Tapping

[Rome1]

Whenever I start my bike up it makes us horrible tapping sound it's not allowed or rough but it's tap as a bike runs and gets warmed up it stops tapping as much and then it's like every couple of seconds any ideas

[Nails]

Stuck valve? Does it run on all cylinders?

[cranky]

... what's the oil level in'ur bike? After it sits for a day, or overnite,
make sure it is NOT over 2/3's full! Overfull is supposed to be on
the "making noise" list for these scoots..... JM2C

[Neal]

Is this on a 1200 or a 1700? You post in a 1200 section but your signature shows a 1700.

[Rome1]

Its a 1200 i dont know why it says 1700 but yea its running on all cylinders and the oil level is at the right level

[SgtSlag]

Make certain the oil it the proper viscosity... I ran Shell Rotella T6 (5W-40) full synthetic, for a couple of years. You wouldn't expect 5 points below minimum viscosity, to make much of a difference, but it did on my 1993 Voyager 1200. It didn't shift properly, with multiple false neutrals, between nearly every gear; strange noises began coming from the engine. After I switched to a more standard, and specified, 10W-40 oil, the false neutrals mostly disappeared, and the strange noises did disappear.

If you did not remove both oil drain plugs when you changed the oil, you have too much oil in the engine! This is a known source of weird noises in the lifters... Time to drain the oil, and replace the filter, with new: 3 qts. 22 oz. only. Cheers!

[HarryL]

I have had one lifter on my 2003 Voyager that has had an on and off tapping since I bought the bike new

What I found over the years is if I let the bike warm up on the side stand it will start clicking and it usually won't if I keep it on the center stand.
I think this one lifter bleeds down and that slight angle from the side stand allows air to get trapped in it.
I have 137k on the bike now and have run Rotella 10w40 at 3 quarts 22 ounces since about 30k miles as suggested by Carl Leo.
I change the oil every 3000 miles.
Just my two cents

[ekap1200]

Whenever I start my bike up it makes us horrible tapping sound it's not allowed or rough but it's tap as a bike runs and gets warmed up it stops tapping as much and then it's like every couple of seconds any ideas

So your saying" it never stops tapping" ? Did you recently buy this bike and it has done it from then ? Or was some work ( ie. ) oil and filter change. or a missed gear change and high RPM was reached ? And what have you done so far to try to stop this ?
Gene K.

[ekap1200]

Make certain the oil it the proper viscosity... I ran Shell Rotella T6 (5W-40) full synthetic, for a couple of years. You wouldn't expect 5 points below minimum viscosity, to make much of a difference, but it did on my 1993 Voyager 1200. It didn't shift properly, with multiple false neutrals, between nearly every gear; strange noises began coming from the engine. After I switched to a more standard, and specified, 10W-40 oil, the false neutrals mostly disappeared, and the strange noises did disappear.

If you did not remove both oil drain plugs when you changed the oil, you have too much oil in the engine! This is a known source of weird noises in the lifters... Time to drain the oil, and replace the filter, with new: 3 qts. 22 oz. only. Cheers!

Well that was the least expensive fix. I too have had bikes with strange goings on with both LIFTER and SHIM TYPE valve systems and some of them I just changed brand and viscosity of the oil and had it clear up. No harm , no foul, and a cheep solution
It's something to try without tearing into things. This was recommended to me by a refinery chemist .
Gene

[Rome1]

I've changed different oil brands of even measured out the exact amount of oil to go into it and it still tabs is pretty persistent when it starts up but after a little bit this tap like maybe 5 or 6 times a minute I'm thinking maybe a valve needs to be adjusted or the lifters need a slight adjustment I was just looking for an easy fix before I actually break into the engine and start working on it

[triton28]

Try the following solution posted by Neal:
Postby Neal » Mon Jun 06, 2016 1:11 pm
I'ee that would have been me posting what Kawasaki told me to do with my 2001 when I got that lifter clatter.
Use 1 qt. atf -(any) with 2 qt.s (cheap) 10/30 oil. Run at regular driving speeds for up to about 1,000 miles. Then change back to your regular oil. Did that and never heard it again.
Dealer for all Air Rider products, and Nolan helmets and headsets.
Top

[SgtSlag]

Interesting method. ATF is known to have a viscosity of around 8W. It is also known to be highly detergent. Back in the old days, 1970's and earlier, it was an old mechanic's trick to add ATF to the crankcase, to dissolve deposits, and thoroughly flush the engine. I was told they left the ATF in the engine for a short test drive, before changing the oil and filter. I suspect this process is much more detergent than SeaFoam.

I had SeaFoam turn my Honda's engine oil coal black in five minutes of idling on the center stand. I repeated the SeaFoam treatment on that Honda 6,000, or 9,000, miles later: the oil never darkened. After riding 300 miles, with no color change, I changed it out, to be safe. I'm sure the ATF added to the engine oil will do similar cleaning.

I would recommend following SeaFoam's instructions, on top of the 1,000 mile limit: watch the oil, and if it turns black (starts as a nice, light, caramel brown color), change it, and the filter, ASAP. Then again, I'm paranoid. Best of luck! Cheers!

[Nails]

I've also used ATF to clean especially nasty gearboxes such as my tractor's rear axle, running it just a few minutes under very low load conditions. Bought a five-gallon barrel of cheap ATF just for this restoration project. Cheaper than cheap "universal" oil at the tractor store.

Don't need no stinkin SeaFoam. (But I guess I'd favor SeaFoam over ATF in my XII crankcase.)

The high-detergent factor, along with the right viscosity and high durability, is why I like it in my forks and shocks (Dextron III). I don't really see a downside.