Hey everyone. I just bought a 2003 ninja zx-6rr with 12,000 km on it. The bike is in excellent condition and runs perfect. But one thing kind of bothers me. It is making an intermittent ticking noise. It comes on for a minute or so and then goes away again. It isnt very loud. Its not being ridden right now as it is winter here.
I was wondering if it was anything to be worried about. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
thanx

 

could be alot of things bro.. if its a timedsolid tick.. crank or clutch related.. (slow as in per revolution, and linear in speed advancement)
if its a slower solid tick probably just valvetrain noise.. more than likely thats what it is.
the cams spin 1/2 speed of the crank, so this is why it'll be slower than the idle speed and rpnm of the crank..

try to see whereabouts the sound is emanating from... whether its from the top of the motor, the ower side, the case.. then we can really start troubleshooting!

and welcome to KF bro!!

 

to help isolate where its coming from you can use a paper towel tube up to your ear. this isolates the sounds coming from the sides away so you primarily hear what is right infront of the end of the tube.

 

welcome to KF the vavle train noise on those years was bad.[&:]

 

It could be cam chain noise (Common Problem) or if the noise goes away after you start the bike (when It's cold) it could be an exhaust leak. It sounds like a tick until the gasket heats up & expands then seals the leak. If it constant, it's most likely mechanical. A metallic tick/ clickis usually loose valves. A more solid slowrattle or knock can be the clutch. A constanttick or rattle coming from the RH sidecan be the cam chain being loose. The best way to tell is by using a mechanics stethescope or a long screwdriver and hold the handleagainst your ear and the tip against the engine where you think the noise is coming from. Thae tube is another.

I had a bike that made a lot of cam chain noise until it warmed up then stopped but started again when cold. The stock cam chain tensioner has a lot of slop that causes noise until it ratchets to the next click. You can try putting the bike in 2nd gear and rocking it forward a coulpe of times or loosening the cam chain tensioner mount boltsoneturn untul it clicksthen re-tightening. Make sure not to go more that 2 threads.

 

could be the famous kawi tick u are hearing or a bad cam chain tensioner, these bikes are notorius for this problem from the factory, also could be from low octane, what octane do u use, it states to use premium gas only

 

The cam chain tensioners aren't bad but they are not designed very well in my opinion. The tensioners work like a ratchet mechansm; they extend and a prawl drops to the next tooth and keepsthe plungerfrom retracting. The problem is there is a lot of play before the next tooth engages. I think this has caused some noise issues and failures during racing where the slop in the tensioner caused the chain to jump teeth on the cam sprocket orbreak causing the valves to make contact with the pistons and catastrophic failure. I have a motor with the teeth stripped off the crank, bent valves and scoured cam journals.

 

Thanks for all the help and the welcome. I took it for a little burn the other day but i wish winter would end.


It seems to be coming from the top end of the motor. It will tick for a bit ( like a valve noise) then go away. then come back for a bit then go away. Are kawasakis know to have a noisy top end?

 

YES! NOISY! Time to check & adjust the valves anyway.