Engine tapping when cold, valves? 68Kish miles.

My bike sat all night and I started it this morning to move it. I noticed a metallic tapping sound when the was idling/ under light load. I only ran it for about 45 seconds. I'm thinking this would be valves, as it is a high tone tapping, not rods, which would be a much deeper sound. It sounded like little hammers rapidly tapping on metal. This bike has around 68K+- miles on it and I don't know that the previous owners have ever done any major service on it. I'm really bummed because I really wanted to go for a ride for Father's Day. I am running Rotella T6 in it with about 1500 miles on it. Previous owner ran Amsoil bike oil.

I'm open to doing this myself, if I can find the space, so if there is a list of required tools, please let me know, as well as any links to a How To or two. My area shops are saying between $450-$750 for a major service, the latter being one where the whole bike is gone through, stem to stern. I'd like to know in advance anything I need to buy, so that I can get it all in place beforehand.


I usually wear earplugs, so this has most likely been developing for the short time I have owned it.

 

maybe switch to castrol rt 05-40 and a napa platinum-should flow faster-might just be too thick oil-and filter.

 

Shell Rotella T6 is 5/40, so I think you are recommending what I'm already doing. Thanks tho. Edited my original post for clarification.

 

-this is what I use-its not rottla T6, Castrol.

 

Doing a valve check might be in order but having the available shims on hand would be the hard part. Apart from gaskets and o-rings, shims would be the only unknown, not just in size but in quantity. The saving grace with the 5 Gen is that all the valve shims are the same type, unlike the 6 Gen, which has one type for the standard valves and another for the VTEC valves. I have seen online a shim kit for Honda motorcycles and I think they come with a plethora of different sizes and if memory serves me right, less than $100 for the kit.

Unfortunately I have not done the valve check on either VFR yet so I don't have first hand knowledge of exactly what you need. You can go to the parts fiche and take a look at the number of gaskets and o-rings that would be involved in the top end removal and you should have an idea of parts cost. (Plus the shim kit). Of you really want to do it yourself and need a place to work, my garage is open for you. The only issue is if we cannot finish in one day, we'll have to put you up at the no-tell motel down the block!

 

The fact you've said you usually wear earplugs means it's something you probably just noticed that's been there since you bought it.

Both my 86 and 99 had/have a little bit of top end clatter (more of a ticking really) especially when idling cold right upon start up. My 86 had tappet adjusters, even after a small adjustement to spec, nothing changed in that regard.

If you're firing up the bike in a garage or next to a wall or some other area the reflects sound, the engine noise is going to be amplified.

The last time I bothered to do a valve check on a bucket shim/gear drive combo bike like the VFR was my CB-1 with unknown mileage (I'd guess around 50K) and that little bastard cruises all day at 9-10K. Everything was within tolerance.

 

If you decide to jump into checking the valves I will send you my shim kit.

 

Thanks Toe, I'll let you know. I'm looking into what I have to gather together to do it.

 

I ordered a Hot Cams shim kit when I did the shims on my 5th gen. IIRC you get 3 shims per size, which may or may not be enough multiples, but you won't know until you get the cams out.

Also very handy is a digital caliper so you can double check the shims removed and the new ones to install. Sometimes the old shim markings are too faint to read easily.

I did not replace any other parts; the cam cover gaskets are indefinitely reusable and the spark plug o-rings should also be fine. You should use a little gasket sealer on the half-moon sections of the cam cover gaskets.

All of my 86 VFR's had quite noisy idles, which I was told (by reliable Honda mechanics) was due to some slop in the springs that tension that anti-rattle gears in the cam drive. By comparison my 5th gen (at 94000km) is still very quiet.

 

I think you will fuk it up- get someone who knows what to do, you only got one engine.

 

A little trick for gauging the amount of drag for feeler gauges. Set one in your micrometer and clamp down like you'd measure anything. Slide the feeler around, that's the amount of drag or resistance you should be shooting for.

For gasket aid sealant I highly recommend permatex high tack. Comes in brush on can, and unlike rtv or formagasket (which is wicked stuff for if you have no gasket at all) it is very easy to remove in the future. You can usually just get a bit going with rubbing your thumb and start rolling the old sealant away.