my bike is all stock it has 30,000 miles, i dont know if it has adj.pushrods but when im warming the bike up it makes a tapping type of pinging noise at idle. in a few minutes as the motor warms its quiet as can be and the noise is gone compleatly. normal or do i have a prob with lifters or somthing?

 

You might have a rocker that could use a lil adjustment. Your oil screen might be partially blocked restricting oil flow. Might be an exhaust heat shield coming slightly loose.
If it continues to get worse, you must check your rockers or determine what is getting loose when cold & expanding when hot.
Hatch.

 

You might want to check the exhaust flange nuts to ensure they are tight, checking the rest of the exhaust for leaks wouldn't hurt either. Hope this helps.

 

is it possible that it has carbon build up? i noticed when i pull the choke all the way out, this metalic tapping noise went away. or is it just because the choke raised the rpm? this is kinda confusing to me. but the pinging tapping goes away once engine is warm. so mabey its not carbon ping?

 

OK what does warming up and having the choke out have in common???? More engine RPM's. It is extremely hard to "Cyberly" diagnose noises, but here goes. First make sure your primary chain is properly adjusted. Next check your engine mounts to ensure they are good and tightened properly. Then look over the bike to see if all the exhaust mounting points are tight and there is suffecient clearance between all parts. When the engine is cold it idles slower and has a tendency to shake, if there is insuffecient clearance between parts they willl rattle, ping and make all types of wierd noises. Lastily if all that fails to find your gremlin take a look at the compensator nut, they also can make a wide variety of noises, the most common is a clunk though.
If all they above fail then it's time to get inside, but we will save that for a later date. Hope this helps.

P.S. To get rid of carbon build-up, warm the engine up then remove the air cleaner, start the engine, run the engine at about 2,500 RPM and SLOWLY,ONCE AGAIN SLOWLY pour cold water into the carb throat giving the engine enough throttle and pouring the water slow enough to keep it running. The cold water will knock the carbon off of the head and piston. Allow the engine to run for a short while after you stop pouring to allow all the carbon to get blown out the exhaust. The use a good gas like Shell to help prevent future build up. Excess carbon could also be from oil consumption too!!

 

the bikes primary chain is in spec 3/8inch to 5/8 inch. playing around with it today ive found that if i let the bike warm upwith choke off at an idle just above 900 rpm the noise is pretty much gone, but if i do it at say around 1500 rpm it makes the metallic wrapping noise untill engine is warm. it sounds like someone is tapping on the cyl.fins with a small hammer.
the outside temp was 92 degf. and when i was out riding the bike i couldnt make the bike ping at all. even did a 2nd gear pull from standstill and no pinging, so im ruling that out. im starting to think its a hot oil vs cold oil with my lifters. but i still may try the water in the carb or a can of seafoam any way. thanks for all the replys too.

do you have to take the primary cover off to see the comp nut or can i peek through the insp.cover?

 

I lean to this too , bet your hearing the front exhaust valve and lifter rattling . They do that with some miles and age . Stock early evo lifters where a bit on the weak side anyway .

 

thanks twisted nice to have some awsome shovelhead help! i think im leaning towards the lifter and push rod slap untill its warm. i thought possibly an intake leak but i spray wd40 on the intake gaskets and the rpm didnt change at all, so no leak. i think ill do lifters next season or if the noise gets worse. thanks all for the help.

 

Use brake clean for your tests no mess or smell after and any hint of a leak motor will stumble where it won't with WD-40 . Keep an ear open if you start getting more noise or a slight miss at idle you might want to pop the nose cone and check the cam lobes & lifter rollers .

 

ok man will do! thanks alot for the tips! might even be me being to worried! my old evo makes so many neat and weird noises it makes me paranoid somtimes!