I recently bought a 2002 Ninja ZX-6R that is in pristine condition. I'm concerned though that it makes some valve noise once the engine gets warm. I've never owned a bike like this and this may be normal, but I wanted to make sure before I go too far on it. If it was a car I would think that the valves need adjusting. Can anyone help me? Should I worry?

 

Well, from what I've been told, the Kawi's do have a rather distinctive "tick". It didn't sound quite right to me either, so I took it around to several friends, and a couple of mechanics, and they all said the same thing. I'm sure you could find a mechanic or two that will at least listen to your engine for free to tell you if they think it's bad, or if it's just the normal kawi tick.

If it's excessively bad, it won't hurt anything (except your wallet) to have the valves adjusted, but in general, I've been told it's "normal" for a kawi to sound like that, especially one of ours (J-series).

 

i've read in this forum that even the new 636 has the same kind of noise.... mine does the same thing....[:@]

 

you mean my ninja's going to sound like my power stroke diesel ? sweet

 

ya i just hope it never puffs out black smoke like a diesel...

 

Hopefully it won't end up smelling like one

 

Thanks to all. I was going to ride it to the dealer today, but it rained. I've put about 100 miles on it since I got it and absolutely love it. I hope the valve noise is normal so I won't have to give up to be fixed.

 

how many miles does it have? And yes Kawas are notorious for noisy valve train, but like every other bike after a few miles... I beleive it to be around 6,000 miles they all need valve lash adjustments. Good luck.

 

It has 9700 miles.

 

i did the same thing when i got my zx6r. definitely louder than my gixxer and i thought something was wrong. take it to a shop if you are worried. chances are they will tell you that it's normal. then you adjust your ear to what sounds "normal." now you'll be able to tell when it really gets loud.