Hey all,
I've been running an X80 recently, and have about 1000 uneventful miles on it (about 40 miles a day now). The engine's been running great, although under load after it's heated up, it would click rather sharply much like it would with something being rattled around in the combustion-chamber. Having already dealt with destroyed cylinders/rings/pistons, I was alarmed and immediately tore the engine down. I found that everything was just fine; in fact, the lower needle-bearing had almost no play. The case was clean, and piston/cylinder/rings were unsullied mirrors. I had an enclosed HK1015 needle-bearing on hand that I was anxious to try out as a replacement for stock, and figured it may stop the "rapping". It didn't, although the engine runs smoother and with less vibration now...especially at higher RPMs. Anyway, I was still baffled by this rather loud mechanical clicking that wasn't physically affecting the engine, and imagined it MIGHT be detonation, but this is my third engine, and I am pretty darned sure that the compression in this one is too low for that to be happening (the head-gasket that came on this one was THICK...almost 2.5X), the head is tightened down adequately. Also, the plug is well clear of the piston, and it's a lovely cocoa-brown. Tonight I decided to try a gap-change. I've been running at 0.27 since I got this engine, so I bumped it up to 0.32 to see what would happen. Well, I was disappointed at first, since it took longer than normal to get the engine revving, but after a short distance, it began to respond really well. Also, the clicking was nearly imperceptible. To my delight, once the engine was up to operating temperature it was actually PULLING with acceleration in the upper ranges. Did I miss something? I'm mostly curious as to what that damned clicking was. I'd convinced myself it wasn't harmful to the engine, but it was damned annoying, and had the risk of masking important "diagnostic noises" so I was ever alert which detracted from the pleasure of riding. Any clues?
I've been running an X80 recently, and have about 1000 uneventful miles on it (about 40 miles a day now). The engine's been running great, although under load after it's heated up, it would click rather sharply much like it would with something being rattled around in the combustion-chamber. Having already dealt with destroyed cylinders/rings/pistons, I was alarmed and immediately tore the engine down. I found that everything was just fine; in fact, the lower needle-bearing had almost no play. The case was clean, and piston/cylinder/rings were unsullied mirrors. I had an enclosed HK1015 needle-bearing on hand that I was anxious to try out as a replacement for stock, and figured it may stop the "rapping". It didn't, although the engine runs smoother and with less vibration now...especially at higher RPMs. Anyway, I was still baffled by this rather loud mechanical clicking that wasn't physically affecting the engine, and imagined it MIGHT be detonation, but this is my third engine, and I am pretty darned sure that the compression in this one is too low for that to be happening (the head-gasket that came on this one was THICK...almost 2.5X), the head is tightened down adequately. Also, the plug is well clear of the piston, and it's a lovely cocoa-brown. Tonight I decided to try a gap-change. I've been running at 0.27 since I got this engine, so I bumped it up to 0.32 to see what would happen. Well, I was disappointed at first, since it took longer than normal to get the engine revving, but after a short distance, it began to respond really well. Also, the clicking was nearly imperceptible. To my delight, once the engine was up to operating temperature it was actually PULLING with acceleration in the upper ranges. Did I miss something? I'm mostly curious as to what that damned clicking was. I'd convinced myself it wasn't harmful to the engine, but it was damned annoying, and had the risk of masking important "diagnostic noises" so I was ever alert which detracted from the pleasure of riding. Any clues?
