Ticking noise

[barbara]

Hi all
could be paranoia but my '80 GS850 (approx. 50k on clock) seems to have developed a ticking/growling noise at any revs under 3500rpm. Could be that i can't hear it over that for the rest of the engine noise, could be i'm hearing things individually now that i've had the bike for awhile and am learning it's individual song, could be something about to blow up. A friend who used to own an 850 thought it might be cam chain, but after a thourough search of everything i could find about cam chains, tensioners etc i can't say for sure. Having owned only bevel drive bikes in the past (ducati) i'm not sure if what i'm hearing is something to worry about. It sounds to me as if it's coming from the left hand side, and is certainly a revolution timed thing..sounds like grrrrrrr, only you get your tongue to vibrate on the roof of your mouth, if you can imagine that (I can just see you all having a go at it now!). Now, you are quite welcome to tell me it's all in my head, but if it's something simple i'd need to get in and have a look before i go to a rally this weekend.
thanks for your input, it sounds like a dumb question but after reading the old posts and threads, you all have something relevant to say in my view.
cheers
barbara

[Larry D]

Kinda difficult to say without hearing it. Could be the cam chain....mine makes some noise, I think they all do to some extent. Nothing that would rattle the tongue on the roof of my mouth though......Could just be it's needing to be synced. Has that been done lately ? Something rattling enough to shake up body parts is somewhat worrying.....

Have you done any recent maintenance that would lead to this ?

[barbara]

ticking noise

nah haven't done anything lately to warrant this noise,i don't think anyway, i checked the tappets and cleaned and oiled the air filter is all, and, i didn't explain it very well, but the noise doesn't make my tongue move, i was just trying to explain how to replicate the noise with your tongue vibrating on your palate if you push air past it..sounds dumb now i say it out loud! could be the cam chain, i did the tensioner thing but it didn't change the noise (undo the lock nut back the screw off a touch). not to worry, i've got a rally to go to this weekend and there are a few guys there that i know, they all have suzuki with sidecars, and are pretty full bottles, i'll give them a listen. thanks heaps for the input..
cheers
barb

[pntrdave]

Please don't let me scare you. Mine had a very distracting rattle, thought it was cam chain slapping the case. Turns out one of the 4 bolts that hold the cap, that holds the cam down, broke and the other three bolts worked loose and the cam was actually slapping up and down. Ruined the head, on my gs 1000.

[bwringer]

Leaky exhaust gaskets can cause a noise like you're describing. Sort of a ticking noise is how I would put it, but it can sound like a couple of different things depending on how bad it is.

Of course, noises are difficult to describe, but if you've removed and replaced the exhaust recently without replacing the gaskets, or the wrong kind are installed, this could be the cause.