Progress

[Craiger]

I was thinking the exact same thing when I heard it....metal on metal. Glad I wasn't the only one.

Sounded to me more like piston knocking, but it could be valves. It's just that the knock had a bit deeper "ring" to it....causing me to think it was thicker metal. Valve ticks seem like a higher resonance to me.

Regardless of what it is, I agree that it needs looked into a.s.a.p. A little time and elbow grease now may save a lot of time and money later.

By the way blueandorangfish, it's LOOKING great! Good on ya....

[Steve]

When I first saw the video, my sound was not turned to optimal levels, and I was thinking that was a nice 500, not a 550 (I read the title wrong, too). Hearing it run, I heard some apparent loose valves, then I saw that it's a four-cylinder bike. Now it doesn't sound so good. My hearing (or computer speakers) is not as good as these other guys, I only heard loose valves, and not all four cylinders running.

It looks GREAT, though.

.

[Blueandorangefish]

I removed the cam cover (turns out they designed it with a re-useable rubber gasket! :-) ) Everything looked good in there. I tested the cam chain and the tensioner, and it seemed to be in good order without too much deflection. Next, I checked the for loose nuts and bolts. I did find one bolt that was beginning to strip out, so I replaced it. Everything else seemed fine. I haven't checked valve clearance yet. As I manually turned the engine, I could hear the air escaping from each cylinder, though the number 3 cylinder wasn't nearly as noticeable when the exhaust valve was triggered. I think I'll do a compression check on it this weekend.

What I did notice, however, was that the noise was much easier to locate when I was manually turning the engine over. I found that there was some play, a very small amount, in the camshaft as I was turning it with a wrench (you have to not listen to the sloppy noise from the wrench to hear the clicking).



The clicking noise was localized in the crank case housing.




Any ideas?

[Blueandorangefish]

So I got tired of the tired and beat up look of the frame and decided to test what I'm considering to do with it when I do a full tear-down this winter...

Best "before" shot of the frame:


Rattle can as of today:






This weekend's project includes checking valve clearance and doing the re-wiring of the power to the coils. I also have to figure out a temp fix for my exhaust that cracked to last me until I can replace it.

[Craiger]

Nice! I think that'll balance the yellow really well.

[Blueandorangefish]

What a difference a bit of paint makes!! I should have done this a long time ago.

[Craiger]

Wow! Big difference. Now you need to update your sig.