Engine rattle 2.5 to 3.5k revs

Ebuyergum · Post by **Ebuyergum** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:35 pm

Rode my bike last week without ear plugs and heard a slight rattle from the engine in the 2.5 to 3.5k rev range. Not audible with my plugs in as it is quite high pitched. Any ideas?

MrSlug · Post by **MrSlug** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 5:27 pm

Well the "rattle" could be anything from a loose bit to whatever. When was the last time you had the valves inspected?

plum · Post by **plum** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:27 pm

keep the ear plugs in

Might be normal....I hate riding without ear plugs....I alwasy think my bikes are falling apart.

NHighCotton · Post by **NHighCotton** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:06 pm

could it be the undianosed ringing? (might do a search on ringing)

do you still have the can on?

MIXR · Post by **MIXR** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:34 pm

I think you mean 'pinging' or more correctly, 'pinking'. That's a fuel quality/octane issue, and is further affected by load, altitude, uphill running, pillion/baggage weight and so on.

If it's an early 1150, it may also be the left cam chain tensioner. BMW have two mod versions, and I'm about to switch mine over to quieten down some startup and hot idle rattles from the left cam chain.

BUT - at the rpm you are stating, it's unlikely to be the tensioner and probably not pinging unless it's only under load.

cworley5150 · Post by **cworley5150** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 10:11 pm

plum wrote:keep the ear plugs in

Might be normal....I hate riding without ear plugs....I alwasy think my bikes are falling apart.

Fooking Aye! I often ride with "plugs" or ear buds with the mp3 player. When I go without them, I think "Oh poo", the Rock is falling apart! Then I remind myself of the various "mechanical music" the boxer makes. Everything should be fine. Ride on my friend.

Ebuyergum · Post by **Ebuyergum** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 3:12 am

Wow ! Thanks for the quick responses.

I don't think it is 'pinking' I had an old car that did that and know the sound. This sound is definitely metal on metal.

Does seem to come from the left side, so may be the tensioner. I had exactly the same thing on my old CBR600.

I have a full BMW service history and it is due and annual service at the end of the month. Out of warranty though (a 2003 model and we get 2yr warranties only in the UK).

I have found a link to a post which has nice pictures showing how to replace the tensioner - I will see what the dealer has to say and will probably do it myself.

cheers

Post by **boxermania** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 6:09 pm

Ebuyergum

I couldn't leave the post mentioning that one of our ilustrious members and assidual poster on this site, BOXER, has a very good description along with photographs of what the process entails.

Basically if you have a set of metric tools and have some basic mechancal knowhow the repair is very much doable.