my firestorm is a slapper !

richard · Post by **richard** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:02 pm

folks,

i've not posted in a while - happily enjoying my 'storm which has proved very reliable - but now I've got an minor (?) problem...a slapping noise from the engine..

now before you all go jumping in and tell me to change cct's....

I'm fairly mechanically minded, the bike is very well serviced, and runs spot on, and both cct's had new springs fitted in the last 12 months, I've just checked them both and
a) they are still well oiled and wind in + spring out smoothly, and wont push in.
b) neither of them extends beyond thier maximum position when tensioning the chain, ie they are not coming up short
c) the cct's are in good order and still wearing their metal gloves - ie nothings worn down / fall off

the problem :

the bike has a intermittant mild mechanical slapping sound when running, which will occur at idle while stationary. in neutral. The sound is not excessively loud and as an example can come and go ( even when warm ) over a 10 second period (ie slaps for a few seconds then goes quiet for a few seconds then can come back again....) and is not accompanied with the usual brief chain rattle when starting from cold that you might expect with shagged cct's. To be honest

I've been riding it like this for a while and the noise has not gotten worse.....

Obviously my first port of call was the cct's - but checked as above.....is there anything else that throws up that sort of noise thats obvious to check.....Given the noise is intermittant it makes me think that something is just starting to 'go'....and that leaves the usual game of 'how long will it now last'...

cheers
richard

Jbrebel · Post by **Jbrebel** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:54 am

What about your valve clearances?

Post by **sirch345** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:29 pm

IMHO it sounds very much like the tension of your replacement CCT springs is not set correctly

Either on one or both tensioners.

At a guess I'd say it's the front tensioner as this one backs off as the engine rises through the rev range. My guess is it's not re-tensioning the CCT to the exact tension when the engine rev's come back down to tick-over

Chris.

Stratman · Post by **Stratman** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:41 pm

Does it disappear when you pull the clutch in?

warby221 · Post by **warby221** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:06 pm

Just a thought but that sounds very much like when my starter clutch went on my VFR
Has the bike been kicking back a bit putting strain on the clutch???
starter spinning free every now and then????

richard · Post by **richard** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:37 pm

chaps,

thanks for the ideas - today i've been playing in the garage with my spanners + my firestorm, mmmm....spanners....

sirch345 wrote:IMHO it sounds very much like the tension of your replacement CCT springs is not set correctly Either on one or both tensioners.
Chris.

I've stripped the cct's and backed the worm screw inside out as far as possible so that when winding the plunger back in it now takes 5 full turns ( they where 4.5 turns before ) ...on starting the bike up the slapping noise is gone, with only a slight hint if rev'ed and then shut off allowing the revs to drop to idle...

chris - i bow to your superior firestorm skills, your suggestion seems so bleedin obvious with hind sight, but i would'nt have thought of it !

I will give it a proper run and see what happens.

cheers
richard

Post by **sirch345** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 3:47 pm

Richard, I'm glad too hear you've found the culprit

At least if it returns at a later date you know what the problem is

Cheers,

Chris.