Another ticker. Oh goody gumdrops!!

Bought my 2005 FJR in St Pete, FL with 4100 miles on it. An epic 6 days and 2400-ish miles of making my way back north to NH and the engine develops the much feared "FJR-tick".

I assume it's a generally known issue in the FJR community (after seeing the sticky threads posted here) that Yamaha has yet to fully acknowledge with a TSB other than in Australia or even a full on recall of these motors. Apparently Yamaha doesn't make a move on something unless 3% of sold units are affected. Funny thing is it seems like 2.9999999% or more of FJR's are affected.

After much reading on this glorious forum, I've seen that various 2005 FJR's have had the guides and valves replaced by Yamaha out of good faith. I can only hope that I'll get the same good faith in the upcoming weeks as there are two major things working against me--> I'm not the original owner and the bike's well out of warranty.

One good thing is I have a dealer who is going to work with me the best they can (which means making some calls) in the hopes that Yamaha steps up to the plate on this. The interesting part is I will be doing the bulk of the work as far as dropping the engine and removing the head. I have a good feeling that Yamaha will cover me in the parts department and I hope they go the extra mile by allowing the dealer to button the engine up.

So here I am, 8 grand poorer on a bike with 7500-ish miles on it that needs the head removed and looked at by Yamaha service professionals.

Stay tuned for the engine removal and tear-down.......might be a good time to throw a turbocharge on this mill, eh?

If anyone has any tips or contacts to help me along, that would be great! Otherwise, it sounds like I'm going to be put down for the next couple of weeks..........not something I really like to think about.

....well bergs, that is the shits! You might want to search for the "ticker poll" on this site in order to ressurect it from the bowels by updating it with your response. In the mean time, u will get much garbage about how just a very small number of units ( as in maybe 3-7% ) were affected. While it is true, Yamaha has never officially admitted a problem, thereby keeping the stats secret, anecdotely my observation states that the numbers are huge and just keep growing. But hey, that`s me and guess what...it`s not hot either according to the blind purists around here....sorry, don`t mean to diminish your problem with my sarcasm....I know tooo well what you are going thru. We must let the ignorant know the reality...chime in here George Carlin, lots of idiots here. Good luck withyour fix there berg....may u ride soon....

Why aren't you just letting the dealer do it all?

As a Southern NH resident I'm interested in which dealer you are 'working with'. AFAIK Yamaha has picked up all ticker repairs regardless of where you fall in the chain of owners as well as repairing tickers out of warranty.

I know that Hudson Cycle has repaired several tickers, some of which were for Forum members. The Forum members have PMed me to say that they had a good experience with Hudson. This dealer also has all the equipment on site to do their own valve guide replacement so there is no machine shop delay.

SkooterG said:

Why aren't you just letting the dealer do it all?

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AND, after he thinks it IS a ticker and is willing to work with you, one hopes he has entered the info into the Yamaha computer. Why not ride it all season before tearing it down?

I waited until 30K miles to do mine. It won't suffer a sudden catastrophic engine failure, it will get slightly noisier and eventually begin to use oil. But most haven't gotten severe until 20K or more.

Ride the bike and take it in at the end of the season. Their shop will be les busy and you won't lose the used of the bike....

Just my $.02.

Ride the bike and take it in at the end of the season. Their shop will be les busy and you won't lose the used of the bike...

+1 - if it really is "The Tick" it will get worse and be easier for them to diagnose when they look at it.

BTW - 7500 is awful soon for the valve guides to be worn enough to hear it tick. Mine was not noticeable until about 14k miles.

Who diagnosed it with "The Tick" at this point?

Sure you aren't hearing fuel injector noise?

I have a 05 that I bought new. Mine started ticking at about 10k. Yammie stood behind it 100% and it was fixed at 14k at Ray's cycle center in Greenfield,Mass. They ordered up all the parts and had everything ready when I brought it down. The rep didn't even come to listen to it he just told them to make it right and I don't have the YES option. The bike was only down about 3-4 days and cost me nothing. Have 26k now and haven't had another problem,nock on wood. I don't know where you are in southern NH but if your on the west side ot the state you might want to give them a call,great people. :yahoo:

conwest said:

...it`s not hot either according to the blind purists around here....

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Riiiiight.....that too.

I figured there were many more than 3% based on what I've been reading just on this forum. The frustrating part was relaying my findings to the Yamaha "Product Specialist" who didn't "have that memo" with regards to the frequency of this occurance.

Why aren't you just letting the dealer do it all?

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I have good contacts with Hudson Cycles and I've set up an agreement of sorts to make this happen as quickly as possible to minimize my down time.

ionbeam- I am very familiar with Hudson Cycles. I've been a long-time customer, former employee and it's my general hang out spot when I'm bored. How pathetic is my life? LOL

Why not ride it all season before tearing it down?

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Well, in my eyes, the ball's already rolling. The call has been made to Yamaha, they have my information and the bike's information already in the system and my fear is it will be more likely to get less cooperation from Yamaha if I wait longer and keep putting on miles....and I do put plenty of miles on my machines seeing how I ride 13 months a year.

Who diagnosed it with "The Tick" at this point?

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I diagnosed it. Next up is the dealer to confirm. Without even hearing the sound bites posted here, I know it's the tick and there's no way it's the injector pulses. It's intermittent and audible at about 2200 rpm's up to about 3500 rpm's, seems to go away at 3500 rpm's and comes back in the 4700-ish range. Currently, the engine in this bike is not making the noises a tight engine makes.

Keep in mind this bike was dead-quiet when I first picked it up with 4163 miles and while riding it on my way back to NH, the tick started to become more noticeable......much more noticeable and only on the left side of the engine.

bergs said:

Who diagnosed it with "The Tick" at this point?

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I diagnosed it. Next up is the dealer to confirm. Without even hearing the sound bites posted here, I know it's the tick and there's no way it's the injector pulses. It's intermittent and audible at about 2200 rpm's up to about 3500 rpm's, seems to go away at 3500 rpm's and comes back in the 4700-ish range. Currently, the engine in this bike is not making the noises a tight engine makes.

Keep in mind this bike was dead-quiet when I first picked it up with 4163 miles and while riding it on my way back to NH, the tick started to become more noticeable......much more noticeable and only on the left side of the engine.

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And I'm not hearing the magic words, the particular sound quality description, or metaphor that makes me that confident you have a ticker yet.

I've now watched four or five folks come into the forum and proclaim they have "the tick". Few actually ended up having premature valve guide wear requiring a rebuild. Most of them ended up being transient Genesis head "tick, tick, tick", one was a cam chain IIRC, and the other one that was actually ended up being "the tick" followed up with the magic description of what it sounded like.

So, what does your tick sound like specifically?

bergs said:

Who diagnosed it with "The Tick" at this point?

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I diagnosed it. Next up is the dealer to confirm. Without even hearing the sound bites posted here, I know it's the tick and there's no way it's the injector pulses. It's intermittent and audible at about 2200 rpm's up to about 3500 rpm's, seems to go away at 3500 rpm's and comes back in the 4700-ish range. Currently, the engine in this bike is not making the noises a tight engine makes.

Keep in mind this bike was dead-quiet when I first picked it up with 4163 miles and while riding it on my way back to NH, the tick started to become more noticeable......much more noticeable and only on the left side of the engine.

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This does not sound like a ticker to me. I would bet you are currently running 10w-40 oil that should be replaced with Fully Synth (IMHO) 20W-50 oil. Even if it is 20W-50, your description does not sound like a ticker. At 2,500 miles my 2005 FJR made the exact same noise through the exact same RPM range. Infact, so did my 1979 KZ650...and several other motorcycles I've owned. It is usually the RPM at which the tapets 'float' when the engine is warm (and usually on hotter days). Thicker oil usually lessons/resolves the issue.

I'm currently running Castrol Act>Evo T4 20W-50 (fully Synthetic) and have not heard any 'ticking'. The bike currently has 8,500 miles on her

Just my $.02 worth

Sport

I'm currently running Castrol Act>Evo T4 20W-50 (fully Synthetic) and have not heard any 'ticking'. The bike currently has 8,500 miles on her

Just my $.02 worth

Sport

I thought I read Amsoil was the way to go........WTF?

DE OPPRESSO LIBER said:

I'm currently running Castrol Act>Evo T4 20W-50 (fully Synthetic) and have not heard any 'ticking'. The bike currently has 8,500 miles on her

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Well then, that puts you in the company of EVERY 2006, 2007, and 2008 FJR owner - regardless of type of oil.

Gen II FJRs DON'T TICK!!!

Let's get this straight - Brand/viscosity of oil has NOTHING to do with whether your FJR develops into a 'ticker'. (Within reason of course)

Ignacio said:

And I'm not hearing the magic words, the particular sound quality description, or metaphor that makes me that confident you have a ticker yet.
I've now watched four or five folks come into the forum and proclaim they have "the tick". Few actually ended up having premature valve guide wear requiring a rebuild. Most of them ended up being transient Genesis head "tick, tick, tick", one was a cam chain IIRC, and the other one that was actually ended up being "the tick" followed up with the magic description of what it sounded like.

So, what does your tick sound like specifically?

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If I were to describe the noise, first I'd say the tick sounds almost like one of those electronic grill starters....you know....the battery powered ones that fire the ignitor repeatedly when you hold the button in...sounds like something along those lines but louder.

Another way I could describe it...try tapping your thumb nails together....times that volume level by 50 and do that 2500 times a minute intermittantly

Maybe even a similar sound to a metronome on crack

Not necessarily a click of the mouse but most certainly like pebbles hitting an automobile windsheild in a certain timing sequence to recreate an engine's revolutions

Another way? Hell, I don't know, it sounds like at least one valve is slamming into the seat when it closes.

I'm running out of similarities....I can think of more but it will take time.

The fact that it developed over the course of additional mileage was my first clue....or maybe not. You have me second-guessing myself now...

Cam chain is definitely out of the question only because the noise in question is on the left side of the engine only.

It's not valve clearance because that's a constant noise through out the rpm range.

Rick- Running Yamaha 20-40 currently with Yamaha filter. I don't use synth....just not my cup of tea I suppose.

No more mention of oil please.

Four things I can't stand about motorcycle internets:

1) Threads about the best oil.

2) Threads about the best chain lube (curiously not found here...gee, I wonder why that is?).

3) Threads about the best tires.

4) Threads about the best exhaust.

SkooterG said:

DE OPPRESSO LIBER said:

I'm currently running Castrol Act>Evo T4 20W-50 (fully Synthetic) and have not heard any 'ticking'. The bike currently has 8,500 miles on her

Click to expand...

Well then, that puts you in the company of EVERY 2006, 2007, and 2008 FJR owner - regardless of type of oil.

Gen II FJRs DON'T TICK!!!

Let's get this straight - Brand/viscosity of oil has NOTHING to do with whether your FJR develops into a 'ticker'. (Within reason of course)

Click to expand...

Skooter,

1st, I have a Gen. I FJR (it's a 2005)

2nd, I never inclined that oil will prevent the 'ticking', which Yamaha now covers.

3rd, My only claim was that thinner oil has the tendancy to allow an engine to make more noise (which is usually associated within the tappets).

Finally, Certain oils DO have the capability of making an engine run smoother and quieter (personal experience over the many years of riding).

Is it dogpyle Friday yet?

SPORT said:

Skooter,
1st, I have a Gen. I FJR (it's a 2005)

2nd, I never inclined that oil will prevent the 'ticking', which Yamaha now covers.

3rd, My only claim was that thinner oil has the tendancy to allow an engine to make more noise (which is usually associated within the tappets).

Finally, Certain oils DO have the capability of making an engine run smoother and quieter (personal experience over the many years of riding).

Is it dogpyle Friday yet?

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Bueller?!?!

It's a good thing it's not Friday. Take another look at the post I made which you quoted. Do you see me quoting you in that post? Hello?

Now I do dispute some of your above assertions, but that's for a different time and place.

DE OPPRESSO LIBER said:

I'm currently running Castrol Act>Evo T4 20W-50 (fully Synthetic) and have not heard any 'ticking'. The bike currently has 8,500 miles on her

Just my $.02 worth

Sport

I thought I read Amsoil was the way to go........WTF?

Click to expand...

SkooterG said:

Bueller?!?!
It's a good thing it's not Friday. Take another look at the post I made which you quoted. Do you see me quoting you in that post? Hello?

Now I do dispute some of your above assertions, but that's for a different time and place.

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Hello back at ya

Yes, I do see you quoting me. Apparently DE OPPRESSO LIBER quoted me but removed one of the "

" somewhere making it look like it was his. Take a closer look, he responds at the bottom of his post.
I agree with Berg, this is not about oil. but based on his description of the 'ticking', I do not believe it is an actual ticker. I believe it has more to do with oil viscosity and temperatures than it does with premature ticking. My reasoning is that it is loudest only at a certain RPM range, namely 2500-3500 RPM. This is not an indication of the infamous ticking.

Skooter,

sorry if I've made any offense towards you...not my intentions

Berg,

I would encourage you to continue your search before deeming it a 'ticker'.

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SPORT said:

Berg,I would encourage you to continue your search before deeming it a 'ticker'.

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In process.

One question that has yet to be answered is "how is it not considered a ticker when a definite ticking developed?"

Just did some more reading...

Two rocks hitting together?? Gotta say I've never done that. I'll have to try it and gauge the resulting sound.