So I have an 89 Gs500 that I purchased used in the fall. I have been through the carbs and sorted some other items. The bike runs fine but there is a ticking that begins after startup and kinda sounds like chain slap. (Not normal valve clatter) This goes on for several minutes after start and as it warms up it goes away. I have pulled the valve cover and everything is torqued properly, valve clearance is within spec, I measured the chain for service length and it's well within spec, and there are no obvious signs of damage. The chain slack in the cam chain is minimal. I checked for cam walk and there is some movement in the exhaust cam side to side. I pulled the cam chain tensioner and it appears to be working correctly, I tighten the center screw and it retracts, and pushes out when released. I assume that the limiting factor on the chain tensioner is when it hits the chain guide it provides some tension and as things wear it continues to extend adding additional tension. Other than just replacing it, is there anything that can be done to check it?

I believe the sound you are hearing is the exhaust cam moving side to side as you describe. This is not a mechanical problem but the sound it creates was solved in later years with a spacer. Maybe someone else here knows if you can install the spacer from a later years GS500 into an '89?

It sounds like your cam tensioner is working properly. That said, they have been a (rare) point of failure. You can get piece of mind my installing a manual cam chain tensioner. APE makes one for the first gen Hayabusa that fits the GS500.

I buttoned up the valve cover after checking all of the items described in my original post. I fired it up and it was quiet for a few minutes then started rattling again, while it was doing that i took the end of an allen wrench and pushed in on the tensioner with the rubber cap removed, i could feel a mechanical clicking consistent with the noise. I wiggled the wrench for a few seconds and it smoothed right out. No more noise and the feel on the wrench was smooth. i let the bike cool down and started it again, with the same results. Is this confirmation of a bad tensioner?