[pastry]

For the last 150km or so I've noticed a loud rattling sound coming from my engine/clutch or something, but only while accelerating.

Sounds similar to.. something like a screw loose on a moving car while the wind and vibration is pounding at it.

It's quite an embarrassing sound when pulling away at a red light after people have been staring longingly at the bike...

Took it to the dealer the other day to have it checked out, they don't hear it while it's just standing there being revved, but when they take it around for a short ride they hear it clearly.

Workshop guy said I might have to leave the bike with them for a day or two while they strip it down and investigate

Anyways he's asking our Kawasaki if anyone's been experiencing anything similar and if they have a solution, before they take anything apart.
Will probably only get a response on Monday or so.

*sigh*

Will keep you guys posted as they happen.
Thread may come in handy for anyone else that experiences the same thing in future.

 

[pastry]

this sounds interesting. id like to know what the outcome of it is thats for sure. out of interest how many kilometres do you have on the clock?

3250km at the moment

 

[pastry]

Monday and Tuesday Kawasaki still didn't get back to them, so the dealer just said I should take my bike in. I took the bike in on Tuesday, and they kindly gave me their demo ebony 300 to use while they investigate my bike.

At first they thought it may be the exhaust baffle, because the sound only happens when it's under load and moving. I had to take in the ebony demo in the next day(Wednesday) so they could swap exhausts and see if the sound would disappear on my 300. That didn't fix it.

The mech says to me he needs to strip the bike down and investigate further. He thinks it might be something in the engine or clutch.

Today I didn't get any news.
I'll have to follow up again in the morning. I was hoping to get the bike back before the weekend

The bike seems to be usable. No performance decrease, rides perfect... It's just that annoying acceleration rattle. Well the mechs at the place are confused as well so I don't feel so bad not knowing what it is. Hopefully they find out by tomorrow.

 

[pastry]

Could this sound be described as a pinging or oil beads sizzling like on a sheet of aluminum? Between 5-6k RPMs?

Yes, it sounds pretty similar to

.

But it happens anywhere between 4k-6k rpm for a second or two as i'm accelerating and moving.
If i'm cruising at a steady rpm or the bike is in neutral and being revved, the sound doesn't happen.

 

[pastry]

Hi guys,

Dealer took the bike apart last week. He said "we have taken the head and barrels off and found the left big end bearing has gone."

I'm not very techinical and don't know exactly what that means, but I think it's parts inside the engine, which would mean it's pretty serious.

Last I heard from them on Monday is that they are still waiting for approval from Kawasaki for the warranty claim, and waiting for parts to repair it.

 

[pastry]

I just rode it like normal, like I do in normal day-to-day commuting. So most of the rev range gets used a bit.
I find it impossible to stay under the prescribed break-in rev limit.
This is my third bike I've broken in this way.

The first 3000km on this was fine. Only 150km or so after, I started noticing the sound.

 

[pastry]

Just picked her up all fixed from the dealer today.

After a little more than a month of organising lifts with people and sitting in traffic to and from work everyday... Makes me very happy!

Repair was fully covered by the kawasaki warranty. Dealer said it would have cost me between R20000.00 - R25000.00 otherwise. To put in perspective, the bike brand new is R59000.00 here.

The entire process understandably took a while. He had to strip the entire bike down to the open engine to find the big end bearing was worn out. We then had to file a warranty claim, once that was approved, ship in the necessary parts. After that, he put the bike all together, test ride, see that the noise was gone.

Before leaving I was told to treat it like a brand new engine, break her in again for about 500km.