Hi guys,

I have a '08 SB, over the last few days I've heard a loud ticking/clicking sound. I thought it was coming from the horn since it vibrates a sh*t load but I think it's coming from the front cylinder.

It started when I would turn it on about 2 weeks ago, as of today it's all the time...

The guy who I bought it off in october last year said he did the 5k/oil change service himself when he did the stage 1.

Should I be worried? This is definitely not a case of just noticing it, it has steadily got worse.

Please help, I've just bought a house and really can't afford this.

Thanks in advance.

 

Synthetic oil?

 

Would it develop a tick after a thousand miles of using synthetic oil?

 

syntheetic oil ususally reduces ticking . Check the level of oil in it? If it sounds a little like a sewing machine then it is your overhead valve sound and that is normal. Sometimes we amplify a sound we hadn' t noticed before with our imaginations! Just trying to be helpful.

 

You got a windshield on it, The will direct the noise back at you

 

+1 on the windshield, love my windshield but it amplifies the ticking sound when it's on.Also if your bike has been sitting for awhile , the lifters may need priming but usually goes away after a few minutes, i was once told that sometimes dirt will get into the lifters and pervent them from fully pressurrising.and an oil change can solve it.

Hope this helps

 

x2 on check your oil level. And what color is it? with only 1K miles on it it should still look close to what it was when you put it in. Is the noise all the time or only when you first start it up, or when it gets hot???

Does it have a oil pressure gauge on it? May want to invest in one of these.

It could be low oil or maybe an oil pump going bad. But then it could be a number of other things too...

 

Sorry guys, I should have put more info in the original post.

when I bought it it had 5k on it, ive now done 1k (I hate winter) bringing it up to 6k. Apparently the oil was changed at 5k, I didn't do it, the previous owner did. I did check the oil out of interest but as I wasn't the one who put it in I'm not sure how much it's changed.

Yesterday it did for the entire time (over a hour) i was riding, this morning it did it on start up then kinda faded away...so cofusing...

 

Hard to tell without hearing it in person, but it sounds like a lifter that has bleed down.
BTB

 

Would a lifter sort itself out? as it seems to have gotten better lol.

It kinda sounded like something was hitting something, like a rattle (more than a ticking), and it obviously changed speed as the bike did. That's why I orginally thought something had come loose in the horn due to it vibrating so much.