Did some work on my, er my wife's GS500E this weekend. Carbs came out and got new seals for the fuel feed tube to cure that leak. Cam chain tensioner came out and was replaced with an APE unit to deal with that leak source. So far, so good. Old tensioner was definitely not at the end of it's travel when in the motor, and correctly extended and locked when it came out, so I'm hoping that implies the chain isn't worn excessively.
After doing all that the motor was buttoned up, tension set by hand initially, then adjusted with the motor idling. I know i have chain tension, as you can feel it in the adjuster, it starts out easy turning, then when you hit the slipper you can feel the adjuster throb with each rev, and you can dial the throbs out by winding on tension. I was told to adjust it by finding the throbbing, then give it a quarter turn or so.
I swear I have excess top end noise now. Only when the engine is under load. Throttle closed/decelerating it's quiet, go WFO and you hear more than the exhaust noise from under the tank. Cranking up the tension doesn't alter the noise.
WTF am I hearing, or am I just paranoid?
I just ran into the same problem with my bike.. idk why but i hear almost like a knocking sound coming from around the exhaust area or the top of the engine..
Sorry for bringing this topic back up, but i was wondering if you ever solved your problem or even knew what it was?
Near as I can tell, I was just paranoid. I adjusted as per Ape's instructions and ran the snot out of it, no issues.
lol k thanks man