Knocking noise at low speeds?

[XSrat]

Hey all,
Just took the bike in to work today and on the way home i started noticing a knocking/catching noise at low speeds. I did some testing at home...

-It seems to occur in all the gears
-Does not appear to be relative to the revolutions of the wheel/chain
-Does not seem to be consistant(happens a fair amount, but at random intervals)
-Seems to be coming from the left hand side of the case around chain

I thought it might have something to do with the chain being loose and smacking on something, but that was in spec, I also took off the left cover to look for anything loose and didn't see anything...that also would not account for the fact that it happens only while moving in gear and with the clutch out.

I'm very reluctant to tear into the case since i have never done that before and every issue i've had with this bike has always been way simpler than it seemed...

Any help would be great because i'm outa commission until i get this one fixed!

Thanks!

 

[xjwmx]

that also would not account for the fact that it happens only while moving in gear and with the clutch out.

Can you control the sound every time with motion or the clutch? It could be that the clutch is assembled wrong. If it's just vibration though it might be what I had recently, which was the header banging into the head. I tightened the nuts and it went away for the most part. Went away enough to assure me that's what it was Sound seem to travel through these things in such a way that it's hard to tell where a noise is coming from.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Could try to look for something interfering with the rotor...

 

[XSrat]

Yes it only happens while the bike is moving and the clutch out...doesn't seem to be an engine noise because I can't hear it when at idle or even while moving in neutral. The clutch is stock and I've never touched it, or anything in the case for that matter, since I've owned it for 3+ years. Here's a new twist though...while testing it around the neighborhood last night it idled low after a stop and then stalled out soon after. I tried restarting and it would fire but immediately die...so I gave it a bit of choke and it fired up normally and then ran seemingly normal the whole way home...smelled a bit warm tho, could this strangely be related to a lean cylinder/overheating? Like I said before it doesn't occur unless bike is moving in gear...but it hasn't died on me like that for a long time until this started happening...
Confused.

 

[hotdog]

Check you chain for tight spots and your sprockets for excessive wear.