Ticking noise at low revs in second & bouncy chain

Craig321

Craig321

Craig321

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2 May 2004
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Hi

My bike (2005 Honda Hornet F4 600cc with ~30k miles) has developed a ticking noise when I'm in second gear at fairly low revs (around 3-4k) so it's noticeable when pulling off or cornering at low speeds.

My first thought was the chain, but when I pull the clutch in and roll everything sounds ok.

Another thing I noticed today when my brother and I swapped bikes was my chain bouncing just when cruising along. It's a pretty old chain, but still within the limits on the adjuster and the sprockets look good. Tensions are all good as well. Would it just be an old chain causing that?

Thanks.
 
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have you checked it thoroughly for tight spots? my old NC30 had similar symptoms until the point where it crushed the rear bearing!
 
Could that be causing both issues or just the bouncy chain?

Will double check on the stand tomorrow. Guess it's time for a new chain if one section is a lot tighter than the others?
 
It caused both for me, on a rear stand with it running in gear the chain would bounce around, almost seeming to snag and there was a noticable ticking when riding but because the chain was within adjmustment limits I assumed it was fine! This was before I knew about tight spots so just adjusted it when stationary which was obviously what caused the chain to be over tight.

have you had it up on a rear stand and had it running in gear?
 
Just make sure you keep the front wheel down :p You might also need to apply some rear brake to give the engine something to work against or it'll be a bit jerky.
 
I would say a tightspot aswell

had a real bad one on my zx10 thought the engine/gearbox was gonna fail,turns out it was the chain thank god

pronounced loud knock/knock/knock sound,same pulling away and cornering,light throttle on out of a corner symptoms aswell

at 30k engine/gearbox should be fine
 
Just had a look. One spot was pretty tight, about 5-10mm below recommended (recommended is 35mm on the swingarm and 30mm in Haynes). Will give it a ride tomorrow and see if that's helped as I've adjusted it to 35 on that spot now.
 
Problem with adjusting to the tight spot, may well leave your chain too slack everywhere else.

Used to always set the chain tension to about 25mm with riders weight on the bike, as that sits the suspension more in the region of where it will usually be when riding.
 
tl45 said:
Problem with adjusting to the tight spot, may well leave your chain too slack everywhere else.

Used to always set the chain tension to about 25mm with riders weight on the bike, as that sits the suspension more in the region of where it will usually be when riding.
Click to expand...

True. Luckily it wasn't out of the limits by too far and slightly looser than recommended should be fine (as I've been told). Didn't get a chance to go out today but will see what it's like tomorrow to work.
 
You sure it's the drive chain? Cam chain tensioners are prone to failure on a lot of Hondas, it's an easy and cheapish fix, although you'd usually expect to hear it at startup from cold, getting less obvious when fully warmed up.

Try pulling the clutch in as it's occurring and let the revs drop, if you still hear it then suspect the drive chain. If not, bring the revs up with the clutch in, if you hear it then it could be camchain.
 
It is slightly better since I readjusted the chain, but not completely so I'm pretty sure that's it. I haven't heard it rolling along with the clutch in (although I wasn't going fast - it only happens >20mph, so need to try that one again but faster) and also haven't heard it when bringing the revs up and clutch in, it's only ever when the bike is moving.

The guy at the shop offered to take it for a quick ride yesterday and said all he could hear was some chain noise, so I reckon it is that.

I've got a new chain and sprockets on order as I've wanted to replace it for a while so we'll see.

Thanks
 
Camchain tensioner also crossed my mind too but would expect that to be heard at idle and in all gears rather than just 2nd etc

When my R6 tensioner was dying you could manually tweek it tighter with a small screwdriver, only worked for a day or 2 but one way to confirm what the problem was. The replacement had a slightly different housing indicating something or other had been changed in it's design.

In this case though it definitely sounds like the drivechain is past it's best.
 
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