Hey...new to this site. Have a 97 Suzuki Savage.
I'm starting to hear a tapping/metalic ticking sound coming from around the engine cover. Goes away temporialy when I throttle up. It's as if something is loose in the engine. No loss of compression or performance. Thought it might need valve adjustment. Took the bike to shop. They just called. Noise not caused by valve problem. They need to
open the engine (4 hours labor) to see what the problem is. Has anyone else had such a noise coming from the engine. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks.
P.S. Not technically inclined.

Every little bit helps. I just don't want to get screwed by the shop I left it with.... They want $320 just to strip it down. God knows how much for the replacement parts and then putting it back together. It's on opened pregnant dog that I just don't want to deal with. The bike runs great. It's that noise that concerns me. I can live with the it. I just don't want to find out  later I could have avoided more problems down the road.  

I read the same thing. But my noise is constant. I think I may have caused some damage by letting the oil level get too low. I could not really see the oil level that well through that dumbass little window. What happend to the old dipstick? Oh that's right I'm the dipstick for letting the oil level get to low.

18K....only changed the oil every three thousand miles. No other maintenance. (new spark plug).

Why you say it isnt valves? When were they checked?

At this age & mileage, the time for a cam chain change is upon you. Instead of paying out the nose for the work, during which they will likely "find" the need for more work & $$/. Learning to do the work will pay you back many, many times. If you pay for the maintenance on this bike, you will not ride it far or often.If you pay someone to do the repairsd( if repair due to low oil IS needed, & for the maintenance & a cam chain is needed, I wouldnt be surprised to see close to a grand spent. You can do it all for just a few hundred & the tools will be paid for on the first job. As long as any low oil damage is lim ited to the top end, I think I am steering ya right. If You would change the oil & run a magnet thru, loking for ferrous metals & autopsy the filter, you can have a better idea.

It's not as hard as it sounds just takes some time.Don't be afraid to ask questions here,everybody helps everybody here.Ask Islandwahine.She didn't know much. since she has rebuilt her forks,working on carb,who knows whatelse. If you look in the tech. section there are usually step by step directions with pics.Your big brother is usually everybody here.

I dont think theres a bike out there that can be kept & NOT maintained by the owner, unless someone is just rich & uses the bike for a hobby only. The cost of maintenance will eat the value of the bike in short order. Thats the way I see it, anyway. If I had to pay someone to solve evry little issue, it would be in the shop, waiting its turn in lione, more than in the garage, during riding season. The wait times can be 2 weeks for minor issues.

At 18k, I'm going to bet your valves are WAAAAAY out of adjustment.  The manual recommends adjustment every 4k.  Mine started getting noisy again after 3.5k.  I'm due for another oil change and valve adjustment (probably by the end of the week).

What the others have been saying about the cam chain is probably true.  Older Savys tend to eat cam chains.  

I checked mine at ~10k (a little less than a month ago) and there was only 15mm of run out on the tensioner.  Suzuki put a slightly different cam chain tensioner in starting in 2003 or 2004.  It's mostly the same but has a heavier spring (I think it's to minimize chain stretch).

Good luck with your bike.  I hope you found a reputable shop that you can trust.