Alright, it seems that my luck is running out and I have no choice but to get the bike off the road and go into the engine for valve adjustment, and to inspect/replace parts. It's an '87 Savage with (if I remember) just over 21,000 miles. No idea what the PO did, but there are remnants of black sealant in the middle seam of the cylinder, and gray sealant on the top.

Did a 200 r/t ride yesterday averaging about 60-65 mph and the valve tapping and chain noise became louder than the Trapp during the last 50 miles or so. When cruising at 60 mph hearing tapping over the Trapp, I really felt that there's something wrong. I was sitting at a light about 5 miles from home and even the guy in the car next to me (window open) kind of looked over. First thoughts are obviously the cam chain tensioner, but hoping not to have a serious valve issue on top of that.

I've noticed an increase in oil consumption, but have been doing a lot of highway riding lately. Oil leak seems to be getting worse, but not bad enough to be the cause of the oil consumption. I feels it's being burned faster. And, I've always though it was the head plug, but am starting to think it's elsewhere.

Interesting thing is that the bike is running fantastic right now with no sign of any problem outside of the noise.

So I've decided to open her up now while the engine is still in tact instead of taking the chance of having a motor full of busted parts grinding around.

Parts/tools/work checklist:
*Feeler gauge for valve clearance.
*Torque wrench, along with the rest of my tools
*Full set of clutch cover bolts and gasket.
*Header gasket and bolts, which I have already. May as well do it while I have the header off.
*Cam chain tensioner and all hardware (bolts, clip etc).
*Cam chain guide (might as well).
*Oil and filter as I'm due for a change anyway and may as well dump the oil for cleaner access to the inside.
*Metric ruler.
*Torque head bolts.
*Use of Mom's garage so I don't have to work in the sand in front of the house.
*Patience.

I've been on a bike that blew a rod and it's one of the worst feelings in the world. Bike felt like it was running out of gas, lost all power, but had the sound of metal in a popcorn machine. A mechanic friend of mine who rebuilt it said that there were pieces of metal everywhere.

In this case, I'm concerned about the top end not the rod, but I do not want to experience anything that will leave me stranded and in need of serious engine work that could've been prevented by going in now. Heck, I don't want to experience it at all regardless of where I am at the time. Yes, it's beautiful riding weather, and that's the point. I need to do some work so that I can continue riding. My last ride will be a slow one the back roads 15 miles to Mom's garage but that's it.

If anyone who has performed this type of work has any suggestions for this shade tree mechanic with very little to no experience with this type of work, I would appreciate any comments. Have my Clymers, the tech forum here, and should have most of the tools needed. I can bring it to the local independent mechanic guessing I may be able to get out of there under $600, but I'd rather take a day or two and do it myself. Save money and learn at the same time.

use a torque wrench and expect bolts to snap.
I have troubles with the low torque values than high, so get a 1/4"

Wow, great feedback, thanks! After reading through the comments, I hope that I'm not getting in over my head here. I know that it's just a procedure thing, but I was hoping to just start with looking at the tensioner (having new one in hand ready to replace). I've read enough about it on here that I'm somewhat convinced that it's the culprit. Cam, Cam chain......I don't know if I want to rip the head off at this point unless I feel I have to. they may have been done already.

I guess I'll start with the tensioner and maybe valve adjust and see what the chain looks like. Gonna run the oil through a sieve like I did last time and examine for pieces of metal.

I'm going to video everything, not just for the sake of remembering, but to help other newbies get an idea of what they're getting into.

Going to read more of the Clymer and tech notes to prepare myself. Verslagen, you'll have a PM soon.

Putting in a new, unmodified tensioner is a waste of time. Modify it as in the slavy, or get a Verslavy. Just my .02