Newbie to the forum with a problem already!

[baldzone]

Hi all and thanks for letting me join!

Found your site after a brief search and have found all sorts of good info. Alas nothing to help with this new problem that happened this morning!

So I'm riding along stuck behind a lorry at about 40mph in 2nd gear. It's clear the other way so I open her up, change to 3rd and back off a bit (don't want to break the speed limit now do we ).

As I'm backing off I can hear a rattling noise. Very freqeuent and very loud. So I pull over (pulling the clutch in as soon as I could).

When I'm stopped, hit the start button with nothing apart from a click from the start relay. Starting to think bad things at this point (and expense).

Recovery man suggests it may be the starter. So I whip the starter out when i get home. Put it in a high gear and push the bike forward. The same noise is present. Almost sounds like a ratchet.

The starter motor shaft (and starter cluctch wheel) teeth are fine. The starter clutch moves like the manual said it should (good old Haynes).

Before I start taking things apart that I don't need to I was hoping you guys and gals may be able to help with this little problem!

Anyone come across this problem before at all or anything similar?

[cupasoop]

Alas nothing to help with this new problem that happened this morning!

Hello and welcome. Hope you have deep pockets or the luck of the Irish?

You never looked very hard for the answer did you? It's the most commonly asked question on here. Search for "cam chain tensioner" and all will be revealed.

[baldzone]

I heard they weren't the most reliable of items on this motor but can they really make a ratchet sound?

How bad is the forward one to replace? It seems to be coming from the front end.

[cupasoop]

It's not the tensioner making the rachet noise, it's your cam chain jumping teeth.

Have a look in the workshop section, i think one of the top posts is a "how to" about cct replacement.

I havnt suffered a failure myself but they'll be plenty of folk on here soon to offer words of advice and comfort.

Remember.....you are not alone

[baldzone]

Ah. If the chain is jumping teeth, how much damage am I looking at? And cost?

[baldzone]

before i pulled over there was no evidence of loss of power (although I didn't wind it for obvious reasons). Think it's about time to search those threads!

[cupasoop]

before i pulled over there was no evidence of loss of power (although I didn't wind it for obvious reasons). Think it's about time to search those threads!

Actually it's the shutting the throttle bit that breaks it, opening it up stops the chain from jumping.

If your really, really lucky then just the price for a new cct, about £30. if not it could be piston, head, valves, crank......whole engine maybe. You'll need to open it up to find out.

[baldzone]

Thanks for the info! Fingers crossed it'll work out ok!

Had a look at the other threads now and optimistic yet still worried!

[Bondy]

I've had a similar problem b4. Is your battery fully charged cos if its flat thats when u get the ratchet sound from ur starter motor. I know cos when i leave the bike for more than 2 weeks my battery flattens. If thats the case then it could b your rectifier that is knackered again i had the same problem. If your rectifier is broke then its probably fried ur battery to so it wont hold a charge for long and will also need replacing. Hope this is some help i'm a bit of a novice wen it comes to mechanics but as i said i did have a similar problem with mine.

[baldzone]

Definatly not starter problems. It's out at the minute! When I push the bike in a high gear the same ratchet noise happens as when I was riding earlier and had done 60 miles plus when the noise started.

I've also had a flat battery before. It wasn't the starter that was chattering but the start relay in my case. A quick boost and it was fine.

[grinner]

I had the exact same problem. If you're lucky then it's a simple fix. Take the seat off, get a phillips screwdriver and tighten up the battery terminals.
They can get loose, enough to work the lights etc, but not enough contact to start the engine!