I apologize for another "ticking" thread

Hey everyone,

Brand new FJR owner here. I picked up an '04 FJR from a local dealer near me. I currently ride a Harley Street Glide and thought it would be fun to actually go fast and corner again Anyways, what brings me here is I noticed during a ride yesterday that I'm hearing a noticable "ticking" sound around 2800-3200 RPMs. My initial thought was that something might be loose and causing the ticking noise (again being a Harley rider, you get accustomed to "ticks" being the norm). But when I did some research, I found that this might be caused by an exhaust valve guide... or something worse?

I uploaded a video which shows the ticking noise. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced the same tick, and if so, what ended up being the problem?



Ticking-

34 - 45 sec

1:17-1:50

2:00+

I apologize for the long video.

Anyways, I have a 30 day warranty with the dealer and I'm thinking I should bring this to their attention. I just wanted to see what you guys thought first. I appreciate everyone taking the time to read this.

Thanks!

-Todd

I don't hear valve ticking. I hear a cam chain tensioner...and/or something else that sounds like its misfiring and/or exhaust leak. You didn't specify miles.

That REALLY sounds like a loose cam chain. I wouldn't do that too many more tomes. The first time your chain jumps, you'll be looking for a new motor. Take it in ASAP, let them start it, order the new CCT, and then replace it...All under your 30 day warranty.

Concur. They have it covered. Would have been interesting to have the camera and mic pickup moved around to the lower right side of the bike to be sure, though.

+1 on the cam chain tensioner. Easy and cheap replacement and the alternative is a grenaded motor. Get it fixed and keep on enjoying the ride. Note: Sounds like the CCT - very distinct sound especially noticeable on the right side of the engine. If that's where it is coming from, there is little doubt. How many miles on it?

Wow guys, thanks for your help. Looks like I'll be loading the bike up on the trailer and heading up there tomorrow!

The bike has 61,000 on it now.

ruhltodd said:

The bike has 61,000 on it now.

Click to expand...

Prime mileage for a worn out CCT. Get a new one (they're about a hundred bucks for the dealer and 30 minutes of work) and the bike will quiet right down. Please follow-up on this one for us though.

Absolutely.

As the other guys said sounds like a worn out CCT.But the engine works very rough at the idle.It is not normal!Adjust the idle at the 1100 rpm warm,plus do a TBS throttle body synchronization.Surely something goes wrong at the idle..

Your bike sounds like mine at idle. These bikes dont idle well and throttle response is rough until 2000 revs.

Let us know what happens and good luck

Wow, haven't heard that noise since 2009, just a few minutes before my motor imploded!

Take it back to the dealer with this caveat...tell them if THEY start it up to run and the chain skips a tooth or three and air-mails a valve or twelve, THEY foot the bill for a new cylinder head.

$80 job now or $1500 job later.

It's under a 30 day warranty, they'll foot the bill regardless. They were actually pretty cool about it. I loaded it up on the trailer and went up there today. When I got there they started it up and sure enough after a couple of minutes they said it sounded like the cam chain. They apologized to me and said it shouldn't have left the floor sounding like that.

I mentioned the idling thing too, because it almost sounds like its knocking. They're going to look into that as well.

Hopefully I'll have the bike back next week.

I found some threads on the rough idling problem. Sounds like there's a connector underneath the tank that can get corroded and cause some misfiring?

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=129209

FJRs, when cold, are not the best-idling motorcycles on the planet, at least not until the temp gauge comes up to two bars showing (on a Gen I, 4 bars on Gen II) even with the fast-idle system working correctly.

The knocking noise invariably disappears after a warm-up.

Good luck on the fix, and hopefully the dealer addresses the actual problem -- the cam chain tensioner, NOT the cam chain!

ruhltodd said:

When I got there they started it up and sure enough after a couple of minutes they said it sounded like the cam chain.

Click to expand...

Press them on this point. I doubt its as drastic as the chain. Say it with us, "Cam Chain TENSIONER!" 20 minutes with a ratchet end wrench, screw driver, and this piece on the OUTSIDE of the engine is easy to replace.

This part is about $30 cheaper, and hasn't needed adjusting one single time in ~ 50,000 miles.

RadioHowie said:

This part is about $30 cheaper, and hasn't needed adjusting one single time in ~ 50,000 miles.

Click to expand...

Good luck getting a Yamaha dealer to purchase and install one of these under a warranty return...even if cheaper.

Worth a shot, since, being an '04, you know it's a dealership warranty, not a Yamaha warranty. MamaYama couldn't give a poop what anyone does to a 10 year old motorcycle.

However, I 1000% agree with you that the OP needs to insist the dealer addresses the CORRECT issue...AND, since it's got 61k miles on it, if it were me, I'd spring for a new camchain (@$18) while the job was being done.

RadioHowie said:

However, I 1000% agree with you that the OP needs to insist the dealer addresses the CORRECT issue...AND, since it's got 61k miles on it, if it were me, I'd spring for a new camchain (@$18) while the job was being done.

Click to expand...

Fair enough to do that IF you have the valve covers off, but to replace my tensioner that wasn't necessary. When I check the clearances in a few thousand miles time, then I will replace the chain as a precaution, because it will have done 90 000 miles, and it makes sense.