Hi all, nice to see such a distinctive bike has a prescence on the web! I recently bought an 88 model very cheaply thanks to Ebay. It was a none runner but in lovely condition and came with a Manx Norton style fish tail silencer installed. Well the running problem was easily cured - a second hand starter solenoid did the trick.... thats when I found out that there was no baffle in the silencer - ha ha - how could such a small bike sound so loud! Again Ebay came to the rescue with a cheap DB killer baffle made for sports bike exhausts - it now just sounds loud! Anyway, now the exhaust end is under control I am finding the engine noise grates on me after an hour or so in the saddle. The bike has a hard edge metallic tapping noise that seems to amplify when I have my helmet on. It appears to be coming from the left side of the engine (left side when viewed from the saddle). This increases in tempo with engine revs but not in volume. Doesn't sound like tappet noise and the valve clearance is ok. Bike starts and runs fine. I'd be most grateful for any insights people might have regarding this.

Cheers

Suggest to do the following, just to check the engine condition:

1)Adjust the valve tappet clearance

2)Remove the oil and open up the 2 side covers of the engine
   RH side to check the condition of the camchain and tensioner.
   LH side to check the starter gears

Use NEW gaskets for the covers!

Hi - thanks for the swift responses. I will check as above asap - the bike has a recorded 32K miles so plenty of scope for cam chain troubles I guess. As there is no external adjuster I assume the cam chain tensioner is automatic?

Cheers Again

Darren