Valve clatter after warm up?

I just picked up a 99 VFR on saturday. The valves were done at 16k miles. It currently has 27,500 on it. I notice after it gets warm that I hear what appears to be some valve clatter. It's not bad but it's noticeable. Is it normal for these bikes to clatter a bit after they warm up?

 

Does it sound like a BB in a soda can rattling around?

 

No, it just sounds like a valve tick. Seems like I hear it more from the right side of the motor. Like I said, it's not bad, but its noticeable. It seems to be worse at idle also.

 

While it could still be a valve tick, many 5th gen owners(myself included) notice a slight ticking sound, especially at idle, when the bike is fully warm. I believe it is the clutch plates rattling in the clutch basket slightly(think open dry ducati clutches). The clutch is also located on the right side of the bike. If the valves have never been adjusted and you do not know how well the bike was cared for, it might be time for a valve adjustment.

 

Didn't even think about the clutch plates. I bought the bike from the 2nd owner on saturday. He still had all the paperwork from the original owner which said the valves were done at 16k. The original owner kept up on all maintenance and recorded it very well, the 2nd owner did not record anything so all I have to go on is his word for all maintenance that he has done, which is just basically oil changes. The original owner changed ALL fluids around 17 or 18k also, so I believe the bike has been pretty well taken care of, I was just worried about the ticking. If it's a normal thing I will be able to sleep better tonight..lol

 

If it has had regular oil changes with quality oil and had the 16k valve adjustment it is fine. My bike just turned 17k and I skipped the 16k valve adjustment based of the experiences of many of the members on this forum. Most found none of the valves needing adjustment when they had gone through the trouble of pulling the valve covers. I would recommend changing all the fluids. I just recently did all my fluids, including the fork oil, which is a bit of a job. Its not too bad if you have a decent shop manual handy. The two weak points of the bike are first the rectifier/regulator assembly, and second the thermostat. Both of which went bad on my bike and I changed. If your bike is running at less than 165 degrees after warming up then the thermostat is stuck open. There are some writeups on here about how to change it and using alternate thermostats in place of the pricey OEM one. Good luck with the bike.