deadchef
xsbobblehead
81sh, stock-ish exhaust, one up on the pilot and main jets, uni's, tci & stock charging system...
i've had this bike for a couple years but only been road worthy this season. engine is a bit unknown but somebody has had it opened up before. i believe there are new pistons inside as the tops look pretty clean when inspecting through the spark plug hole. there is also a tell-tale athena green base gasket so i know somebody has at least been down that far.
when i first bought the bike i did have to rectify a 'cam chain off a tooth' issue right off the bat. no biggie, actually had to do that with the first xs650 i purchased (wtf?!). carbs clean, new oil, cam chain & valves adjusted. dropped the oil after maybe 50 miles and the side filter had some shavings. shame on me for not running a magnet over them to see if they were aluminum but they were shiny. i didn't see any cam chain guide plastic bits.
the engine is chatty at idle but not too bad in my opinion. ruled out exhaust manifold leaks as the gaskets were replaced. revving the engine a bit there is definitely some added jackhammer noise coming from the front of the engine. yesterday i tried tightening the cam chain a little while running and didn't notice any discernible difference.
initially my guess is the cam chain guide is toast. but just wanted to toss another theory out to see what the brain trust here thought. if the engine was rebuilt with new pistons and the small end of the rods were out of spec or if they used the old wrist pins, could the sound be from the piston skirts slappin' around in the cylinder?
i know, it's all theory until i crack it open but who doesn't like a good game of 'name that clatter'?
i've had this bike for a couple years but only been road worthy this season. engine is a bit unknown but somebody has had it opened up before. i believe there are new pistons inside as the tops look pretty clean when inspecting through the spark plug hole. there is also a tell-tale athena green base gasket so i know somebody has at least been down that far.
when i first bought the bike i did have to rectify a 'cam chain off a tooth' issue right off the bat. no biggie, actually had to do that with the first xs650 i purchased (wtf?!). carbs clean, new oil, cam chain & valves adjusted. dropped the oil after maybe 50 miles and the side filter had some shavings. shame on me for not running a magnet over them to see if they were aluminum but they were shiny. i didn't see any cam chain guide plastic bits.
the engine is chatty at idle but not too bad in my opinion. ruled out exhaust manifold leaks as the gaskets were replaced. revving the engine a bit there is definitely some added jackhammer noise coming from the front of the engine. yesterday i tried tightening the cam chain a little while running and didn't notice any discernible difference.
initially my guess is the cam chain guide is toast. but just wanted to toss another theory out to see what the brain trust here thought. if the engine was rebuilt with new pistons and the small end of the rods were out of spec or if they used the old wrist pins, could the sound be from the piston skirts slappin' around in the cylinder?
i know, it's all theory until i crack it open but who doesn't like a good game of 'name that clatter'?
