Hitchcocks Forum

Hi all

Bought myself a continental last week and on the whole love it !

Bought with 127 miles from new on a 65 plate. I rode it the 140 miles home from the shop taking care to not over rev it and follow the running in procedure. Problem is there is a tic tic constant noise from what seems to be the left side of the engine. The bike is completely standard. To me it sound like my BSA M20 when the timing is out or its running a little lean. I guess i cant make adjustments to timing or fuel on the GT so my question is do they all do that or have a bought a pup ?

Hope some one can help.

Cheers

Ant

Has the timing gear backlash been checked. (It only needs checking once at the first service apparently.)

Hi Papasmurf

I doubt it, the shop gave it a once over but i bet they didnt check that.

Can i do it at home or does it need special kit ?

I cant seem to find a workshop manual any where ?

Thanks for the response

Ant

I have just found one by googling Continental GT 535 Owners Manual

Give it a try!

Good luck, Chris

The timing gear backlash is supposed to be checked at the first service at 500 miles. The timing gears are in the r/h crankcase. Whilst sound can travel I would have thought that it would be louder on the r/h side. Try and locate it better with a screwdriver to the ear. If the Rickover is too slow it could be the infamous decompressor mechanism kicking in, though that's more of a clack than a tick. Although these engines have hydraulic lifters it is still possible for there to be a small clearance at the valve stem - it all depends how accurately it was assembled. Have you tried our host for a manual?

The left hand side of the engine (where this noise apparently emanates) is the primary drive side.

Unfortunately some GT's have suffering primary chain failure apparently due to incorrect orientation of a bevelled washer that sits behind the sprag gear. If incorrectly fitted this will sit the primary drive sprockets out of alignment and place unwanted pressure on the primary chain which then fails with catastrophic results.


That tic tic noise could (worst case scenario) be the primary chain trying to ride the clutch basket teeth.

https://youtu.be/xu80VMefE5M.
or perhaps simply a loose clutch nut.

Thanks for the responses guys.

I had gone through the owners manual but its not detailed enough for diagnosis.

Just watched a video on gear backlash so i will start there.

Cheers

Ant

My CGT 535 has a tic in the engine when hot, it has always done this, its likely to be the hydraulic tappets, the decompressor can clic at tick over but disappears when engine revs increase, the engines are quite mechanically noisy at all revs, with such a low mileage and a lot of running in to do its likely to be quite normal and I assume the bike is under warranty by the dealer?, To check that all is well in the engine just drain the oil into a clean container by undoing the filter cover plate on bottom of engine (flat plate two bolts)and check oil for metallic contamination if all is well reassemble and reuse oil, I did this on mine at 300, 600, 900 miles just for peace of mind.

Re-use oil ?, drained from any mechanical device of your own, not for me.

The oil is in the engine anyway, what is the difference between using the oil for the next X thousand miles or the next service, and draining the oil, inspecting and if clean continuing to use it for the next X thousand miles or next service, none whatsoever.