Aargh possible death rattle NOOOOOO!!!!!

Rode my Xj today and all the sudden started to hear a rattle coming from the lower end left hand side of the bike. May be big ends may be shifter pawl problems i dunno, sound gets faster as bike accelerates but is fairly quiet at idle and louder as bike accelerates at low speed. At this rate i don't want to put a lot of cash into the motor of a bike i may not keep forever. My worst case scenario is bottm end bearings or piston slap, picka warranited motor up off ebay or here and ride ot for a few more months or another year. Best case scenario is it is an easy fix. Any suggestions? cruzerjd

 

engines are incredibly easy to swap (considering), if it comes to that. Just have a shop manual and a friend to help lift it.

Check your cam chain tensioner, make sure you have good oil (not gas fouled, all cylinders are firing, etc, before you give up on it.

Stephen

 

Got the skills and manual, as well as helpers, just hoping its something relatively simple. cruzerjd

 

Good news is the local parts puller has an XJ750 motor on the floor, i will go after work and look at it. Started the bike this morning and the noise was absent, but after a few seconds i heard a low rumbling again, so something is off. I missed a shift yesterday so i am, after calming down a bit, leaning to a shift problem or throwout bearing? Might not be so bad after all. cruzerjd

 

Death rattle confirmed, mains are shot. Bought a 1982 Seca 750 motor locally for $150 so that is this weekends project, cruzerjd

 

Score! Right on JD! Best of luck on the swap.