Originally Posted by isutty5

Hi guys,



My SV650 has 42k miles on the clock and I'm starting to hear a loud ticking noise coming from the front, it's definitely not normal SV engine ticking.



At first I suspected it may be time for new cam chain on the front (Rear was replaced last year). However when the engine is warm say about after 5 minutes of running and temps above 70 degrees C, the ticking is completely gone, nothing at all, just a happy sounding engine. As if it was never there. No way it can be the cam chain surely! Can't take up what sounds like a serious amount of slack with a 5 minute warm up.



When cold, the loud ticking/tapping is there and very prominent and can be heard above my baffle-less exhaust note. It's coming from the front cylinder for sure, rear is fine, bottom is fine and happy.



There are no obvious performance issues either and I'm not burning oil, it's been like this for the last 2-3K miles now I'd say.



Someone has told me it may be piston slap purely based on the fact that it goes away once engine is warm. But would piston slap sound more like a deeper knocking note than the tapping I'm hearing? I would like to get some more opinions.



I was thinking one possibility is loose valve clearances as You'd expect them to tighten up slightly once engine warms up.



Cheers!