I was helping a buddy adjust the valves on his scrambler 500 and noticed that the whole rocker setup is lose. You can slide the rockers a good 1/8th of an inch on their shafts. Its not just one rocker either.. it is all of them. The rockers don't have play in them but they do slide. This is the first time I have worked on a Polaris motor but, this is the loudest valve train I have ever heard on an ATV. It doesn't really sound like a bad click.. just louder. It also goes away at a higher RPM. Anyone seen this before and know if its normal or not?

 

I adjusted many valves on cars (mainly older ones) and jap cars and they all have a little side play. When I adjusted mine on the 02 Sp500ho it had side to side play didnt noticed how much but that sounds about right. Be sure that both intake and exhaust are I belive around .006 of a gap.
As far as the noise, 500 engines have a normal ticking noise and may sound like valves and goes away when you rev the engine up. I am guessing that the noise you hear is normal.

 

I just don't understand why they make them so lose. I have 30 year old Honda and Yamaha bike motors that have less than .012 of slide play.

 

Anyone else got any info on this?