensioner and have it Automatically adjust to pick-up the slack.

Pull the Plugs
Remove the Left Side Crank Cover.

(Have an assistant help you. Let then "Tap" on the Tensioner with the Butt-end of a Hammer Handle while you Manually present the slack before the Pawl.)

Place a Wrench on the Flats and slowly Jack-over the Engine CLOCKWISE for 2 Full Revolutions ... steadily turning the Engine and moving the Chain DOWN across the front of the Rear Guide.

After Turning the Engine over 2 Full Turns ...
Come to a SLOW and STEADY =>> STOP!

(Your NEXT move will present the Slack in the Chain in front of the Tensioner.
Here's where you Cue the assistant to "Drum" on the Tensioner end,)

Swiftly Jack the Engine over COUNTERCLOCKWISE ... Moving the Chain UPWARD across the front of the Rear Chain Guide.
As the Chain reverses direction, ... the Slack will be presented before the REAR CHAIN GUIDE, ... and the TENSIONER will expand a notch or two to tighten the Chain.

You may have to repeat this procedure a few times to have the Pawl take-out all the slack.

 

I didn't incorrectly adjust anything! I thought I understood that if you have an automatic tensioner that you couldn't adjust the tension and I was just trying to confirm this!
I'm only looking into this cuz there have been some thoughts that thus could be the cause of the sound coming from my motor!
This process your explaining I think might be over my head as I don't even understand the terms, pawl, drum on tensioner end, lol damn noobs!

So in this process I don't need to line up the c and loosen the 2 nuts?

 

Not necessary but a lot faster. I use a 4 gauge set up. Yes, you could use one gauge to sync but it'll be time consuming. A lot of members use a two gauge set up.

Gary H.

 

You have an automatic cam chain tensioner. Polock was quoting Rick from another post. The comment about the incorrect adjustment wasn't referring to you.

Much of the noise should quiet down once you synch the carbs. I wasn't aware that you had not done that yet. Without the synch the cylinders are fighting each other because of the uneven fueling between them. That causes some sharp, sudden vibrations during each revolution of the crank, and that can make a bunch of really bad sounding noise (some of which is the cam chain, and primary chain being jerked around).

 

When you're ready to start sync'ing your carbs don't forget to run a big fan in front of your engine, to keep the engine as cool as possible.