Bad luck on the tensioner I would say. I replaced on on my bike and it was like night and day with the ticking sound.

 

Poor oil supply to the top end. If you or the person who owned it before were doing a lot of wheelies/ stunts, the oil pump may have starved momentarily and could be the reason for the extra engine noise due to worn cam journals or lobes etc. That was the first question (Wheelies) the mechanic at the dealer asked me.

 

glad everything worked out

 

hay speed how the hell did you get so smart im always seeing you answering all these questions and you always have these awsome facts, AWSOME.

 

The dealer’s mechanic is a joke, he only asked you that so he could use that for anything that is wrong with the bike.

I personally have never had a good experience with the dealer fixing problems on my bikes. They are good for oil change, brakes and routine service only. You are risking it when serious work needs to be done. I would recommend that anyone learn the for mentioned services and do them on there own.

The statement about starved for oil is correct but really only happens on long wheelies of up to a mile or more. Most people I have ever known who can ride those, overfill there oil by as much as 1.5 quarts to compensate for this. The addition al oil keeps it where it will still be picked up by the oil pump.

Tensioners ware out and need to be replaced if they are not applying enough tension on the cam chain, that’s where the ticking comes from.

 

I was at the dealer that day picking up a part, so I had the mechanic listen to it. I don't trust them and no-one works on my stuff but me; gotta do it right! Notstock, I agree with you about them blaming everything on wheelies. Actually, the oil pump pick-up on these bikes are near the back of the engine and the sump is really deep; so you'd have oil supply even if you were 2 qts low on oil. To cause oil starvation damage, you would have to ride a lot of 12 o'clock wheelies or abuse it a lot (extended over-revving like during free revving or burnouts.) This bike is louder than I'm used to compared to my OOOLD 85/88 ZX600; ofcourse I also hadn't ridden in years. I had an 03 F4i just before my 636, which was a lot quieter but did start making camchain noise which was getting louder. murphmaster5, As far as all the info I know or think I know, come from doing it all myself cause I couldn't afford to pay anyone to do it for me. I was a motorcycle mechanic for 8 years and raced and wrenched on my bike for 5 years. Did some car hot rodding also, building bike & car engines. Then I got into working on jet airplanes, but my passion still lies with bikes. I have always been gifted with the ability to fix things, especially engines/ machinery of all kinds; I treat them like living, breathing machines. Might sound a little wierd but that's what I feel.

 

I had this EXACT same problem on my 03' 636. Around 4k miles it started this ticking noise. Started out quiet and got louder and louder. I went to a local performance shop (mach 1 in Newport Beach) and he immediatly said "cam chain tensioner" after he test rode it. Then i went to the motorcycle shop where the bike was purchased from (because i have a warranty for it) and they said it was just the kawi valve train noises. 3 guys there confirmed that it was just "noises" so i rode on. at 8k miles i was fed up with it and took it in and said do the 8k service and check the chain. they did and said it needed a new adjuster, so they put it in and im still hearing the noise. It is softer now and not harse, but im betting it will start amplifying here in about 2k miles (right around 13,000 on bike) and then im going to buy a manual one. when i do this should i also check valve clearance? i asked the guy at Mach one (who i now know "knows his sh*t") about valve adjustments, he said 20k miles on these bike. does that sound about right, im reading some people saying 12k?

 

If I had to take my bike anywhere it would be to Mach 1. They fixed me up after a poor valve adjustment from the dealer.

I believe the manual says 12.5k for the adjustment.

Did you get the manual cam tensioner or the stock one? If it is the manual one and you start hearing the ticking again just tighten it. I wish I had known they made adjustable tensioners when I bought my stock one.