83 vf 750 comon engine problems?

hey i just bought a vf 750 and the guy said he was driving it and it starting making a loud "ticking" noise and he shut it off and couldnt find anyone to work on it to fix it , now i have no idea if thats the full truth or not but i just got it home and i plan on doing a compresion test soon as i can ,but im jsut wondering is there a comon problem with these engines ? should i check timing chains and cams before i try to run it and do more damage ? or where do i start

 

For sure check the cams and rockers. Do some Google searches and you'll find that's a very common problem.

Let us know what you find!

 

ive done some research and ive read cam bearings and timing chains ,and even droped valves ??, but hopefully the last owner didnt do to much damage to the engine by running it to long ! ill let ya know what i find haha

 

Best to do a check of the compression, if a serious problem it will show up with that and then dig in from there. If it does not have a dead hole then an inspection of the top end is in order.May just be a failed tensioner and I have spares for the cost of shipping. Most gen1 failures are very serious or very simple, not much middle ground. Let me know. I have spare heads as well and the same deal, pay the shipping and they are yours.Good luck.

 

Very generous!

 

Noob to the forum here, so "Hello" first off. My 82 v45 sabre has a ticking noise front left. discovered the prev.owner had kludged up the exhaust connection to the head. You might wanna have a look-see at that too.

 

The dropped valves only occurs in the 500's, no worries there. You'll want to pull the cam covers and check the condition of the cam lobes and rocker contacting faces for damage. Timing chains usually don't fail in the manner you describe, but with the cam covers off you can check that too (the chains should not have any slack).

 

People should do research before purchase, NOT after. Could save you loads of expense and frustration. It's old, tired, and making bad noises. Obviously you got it cheap, but chances are not good that economically sensible repairs can be made. Even if you can (temporarily) fix it, what do you have ?? A flawed design from way, way back in 1983.

 

Well it could be as simple as a rocker adjuster came loose and the valve clearance has opened up. Even cam chain tensioners don't make a lot of noise all of a sudden. You will hear ticking but it will be subdued not real loud. I guess it would be possible if the spring(tensioner) broke. That's really a stretch though. Take the valve covers off and rotate the engine by hand. Check the valve clearances and chain tension. I'll bet you'll find a valve rocker loose.
If you do find something bad and to costly to repair. You can get your money back by parting bike out. If you do do that let me know, I'm always looking for spare parts.

 

right on guys thanks for all the info ! , i had the bike turning over the other night and theres no bad noises coming from the engine and seems to have lots of compression still have to put the compression tester on it yet , ive discovered a huge fuel leak in the pipe that runs between all the carbs ,im assuming there just rubber orings that seal that pipe to the carb ????? i havent tore into it yet but i do have a parts bike so hopefully i can make something work ,so hopefully nothing to majior is wrong with it ,im really starting to like the bike already have the paint job planned out haha

 

i forgot to mention that the bike only has 33 thousand kms on it , that was another reaon i bouhgt it pluss i got it for a few hundred , but i dont know anything about these engines maybe they dont have that much of a life span ?

 

Thank you for the addition to my lexicon of technical terms.