This or the rear exhaust guide is working loose in the head , had a couple drive me crazy chasing that gremlin .

 

What do the rockers look like where they contact the valve stem ends? Any flats or chips in the surface can manifest as noise. They can also promote wear in the guides.
The curve of the rocker end is a variable curve not a true radius, by the way.

 

Rockers look good, rear exhaust guide looked good too. I am pulling the top end off again tomorrow, and trying out a different top end all together. A friend has a spare bike and is letting me try that top end to see if it fixes my problem. the cam seems to be fine, but the noise is worse with the stock cam and it definitely sounds like a valve hitting something and the sound comes right through the pipe, when you ride it with the stock cam, I could hear the valve hitting then the sound echoing through the pipe.. what a pain, but at least I think i am narrowing down the issue. I should buy stock in James Gaskets, the amount I have already gone through trying to find this problem.. lol

 

Hi I know its been several yrs...what was the issue?

 

The OP hasn't logged in since 2013 so don't hold your breath for a reply

 

look somewhere you not getting the right amount of oil check for metal shavings
drain the oil tank clean all hose entry had a friend mess around left his oil tank cap open and few tree leaves got into it
eventually blew that engine to kingdom come after hearing noises like you hear