i have a 2000 XX that has a small knocking problem. No, it isn't a rod. the bike run beautifully, but after it heats-up, at idle, i hear a kachunka kachuka chucka sound from the engine. if you bring it any above idle, it goes away. this "vibration" fades in and out

i have been told that it is a cam chain tensioner issue. and that the cam chain rides on a "slide" inside of the engine, and that the tensioner (external) keeps pressure on the chain via this slide (internal) through a rod that connects them.

what part(s) do i need to order and replace, what is the approximate cost of the item and how long will it take to replace??
is this something that someone with some mechanical apptitude can change??

please advise...

As far as the CCT... I have been told its a 15 minute operation... Even for a dummy like myself.

However, of all the symptoms of a bad CCT, I have not heard of knocking being a symptom.... But that's just me...

My 2001 knocked a little bit like you describe. But above idle was fine.

My 2002 doesn't have the same problem.

My 01 the dealer could never nail down the knock, so they just raised the idle a little higher.

Does the sound go away when you pull in the clutch??

The XX will make all kinds of snorts, knocks, pings, snaps, crackles, and pops, get used to it. Every 10,000 miles or so, my bike gets a strange sound and then self heals in a couple thousand miles. Now that I am over 40,000 miles though, it makes fewer sounds less frequently. It is a self healing bike that makes noises. If the CCT is going, you will know. That is a distinct loose chain sound. I personally would not worry to much about it, but that is just me. If it goes away at higher RPM's and does not get worse, giddy-up!!!!

MaXX

My 99 XX has the same sorta knocking problem as yours(blackbd1). :shock:
This just started this year, seems to do it more in stop and go traffic as the bike gets warmer. I instruct riding using the Bird and I really tend to notice it while driving around residential areas when i come to a stop. I did raise the idle a little, helped a bit but it's still there. There is no problem whatsoever above idle :grin: ...So I'm hoping that like Maxxs' bike , it will go away to reveal a new and exciting sound for next season! :-o

I have this same, *exact* symptoms as you describe.

Mine is also a 2000 model, currently with over 55,000 miles on it. I first noticed it knocking (at idle) in summer of 2001, with about 20,000 miles on it.

It is a pronounced knocking that you can both feel and hear, but only after the bike is hot and you are at idle. It's disturbing when you feel it (significantly, I might add) in the handgrips and footpegs.

You throttle it above 2000 RPM or so... it vanishes.

It is neither the CCT nor the clutch basket rattling around, both of which I am quite familiar with. This knocking is quite different. It almost sounds as if a main bearing is starting to loosen up.

It is disturbing....

Well described Warchild!

Through the bars and pegs....I'm not the only one!

I guess the good news is that it can't be too major if you've manged to go 35000miles with out it causing havoc!

It does sound like a main bearing as described, but I figure if I keep moving I won't hear it!


Hope this isn't a new CCT can of worms opening up :shock:

main bearing, i certainly hope not and even doubt.

this noise has been present sense 3-4k miles, and having a main with a bad or a flat spot in it, would certainly make more noise and would have even cause more problems after then last 6k (running it at times into the red)

the area honda rep rode the bike and listened to it
when i discribed to him what i thought it was, he somewhat agreed.

i said that i thought that the slide was not keeping sufficient pressure on the cam chain, allowing the chain to flex and slap on the slide and to cause lash in the cam chain train. the fading in and out of this noise is due to a near resonance behavior at low rpms. when rpms are brought up, the slack in the chain isn't as appearant.

his only dis-agreement was that he didn't feel as though it was bad enough to warrant the replacement of the tensioner yet.
this has been documented at honda

that is my thoughts as well

do you have a part number??

thanks for the part number verification

it has been ordered (should be in tuesday of next week)

thank you for your advise

I know it's not the CCT on mine, I put a manual one on the bike about 10k ago. I'm not overly concerned, but was kinda good to see others have heard the same thing...Maybe I'm not going NUTS! :shock:

i changed my tensioner at about 50.000 km and now at 65.000 km (roughly 50.000 miles?) my mecanician says i need to change the chain, and some little stuff...

Under 45.000 km the engine never ever made ANY noises (beside the clutch when not pressed). Later i changed myself the tensioner and noises went away.

Now rattling noises are back at low rev's (until 2500 rpm +/-). No way upping your idle revs is helping, as you won't up it that much (standard = 1.100 revs).

I understand that changing the chain is 'normal' at my 'milage'...

Open the door, and let it in..
:shock: TJ :grin:

I don't have this phenomenon on my bike (I suppose I don't have enough mileage), but my gut feeling is it's not a main or rod bearing issue, as I don't see any way Warchild could get 35K after the onset of the noise without any more serious problems. I think it's interesting that the noise and vibration goes away as the engine speed comes up out of idle, and my uneducated guess would be that the tolerances in the counterbalancer train have opened up, allowing some backlash that is more noticeable at idle speeds. The Honda service manual has an adjustment procedure for backlash of the front and rear balancers, and appears to be concise and clear in instruction. If I suspected this issue with my bike, I would either attempt the adjustment myself (since I am more intimately familiar with my bike than anyone else), or ONLY take it to a Honda mechanic I could entrust with confidence.

I also don't think a cam chain replacement is necessary, though the tensioner lifter R&R might be good preventive maintenance.

I've got the same knocking @ 43k on a 99 XX. I was worried that I might have screwed up adjusting my valves at 34k or torned up the clutch assembly after several hundred 2nd gear clutch wheelies. But it sounds like this characteristic could be the norm. I like jrdxx's idea of the back lash on the counterbalancers. Maybe I'll try adjusting them again

g1ray2001 (George)

Guys, just to be clear to everyone.... I said "It almost sounds as if a main bearing..." not that it was (for a fact) a main bearing!

Heard the knocking at idle again quite a number of times today during a little 600-mile, 3-state ride. Then again, it was just a little bit warm here today in the High Desert...

Yeowsah! That's hot! But it's not the heat, it's the humidity, right? Right?

Anyway, I hope you understand that I was not calling your mechanical aptitude (or anyone else's, for that matter) into question. I just wanted to raise the possibility that there may be another origin for the vibration; from the descriptions I've read, it appears to me to be harmonically generated. My '96 K1100RS is not counterbalanced, and is "buzzy" through the bars and footpegs at certain engine speeds, but the major harmonic modes cancel at around 4200 RPM, which corresponds to about 70 MPH in top gear, and cancel again around 140. I think those crafty Germans designed it that way on purpose. Anyone who has ridden a bike with a non-counterbalanced engine can probably testify to having searched out that "sweet spot" where the vibrations cancel.

But now we've been lulled into complacency, expecting that the engine should run so smoothly ALL the time. Honda has spoiled us.

I haven't found an interval for inspection or adjustment of the balancers. My best guess would be around the same frequency as the valve inspection, or 16K miles.

Bringing this thread back from the dead...

My bird has the same knock at idle. It's about the only thing keeping it from being perfect. I was wondering if anyone had followed through and adjusted the lash in their counterbalancers? Did it cure the knock?

hi Guys,

my 02 XX has this very same sound and has done since I bought it with 4000 miles on the clock, it now has 34,000 miles and the noise is still there, no better no worse. My earlier 96 XX had the same noise. It only really happens when the bikes really warm and siting in traffic. My mate has an 05 model with 13,000 miles on it now, and thats done it ever since it was run in.

I dont think its the CCT, I've one of those go and it was a completely different type of noise. I don't think its the big ends, little end, mains or c/b shafts. I had sort of convinced my self it was more a piston slap issue, and as long as it doesn't get any worse its fine.

I also think that the majority of XX's do this and a lot of it is down to the rider as to whether he hears or feels it and actually pics up on it at all.

Stu

I've had that same knocking for at least the past 35,000 miles. As a matter of fact, I can't ever remember not hearing it at idle.

I've had the same "bearing knock sound" that's not a bearing, CCT, or clutch basket issue on my 2000 for probably the last 30,000 miles or so (now at 55K). Have adjusted the balance shafts a few times, as it sort of sounds like "they" do if there is too much "free play" prior to adjusting them. The noise only seems to appear once I've ridden many miles and get the engine truly heat soaked.

I may try adjusting the balance shafts one more time to see if that helps, but I'll probably do what I've been doing so far and just wear my ear plugs and ignore the noise when I hear it.

Bike runs great otherwise.

I am now approaching 80,000 miles on the bike, and this knocking issue has not changed at all in the pass 60,000 miles. Knocks at idle when hot, otherwise, the engine sounds/acts as perfect as always.

Pretty confident at this juncture that this knocking issue is nothing to be concerned about.....

I too have these same sort of sounds. I notice it only when the enginge is hot in traffic and mostly as it settles to idle. Has anyone figured this out yet? My bird is 2002 with 3800 miles I got it at 2400 and noticed it witin a couple of days.

Hello Good People,
I too have experienced my XX knocking at idle. I know that my CCT needs replacing because of the infamous "MARBLE" sounds. I have noticed for the last 15 to 20Kmi a vibration that would start around 5k and kinda go away around 6k but now it seems to hang around after 6k. My thoughts were the counterbalancer train had gotten out of tolerance. I am gonna replace the CCT and see what my girl does after that. I also have an 06' CBR 1k that has a vibration that starts around 6k but no knocking, just ticking when cold.

I'm glad to see it's nothing to worry about, I've been obsessing about it the latter half of this summer hearing only that and nothing else. Sadly it's easier to hear when you wear ear plugs, I think that exaggerates it... hehe I just changed my oil today after 1500 miles on the synthetic and threw some traditional 20/50 in there to see if it would make a difference. Didn't do a damn thing to quiet the knock when it gets hot.

So, we have it, it's not a threat, I'd still love to know what in the hell it is...

I don't have a knock at idle, but i do have a knock as soon as i get off idle, onto the throttle.

It clunks a few times, and then sounds normal. The idle was at about 1000 when i bought it. I just upped it to about 1300, and the sound went away. No more knocks/thuds/clunks, off idle.

Well here we are in June 2009 ! and I have a Blue Blackbird which has a leprechaun trying to get our.
He's ok as long as the revs are up - he hates idling - then he knocks at a nice even tempo.

I though it might be as a result of being late with an oil change but reading this it seems it may not.
I changed the oil but no different. Performs well.
The bike is never abused fast at time but rarely 'race starts'.

There is another thread on koncking which mentions 'open heart surgery' - scary!!!!!!!!

Any - greeting from Ireland once again - home of Obama (great great)x99 grandparent.

My '99 sounded like it was knocking only at idle, but it was actually dropping a cylinder (missing) at idle. I could have sworn it was knocking. It cleaned up when I gave it throttle. The cause was a blown fuel pressure regulator, it sent raw fuel down a vacuum line into one of the intakes. It take 30 seconds to test if you have the right side off, just pull the vacuum line off the pressue regualtor and turn the key on, see if it drips.

Thanks - is this carb or inject - mine is injected.

The '99 is fuel-injected.

...and you'd have a really hard time finding the fuel pressure regulator on a carbed XX ;)

I`m so glad to see I`m not the only one with this problem! I have a 2000 and it`s had the knock/vibration/thud/noise since new. Hasn`t gotten any worse or any better and I`ve got almost 40k km on it. The noise goes away when you pull in the clutch but you can still feel the engine is slightly out of balance. Almost sounds like badly synched carbs. Could it be related to the cold start valves? One hanging up?

If the sound goes away when you pull in the clutch it is normal for a XX. Has a very heavy duty but noisy clutch.

I had this problem and went into the clutch and lo and behold, had two broken clutch plates. Just saying.

Been suggested to me by a mechanical guy that I should check oil pressure.
Could be low at tickover.

WHERE is the 3rd balance shaft adjuster.
I can see the two on the right . . . . . . .
Dya haveta take something out - it seems to eb behind the drive sprocket????

Going quietly nuts !

Please

The front has one adjuster, the top has two because of the idle grer. Just follow the book on how to adjust. Complicated, not really.

You do have the book?. If not let us know.

Thanks - found it in another post with pics of all three.
I couldn't find the left side balancer.
Got to go see the bike now.

I'm now offered a suggestion that it's a 'sticky valve' not really clear what that is