Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Performance Mods Clicking noise when warm

I just bought my 03 Speedmaster last week. I am concerned about a noise I heard today after I had rode it about an hour and pulled up in my driveway. At idle I heard a slight clicking or chattering noise on the right side that seemed to be coming from the area where the right cam cover is located. I hadn't heard this noise before but it could have been there because I am really just now getting familiar with the bikes engine sounds.
My bike has only 7,300 miles on it and everything on it seems to have been taken care of really well before I got it. In fact, the mechanic at the dealer 'said' the guy who owned it was very picky about the maintenance.

I am wondering if the noise is a valve that needs to be looked at and ajusted and I am mostly worried if I have maybe damaged the cam? I am going to take it there Friday for them to have a listen. The guy at the dealership I spoke to today said that my Triumph Speedmaster engine is known for making a little noise when it gets warmed up. (Here is the corker) He also said that if I put my legs closer to the tank I would not hear it because my legs would block this sound. Whoa!, what a statement! :-)

Is is normal for the 790cc engine to have some noises like this when it is heated up?

Thanks in advance,
Bob

You're not talking about the ticking of the exhaust cooling once the hot bike's turned off? Assuming you mean a ticky, whirry, clatterey noise a bit like a sewing machine while the bike's running that comes from the top of the engine, that's normal. Parallel twins have a cam chain that runs up the middle of the engine and over the twin camshafts, and the whole camchain/valve noise can be disconcerting when you first hear it. It does also get more noticeable when warm, as everything expands and loosens up slightly.

Oh and the dealer's right - if you "hug" the tank with your legs it gets quieter. The more usual way of not hearing it is to get some louder pipes on the bike, or drill the rearmost two baffles out of the standard ones.

I was concerned enough about it a year or so ago to spend $250 getting the dealer to check the valvetrain, only to find out it was perfect.

Chances are you just aren't used to the sound of the valve train yet. It's noisy if it's shimmed right. Now there is a difference between noisy and excessivly noisy. I think your best bet is your first idea and that is to let someone who is familiar with the sound listen and if they think it's too noisy then worry about the remedy.

I heard the clicking around 6500-7000 miles and asked Paul (the old man in service, I trust experience) and he said it was OK.

Then one day I was at the shop and Paul came walking by and said it sounded like I needed a valve adjustment. I think that was around 8500-9000 miles.

Ya know it's funny. Every bike I am sure is different. My bike is at just around 12,000 miles and the valve train sounds normal. Doesn't mean an adjustment isn't warrented it just isn't an more noisy than it ever was.

when I bought my bike the clicking was louder than the stock pipes!!