I fianally got this thing together and started it. I am getting a lot of chatter in the top end. If adjusting the valves fails, should i just drive it anyway? And i am getting a lot of smoke from the exhaust. Is this from being parked for a while or is it more serious? Rings mabye? Oh yeah, the spark arrestor is gone on the end of the ex. pipe and its very loud, should i pack it with something ??Wil this quiet it down. Thanks.

 

Any imput would be appreciated

 

i give up.

 

I am thinking lots of smoke is not good. The 4 valve head is notorious for problems like bent valves. The bike is also know to have a carb that tends to flood if old fuel has been left in it or no maintainence has beed performed. Have you done a compression check on it yet? Did you actually adjust the valves and they are still noisey? If it there is a lot of blue smoke and the top end is really noisey then I wouldn't drive it until it was fixed properly but that is just my personal opinion.

 

I am bringing it in for the valves to be adjusted today. I haven't done a compression test but it still seems powerful. It does not seem to be flooding at all. What would have to be done, change the head? That sounds expensive.

 

We adjusted the valves and they were way out of wack. Still getting some ticking from the engine though. The mechanic said if the valves are ticking it wont be a problem if i drive it like that. I will eventually have to change the head. We are in process of checing to see if mabye its piston slap or not. I have got too much into this unit now to give up so i'll have to grin and bear it.$$$$$

 

Is the smoke white or blue? White is usually unburnt fuel on start up(cold engine), blue is usually burnt oil from either ring blowby or valves leaking oil down the guides (valve seals). If it only happens on start up and goes away it usually is valve seals which allow a bit of oil to drain down when the engine has stopped running for a while. Black soot/smoke can be from unburnt fuel in a hot engine.

You may have carbon build up on the valve guides causing a little sticking of the valves, or even a broken spring.......that could also cause the ticking and could bend a valve. None of these things means a new head. A 5.5 mm stainless drill bit can be used at low rpm to hone the valves guides back to new if they have become tight. If you are going that far - you can lap the valves with grinding compound and the same drill(not too fast a speed). Keep opening and closing the valve to get more grit on the surfaces...... keeps heat from building up and goes much faster. Squirt some oil on then valve stem before starting and periodically when grinding. Wont come out to the "three angle grind" you see touted in the book, but it will still help your compression and power a lot if the valves are not seating.

You might also check the tappet shaft and make sure it is not worn, or the cam bushings ..they tend to get a bit chewed up sometimes causing some slap and ticking.

 

I would have to say the smoke is a blue colour. It is on startup and also when driving it. Like i was driving down the street and there was a cloud behind me. The guy i bought it from said i would not pump any oil, i changed the oil pump and fixed that problem. I hope there wasn't any damage due to this but i suspect this is the cause of the tickity boo.

 

Could be the cause all right. I believe the oil pump on these really only lubricates the head, as the rest of the lube is "splash lube" from the crank, and the crank itself rides in oil as does the tranny. So you may only be looking at some new valves, guides and seals, cam sleeves, and maybe a cam and rocker arm......that might explain why the mechanic suggested a new head sometime soon. You can pick up used ones not to expensively, but it is usally better to rebuild...then you know what you have.

 

By the sounds of it all those parts combined would add add up to the cost of a new head.?? I am leary about buying used one, from a bike thats almost 20 years old.. i dont know if you be better off. Kinda risky. What would happen if i drove it with the noisy valves? I would like to get through the hunting season and fix it during the early winter.