Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Is this loud engine ticking normal?

I have about 3900 miles on my '04 Speedmaster, 3000 of which I've put on since buying it in early June of this year. The engine "Ticks" loudly, I can easily hear it over the Scepter exhaust, and if it was a car I would say it sounds like ticking valves.

The ticking comes from the left side of the engine and seems to come from the top end of the cylinder head, but it is hard to pinpoint over the exhaust. It is also hard to pinpoint since it seems you have to be at the right angle to hear it.

I posted a week or two ago that it quiets down with premium gas, but that may have been wishful thinking. It does quite down somewhat when warm, but not much. I first noticed it in late July after I discovered the bike leaking oil from the shaft seal. My assumption was maybe it was a little low on oil and that was the cause. When I had the shaft seal replaced, I mentioned the engine ticking to the dealer, but they didn't comment on it at all, good or bad. I figure if it was "bad" they would have said something, but it would have been nice to hear "That's normal" from them.

I changed my oil on Friday and used Mobil 1 20/50 hoping it would quiet it down, but it's still the same. I was on a ride last week with two forum members (bking & mole) and I asked them to take a listen, both seemed to think it sounded fine - although I secretly think neither were at "the right angle" to hear it. I should have listened to their engines more closely that day to see if their's sounded the same.

Maybe it is normal, but I know that the engine didn't tick this loudly when I first bought the bike. I may take it by the dealer one of these days and ask them to listen to it just to make myself feel better.

maybe its in the middle and its the cam chain.

Always better to be safe than sorry, looks like it just went off warranty, if it is on warranty swing it by the dealer and ask them to give it a listen.

May want to check valve lash. I had 4 out of 8 too loose. Supposed to do it at 12,000 miles. Mine quieted down quite a bit. Wish I had checked them earlier. It'll never be as quiet as hydraulic lifters, though.

The cam chain is not really adjustable. On the rear of the cylinders, down low you will see a big ole nut. Thats the tensioner, they are plastic inside and sometimes (not often) wear or break. It is not broken but could have adverse wear on the plastic bushing. If that happens the chain will have a bit too much slop and make a racket.

Lonzo has a good idea too but at 3800 thats way low for either issue. I say take that baby in and have Triumph check it out.

Just to add to my list of symptoms, the ticking is a lot louder when it's cooler outside. This morning it was a fairly cool morning and the ticking was very noticable, by the time I went home it had warmed into the '80s and ticking was muted quite a bit.

Now that I think of it, when I bought the bike in June, it was a very hot month. By mid-July it started to cool off around here and that's when I first noticed the ticking. The past couple of weeks we've had some very days and that's when I really started to be concerned about it.

Kind of wish it would heat back up into the '90s just so I can hear the difference.

Just pull the cam cover and check the valve gaps. Easy enough to check them out. Be sure the bike is stone cold first. If they are way out, then consider what to do next. The warranty will not cover this either, normal wear and tear adjustment. BUT a lot of them come pretty far off from the factory so a quick check is in order. If they are within tolerance, don't sweat it, use 20-50w oil too.
And if you pull the little tensioner, you must then completely remove it to reload it before reinstalling it. There is no adjustment for that, it is automatic and should last a very long time.

If your AI is still connected, some "whistle."
The whistle may have gotten sharper - to the point where it sounds like a brief "tick".
Just a thought. The noise of the cam chain can be worrying. My America is almost as noisey as my Duke.

Matt, if this is your first Triumph twin, then you may not be used to the valve clatter. It is actually pretty loud. Sometimes I go a couple blocks w/o my helmet to a friends house and you can really hear it. The valve clearance is something they are supposed to check at the 12,000 mile service. I wouldn't worry about it though. Enjoy your bike, and once you rack up some miles you won't notice it as much.

I stopped by my dealer today and they took a quick listen. They're thinking it's an exhaust leak from the header gasket on the left cylinder. So, I bought two exhaust gaskets and will replace at least the left one this weekend.

I'm sure I could have asked about getting it covered under warranty, but the gaskets weren't that expensive and this way I'll have it done quicker and with less hassle than trying to schedule a time to drop it off at the dealer.

An exhaust leak is something that did cross my mind since the sound does appear to be coming from where the header meets the cylinder and the fact that it's only on one side. I tried tightening the exhaust bolts some weeks back, but both were snug so I kind of wrote it off. I'm hoping that this is problem and the gaskets are the solution. I'm wondering if maybe this happened after my wife dropped the bike on the left side? It would be a reasonable explaination, although I didn't start hearing the noise until a few weeks after the drop.

For this diagnosis I decide to go to the other Denver area Triumph dealer, Erico Motorsports. Very nice dealership with a nice vintage feel to it. Not the most convienient location, at least not for me, but worth the extra effort. People were nice and for a moment I didn't think they were going to let me go back to work, just keep talking my ear off!

Was able to replace the left side exhaust gasket today and I'm happy to report that the loud ticking is gone! Now I can hear the other ticking of the engine.

Here is what my old exhaust gasket looked like:

my bike ticks all the time...