Cause of noise in engine found
 

I recently posted a thread asking about removal of the access covers to adjust my rockers. I adjusted them and still no difference, still noisy as hell.

The noise was definately coming from the head area so I was at a loss as to what else it could be - then I took the head and cylinder off for a closer look and this is what I found.

http://i400.photobucket.com/albums/p...m/DSC00067.jpg

http://i400.photobucket.com/albums/p...m/DSC00065.jpg

The piston on the right is a spare I have to compare against.
Needless to say the cylinder is a bit of a mess and will need to be re-bored to be used again.
The weird thing is the bike wasn't hard to start or bad to ride it was just noisy.

I guess it was caused due to lack of lubrication - I had less than half the amount I should have had in the engine:(

Moral of the story is keep an eye on your oil level.:oops2:

Oops! (runs outside to check own oil level)

The was bike happy till I started doing 40 miles a day on the motorway. I guess going at higher revs for long periods didn't do it much good.

So don't assume it's OK - CHECK YOUR OIL LEVEL NOW!!!

Buggering shit bags that aint good!!!! What sort of noise was it? Im a wee bit worried now as my engine is a bit noisy, but I always figured that xt600e had noisy engines. It starts and runs fine, and Im pretty sure the oil is at the correct level. But it would be worth knowing how yours sounded. Good luck with it!

If it's a tapping noise you have - it's the rockers (don't panic!!!).
The noise was lower down than the head, it sounded like the small end had gone and the piston was banging about loose in the cylinder. It was worse when revved.

I've already re-built the engine with another piston and cylinder that I had lying about (like you do). I've just got to put it back in (when I have a spare couple of hours).

Ted, when you rebuild it and have honed it...... follow this guys advice.

Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power

Basically, DO NOT RUN IN... hammer it. I thought he was talking crap too. but it makes sense.

have a read and see.........