Hi all,

MY 2006 GSF500 has about 5500 miles on it.

I've got a 'knock' coming from what sounds like the upper third of the engine. It reminds me a lot of lifter tick on a car. The 'knock' scales with RPM and all but disappears at about 2000 rpms. Secondly,  If I throttle up slowly from idle it gets to a point where there is a sound like a bicycle shifting gears but much more robust. The knocking immediately stops once this quick clank 'engages'.  It happens frequently from a stop but also if I am just sitting in the driveway in neutral. Could this be the cam end float I've been reading about or possibly the valve clearance? I assume the 'knock w/ RPM' and 'clank' are related?

I'm looking to probably do the work myself. I've got the service manual on the way.  Being that it's a new bike to me and I'm not sure of the maintenance history I will be doing a thorough inspection before any riding. The oil level was fine when I made this video, that will also be changed soon.

Below are some clips, the knocking is primarily what you hear in person, it seems muffled slightly in the videos.

Idle : http://youtu.be/psdKrXRK9_s

First two seconds of this video I killed it when it was cold, at 3 seconds, right when the recording resumes from pause you can faintly hear the 'clank' sound - horrible video but this was the only recording I got of it, I can try for another if it would help -burping the throttle a tad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfoPng6R6_U

Slightly more fidelity to the knocking : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_1BiAVCwdA

Thanks for any and all input! I've been lurking around for awhile but my amateur eyes can't seem to find an identical example. I would prefer not to pay the local shop the $400 dollars they want for basically removing the fuel tank and a couple bolts...



Jake

Your description sounds like it's the cam knock from excessive camshaft side play but I'm not hearing it clearly on your clips, maybe some younger ears will listen and comment.

Knocks only when hot, only at idle, and goes away when engine speed is increased to a fast idle and above.  I heard it on both my 97 and 04 GSs and quit worrying about it as soon as I diagnosed what it was on the 97, my first GS, it's harmless.  Never fixed it and haven't heard it for years now. On the 02 that I bought with 4k miles on it I heard it briefly until my first oil change.  Haven't heard it again on the 02 for 10 years and over 90k miles since that oil change so I've really quit worry about it now.   

If the $400 they want for fixing it is for the Suzuki warranty fix they made after they finally admitted it existed it's a fair price, includes new camshafts, exhaust buckets, and shims plus labor.  But an oil change fixed it for me for a lot less.   You can check yours out when you do your first valve clearance check, turn cam lobes awau from shims/buckeys an see how much freepkay you have,  my 97 had a lot more on one cam than the other.  Never bothered to check it on the 02 it went away too fast. 

http://www.gs500.net/gallery/data/500/Can_Fix.jpg

I don't hear the cam knock either. 

Here is what it sounds like on my '97:
http://www.familyjones.org/paul/Cam%20noise.mp3

Being a 2006 (unless the engine has been replaced) it should not have cam knock as Suzuki rectified the problem from 2005 models up.

Thank you all for the replies; it definitely does not sound like the knocking sound in Paulcet's link. It's more more pronounced and consistent.  I'll be checking the valve clearances first to see if that is a potential source.

I'm sure I'll be in touch.

Thanks again.

sounds like CB shaft bearings to me.  Make sure your oil light is working, gotta funny feeling