That rattling sound!!!!

onefastvega · February 09, 2004, 07:33:14 PM

Does anyone else have a rattling sound coming from the left side of the engine.

For me, it appears at about 4.5-5.5 rpm and will disappear as soon as rev harder. It will come back if i drop into this range.

It is also more noticeable as i lean left. When I first start out, i wont hear anything until i lean left for the first time.

I perused the message boards at www.gs500e.co.uk and found a similar topic... Everyone thought that it was probably the chain tensioner or something worse.

One guy took his bike in for this problem and dealt with Suzuki. Eventually, the problem was found to be in the valve buckets (

) rather than the cam chain or crankshaft bolts.

Anyone else know of this?

Kerry · February 09, 2004, 08:28:26 PM

I'm not saying this IS the problem, but check your exhaust header bolts. Here is what caused a mighty racket around 5000 RPM for me recently:

EDIT: Changed link from sisna.com to bbburma.net

AndyMC · February 09, 2004, 08:37:10 PM

ouch

onefastvega · February 09, 2004, 08:53:10 PM

thanks Kerry, It is too dark and cold out now, but i will check 1st thing in the morning.

Lars · February 10, 2004, 01:18:59 AM

Blueknyt · February 10, 2004, 05:24:10 AM

ive got a simular rattle in mine, but its lower, near crank, when i had it apart, everything seemed ok. wonder if rod bearing is starting to go, only hear it on deceration. in lower R's

Reknelb · February 10, 2004, 09:17:19 AM

Quote from: onefastvega
One guy took his bike in for this problem and dealt with Suzuki. Eventually, the problem was found to be in the valve buckets () rather than the cam chain or crankshaft bolts.

Anyone else know of this?

We also had a rattling (more like a buzz) motor around the same rpm range you were talking about. We disassembled the whole motor and the only thing we could find was one of the valve buckets looked like it had been spinning or vibrating. There were marks on the outside of the bucket and in the bored alum. where the bucket fits. Didn't seem to affect performance what so ever but was really annoying.

onefastvega · February 10, 2004, 11:38:12 AM

Nothing looked loose upon inspection this morning, I am pretty sure that it is something internal. The performance of the bike is great, it is as quick as it ever was, but that sound is annoying and it bothers me :x

Valve buckets, eh? Would I need to have my Suzuki dealer take care of that?

octane · February 10, 2004, 11:44:41 AM

This is stupidly obvious, but sometimes those are the easiest things to miss. If your chain is a little loose it will rattle on the centerstand.

JohNLA · February 10, 2004, 12:19:12 PM

Quote from: onefastvegaNothing looked loose upon inspection this morning, I am pretty sure that it is something internal. The performance of the bike is great, it is as quick as it ever was, but that sound is annoying and it bothers me :x

Valve buckets, eh? Would I need to have my Suzuki dealer take care of that?

The hardest part of checking the valve clearances is removing the tank. Remove the breather box(4 bolts). Then you just remove the bolts securing the top of the engine. Then you just push a feeler gauge in between the cams and the shims and make sure the clearance is between .03-.08mm.
If you do need to replace any shims that will require the motion pro valve tool(ideal) or removing or loosening the cam chain to gain access to the shims. I didn't have the Motion Pro tool when I did mine last but have recently ordered it, for the next time.

onefastvega · February 10, 2004, 01:32:08 PM

thanks guys - i will look into it further

nl_carey · February 10, 2004, 02:25:58 PM

Note that the guy on the gs500e.co.uk site also had it finally resolved by the dealer to a loose valve bucket.

News:

That rattling sound!!!!