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Valve noise increasing

JAH

New member
Hello,
I just purchased a '87 R80 with about 100K miles on it. The bike is in excellent shape with the exception of a broken odometer and a noise in the right side jug.
When I purchased the bike the owner told me, 'there is a loud ticking sound in the right side jug that has been getting worse', and he thinks he's noticed less power. He has adjusted the valve clearances regularly and thinks the problem is that it may need new valves.
Riding the bike it seem's fine. However, since the previous owner know's the bike I'm figuring I'd better check this thing out.
What are your opinions on this, please? At 100K miles what preventative maintenance might I want to look into? Thank you.
Sincerely,
Joe
 
Are the needle bearings in the rocker arms intact? If you take the valve cover off and there are a bunch of things that look like pencil leads floating around in there, you've got a problem.

I assume the sound varies with engine RPM.
 
Hi Dave,
Thank you for your reply. I'm home on lunch and read your reply and went out and popped the valve-cover. There are no needle-like objects floating around.
It look's good in there except that the exhaust side of the head is darker than the intake side. The oil is dark but doesn't appear burnt, though the seller may have just put fresh oil in.
Is it normal for the exhaust side of the head to be darker than the intake?
I know I've got 'it need's a new valve syndrome' since that is what the seller thought it might be but, he also said he wasn't a mechanic and wasn't sure it was a valve.

Any other ideas on what to check? Thank you!

Sincerely,

Joe
 
JAH said:
I just purchased a '87 R80 with about 100K miles on it.

Hey Joe - congratulations on the new purchase. If you haven't already, I'd recommend joining the airhead mailing list (free)- it is very active and you will likely get your question answered there. Also a good way to get introduced to other airheads in your area.
http://www.micapeak.com/lists/AIRHEADS/FAQ explains how to join.

Also, check out www.airheads.org

Cheers.
 
no vertical movement in the rockers

Flash 412 is this to mean there should be no vertical movement at all. I have just a slight movement on an intake rocker and the exhaust rocker can move about 1/16th of an inch. Is this bad? What is the remedy. Do you install a shim or does it need to be replaced? Thanks for the info.
 
The R80 is going into the shop next week for a routine maintenance. They will check the bike over and be on the look-out for any problems or potential problem$. I know it need's a new battery.
Cheers,
Joe
 
So,I decided to check the end play on the rockers, since the valve covers are off.

I'm looking at a total of .127mm of end play on each rocker. End play is suppose to be within .03mm-.07mm, That's a lot!!!
Was told by a couple of "Old Timers" from the club, that the bike ticking would quiet down some, by tightening up the end play.
Motor has 44K miles on the clock. Previous owner was kinda lack when it came to maintenence. Pulled the shims out on each rocker arm, and checked for thickness. All shims are at least worn by .002(american)they are .28-.29mm thick. They should be .30mm.
Shims are available in .25mm .30mm .35mm .40mm .50mm.

I concluded that, if I remove old shims (average 29mm thick), and install the new one's...
1-.30mm and 1-.35mm shim on each rocker, a total of .70mm, I'll be within the factory specs of .05mm plus or minus .02mm for end play. Actually, I'll be looking at an average of .03-.05mm play.
So I orderd the parts and await their arrival.
Should be installed by friday and have a report.
 
OK now...shims are installed....but like once before....I'm reading the "american scale" instead of the "metric scale" on the feeler gauges.
So I have to reset the valves a second time..
.:dunno

Damn...I should keep the glasses on my face instead of the counter... :yow

Alright, valves set at .10mm intake and .20mm exhaust.

Bike definately quieter,"YA HOO!....but right "jug" a little tickie,"BLAH".
Was having a bit of trouble setting exhaust valve on the right.

Trouble when working on a bike with some mileage, it's all "trial and error"... to find a happy medium for the valves.
Each motor is so unique. Usually I find if you go a "tad bit" tighter on older high mileage motors, by about .050mm or .002 american, and "she'll" come out just right.

I can't believe the difference, that "sewing machine sound" is so much quieter. Still tho, the valves are 'hitting the seats", you can make that distinction easily and eventually a top end job will be needed. Oh well, she does have 44K on the clock.
I'm gonna predict a good 5-10,000 miles before any major work. At that time, I'll readjust the valves again and see how she stands
 
push rod tubes

The ticking noise on my bike seemed to get worse. I pulled my rocker arms out and the needle bearings looked good. The push rod seemed to have some wear about 2 inches in from the piston. Rolling the push rod on a smooth surface showed just a slight bow with the wear mark being opposite. I guess this needs to be replaced. I didn't notice this before, but when running the motor this is about where the ticking came from the cylinder when listening to it. My question is how does this occure. Did I do something wrong when installing my push rod tube seals? After taking off the rocker arms I pulled them straight out, marked them as to which way they came out and put them in a safe place. Answers would be appreciated. Russ :dunno
 
Rolling the push rod on a smooth surface showed just a slight bow with the wear mark being opposite

Was it "true" before re-installation?? Or did you get it caught behind the valve rocker arm accidently while torquing down the head ( common mishap,everyone does it)???
That's when it could have possibly gotten bent...??...

That "bow" could mean the difference of a couple of "thousandths" of valve play...which could also = some noise...

The ticking noise on my bike seemed to get worse. I pulled my rocker arms out and the needle bearings looked good

Bearings good but what kind (measurement) of end play/movement (up n down) did you have??? Stick a feeler gauge in there and get the reading.

On my GS100 the end play is about .020mm or less.

After a little experimentation and a couple of test rides,
WOW what a quiet bike!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Last edited:
I ordered my new push rod and a couple of shims for the r100 and replaced them yesterday. Checked my rocker arm vertical play with the new shims installed and it was the same as the old (.020), but I kept the new ones in. Put everything back together, fired up the bike and the ticking noise was gone:clap . Looking at the old push rod next to the new one it was hard to tell what was wrong with the old one. The new one was the ticket. Thanks for the help through the forum.
 
I ordered my new push rod and a couple of shims ...............

Kool,everything worked out!!!

Was curious as to what size/thicknesses "Shims" you had to in stall???

Amazing how nice and quiet these airheads are when properly setup!
 
The shims were .30mm. The old ones were just under this, not quite .29mm for 21,000 miles. Bike is running great and QUIET. Took a 120 mile ride over Monitor Pass in the Sierra's and was loving every minute of it:)
 
I'm on dial-up, so it'll take a couple years to load sites like MAXBMW, but where could I find shims?

This thread exactly describes my ticking problem.
 
crazydrummerdude said:
I'm on dial-up, so it'll take a couple years to load sites like MAXBMW, but where could I find shims?

This thread exactly describes my ticking problem.

You can also call them and they will dig the part up for you. I have been very happy with both Max and Bob when calling looking for a part.
 
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