I'm not sure of the octane, as we just bought this bike for my wife and it still has the fuel in it from the previous owner, but using lower octane to eliminate spark-knock is backwards from what I've been told.

http://www.stanford.edu/~bmoses/knock.html

I stand corrected.... Though try the simple cheap things first.  IF the cam chain hasn't been done.  Think about that seriously (at least look in the engine and check the tension)..

- Roadie

A stretched cam chain won't induce knock!  It will retard the timing which will reduce/eliminate knock...

In cars, you'd get that knock when it needed a tune up and you floored it.  Sometimes ignition wires or plugs would fix it.

You only get carbon build up knock when the engine was hot.

I weigh 220, I had a 250lb pillion and didn't have any knock...there's something other than rider weight at play here...oh, BTW, i have a 17/43 sprocket setup and the 470lb load didn't induce knock with 87 octane fuel!

I think I found it!! So as I was saying in another post, I went by a local motorcycle shop and had a mechanic take a listen and a test ride on my wife's savage. In a nutshell, he told me "piston slap, head gasket leak, burning oil, probably needs a new cylinder". Summary: $1000 repair bill. I took the bike straight home and tore down the engine. After taking the head cover off I found an item laying in the area in the head where the camshaft lobes rotate through to pickup oil.

The item is #6 on this schematic...

Turns out that it prevents the camshaft from moving laterally in and striking the head. There would be no way for it to come out on it's own, so someone must have dropped it while reassembling the engine. I removed a broken head cover bolt while I was in there.

After I reassemble the engine with the new piston, I'll know for sure.

Time for an update!

I got the cylinder back from the machine shop last Thursday. If anyone lives near Brooksville, FL and needs machine shop work on their bike, take it to Tri-County Cycle. The store looks like it hasn't been maintained for 20 years, but man does Dave know his motorcycles. I set the cylinder up on the counter and without even saying anything he says "this from an LS650?" Perfect job on the bore and hone!!

Anyway, got it home and immediately started working on it. After assembling, discovering 5 stripped bolts, disassembling, helicoiling, and reassembling, removing the side cover (with the oil still in it), putting the washer in the right place on the starter gears (twice), reinstalling the side cover, and readjusting the valves at TDC of compression stroke (instead of TDC of exhaust stroke, BIG difference) it runs like a champ and there is no sign of any knock, ping, rattle, or any other unacceptable noise. Sounds just like a high power sewing machine!! All I have to do now is wait for the clutch pressure plate to come in (since I broke it while installing it to the torque spec in the book) and my wife will be back in business.

And she said I should let a more experienced mechanic work on it. What does she know?  8)

Sorry you had such a big job to do to fix a bike you just bought, but it sounds like you did a good fix and should be in good shape for a while now.

From all the parts out of place and stripped threads, I'm guessing the seller had a good idea they were selling your a load of trouble. That's a crappy way to do someone. I'd never knowingly pawn that kind of a POS off on someone without fixing it, or being honest about the condition and knocking the price down. Some people have no shame.