Video: chirping from left side after cold start at idle

Hi there,

First real post to the forums. Feels good.

Essentially, I have a chirping problem, and I've tried to do my homework before posting—here are a couple threads I took a look at:
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=5830.html
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=36266.html

The '82 XJ550R in question is my first bike, and I do not really fully comprehend all the language just yet, but am trying to.

I recorded a video of the chirping here:
http://youtu.be/QzZe_7CePzQ

I first noticed the problem a couple weeks ago, and I believe it coincided with me fixing two separate oil leaks I had. I replaced the oil seal and o-ring in the tach gear drive housing (thanks so much to bigfitz52 for his How-To), and upgraded my oil filter system to Len's spin-on kit (there was oil leaking from the stock oil filter dome, and I just wanted to have an easier time with future oil filter changes). Both leaks were fixed. At the same time, I changed the oil, and put in the recommended 20W-50 motorcycle oil (Valvoline "4-stroke"), to the proper level.

Also something worth mentioning is that I was at the receiving end of a hit-and-run on the bike back in February, fortunately with minimal damage. I had to replace my handlebar, shift lever, and get the forks and front wheel straightened. It wasn't a very hard impact, but I did hit the side of the car that came into my path with some handlebar-bending force.

I have also noticed lately that some mornings (if I hadn't ridden the night before) my bike can't even start, regardless of setting the petcock to prime, kickstand up, in neutral, clutch in, choke on, etc. I don't know if it's related to the chirping, but I really don't like the uneasy feeling of what seems to be a domino effect. Len has informed me that it's in need of a good tune-up, saying that it's neither idling nor revving correctly; "It should sound like a sewing machine."

Alas, Len could not give any clues as to what exactly the chirping meant, or if he could understand what it was saying to me.

I'd really appreciate anyone taking a listen to see if they'd had the same sound before, or know what it might be.

 

What side where you hit on?

 

Sounds like a intake leak to me. Look closley at the rubber boots that connect the carbs to the engine, I bet you will find some large cracks or missing vacuum cap on the csrb sync pots. Remember it is normal to see some cracking on the intake boots but they are usually small.
It does seem like it is reving slowly, time for a carb clean and tune.

 

I agree with Lew, sounds like a vacuum leak.

You can make a crude stethoscope by holding a length of fuel line to your ear. Poke the other end around and it'll be very apparent when you're getting close.

 

It could be exhaust related (gasket between the engine and the header pipe) because it stops when the engine warms up (gasket expands with heat).

 

Nobody said that... and it didn't stop in the video... :? 8O

It is certainly running a little rough as Len told you & I think misfiring too.

Good advice from carl to use a tube as a stethoscope to locate it more accurately, we'll be able to diagnose much better then (assuming you haven't found exactly what it is yourself using that method)

It does sound like it could be a vacuum leak, or even a loose spark plug, but the tube will tell you much more

 

Hey bloke!
You should have missed this text with the video:

"Noticed this sound within the past few weeks, and with it being my first bike, thought it was a byproduct of starting on cold mornings. The sound goes away after a couple minutes of riding. The sound had seemed to get louder over the past couple weeks though."

 

I read stuff that's written on here, I use youtube to watch videos lol, woulda helped if he mentioned it in the actual thread!

Could be exhaust as you said then, we'll know more when we know where it's coming from hopefully

 

Thanks everyone for the ideas here.

Yes, sorry I left out the part that I put into the caption in my video: the sound does go away after riding for a few minutes and warming up the engine.

I was hit on the left side of the bike, car was at a 45 degree angle to me, and I struck the rear passenger side, which crushed the left side of my handlebar. But I managed to stay on the bike, so it wasn't laid down or anything.

This morning the bike wouldn't even start, so I had to take my car to work. It probably won't be until the weekend that I'm able to use the stethoscope trick or even look at it during daylight hours (no garage).

When I bought the bike in January, the very honest guys at the shop that sold it (and who made the repairs from my accident) said the the PO had put over a few hundred dollars into getting it ready to sell, showed me the invoices, and I believe he had the carbs cleaned, amongst many other things.

I'll call the shop to check and see what was done again, because it's just my memory I'm going off of.

Another thing is that the front of the engine was really gunked up with grease, pretty much black (and still is). I used a lot of carb cleaner to clean it off when I was working on the oil leaks—would loosening up that grease possibly cause an open fissure somewhere to widen?

Just trying to list everything I can think of. Again, thanks so much guys, I'm still in awe of this site, and can't believe my luck that it exists.

 

I had a "chirp" from the left side when the motor was cold.
it turned out to be the vacuum cap on the #1 carb boot.

Maz

 

Okay, thanks Maz. I'll be sure to take a look at those boots as soon as I can. I don't have a manual yet, so is the #1 boot the outermost boot on the left side?

 

Vac leaks are (usually) hard to locate, but cheap to fix!

 

It is an amazing community here you're right, I love it!

If I was more observant I'd have seen the youtube caption lol, it is possible I suppose that you could have dislodged some carbon deposits from an exhaust header when you did the cleaning. Sometimes exhausts that leak can seal themselves up over time as carbon builds up, but then start again when the lump of carbon gets too big & blows away down the pipe.

If it does turn out to be a leaking exhaust then Chacal (Len at XJ4Ever) should have the gaskets that you need.

EDIT-: wow lot of posts made while I was typing slowly haha! When you get the chance to do the stethoscope trick it'll likely be easy to sort yes.

 

Check your PMs

 

Taking the bike to the shop tomorrow, I'll keep you posted on what they say.

Meanwhile, thanks to Len, I fixed my starter button that fell out. So that felt good...