Little Thumper is Clattering

The other day I rode KLRChickie's WR around the block and noticed how smooth it was getting during its break in compared to when we first brought it home. Today when I started my WR to go to work I thought it sounded a bit noisy. On the way home I wondered if it had a bit more vibration than the 250 normally does.

When I got home tonight I took my helmet off and compared the sound between the two WRs. Mine definitely has a louder noise from the top end. If it was a VW I would say it had loose valves at probably .008" instead of .004". If it was a KLR I would say that it needed the Doohickey (that's the common term for the counter balance shaft adjuster) adjusted.

It sounds a bit clattery and has a little more vibration. I can find nothing loose which makes me think that it's the valves very loose. This is a bit of a surprise as it only has 14,000km on it not the 40,000 the manual states. Mind you the KLR would be onto its second or third check in that time frame. Also, I do run it harder than many as it spends time on the motard track.

Anyone have something like this with their WR?

Anything odd about doing a valve check on a WR I should know about?
Looking at the service manual it seems pretty straight forward and normal.

Mine has always had a cam chain tick, not worried about it
It's just "Cosmetic noise"

Thanks for the input.

I took the valve cover off Sunday night and checked the valves. All four are within spec. They are at the tight end of spec, but they are in spec. I may check them again this winter just to see if anything has changed, but that's apparently not the cause of the sound.

I could believe that it's a clattery timing chain. That would definitely match what I'm hearing, along with a bit more vibration. The only thing I find strange is that I'm sure it has changed from how it used to be. However, I'm not about to tear down an engine just due to a little vibration. If the engine wants to be torn down that badly it will let me know over time.


As a note for those who may be looking at checking their valves soon, here are some tips.
- It's pretty much like any other twin cam thumper.
- the valve cover must come out the right side, not the left.
- you don't have to drain all the coolant, just from the upper radiator hoses.
- removing the lower radiator bolt helps get it out of the way.
- you don't have to remove the throttle body like the book says either


Everything in mine looked really nice and shiny with not scarring or pitting on the lobes. I've seen other engines with no more milage that did not look as new. This is certainly a good sign for the longevity and specified maintenance interval.

Glad to hear that nothing is wrong. Those kinds of noises can really eat at the back of your mind. Keep us posted!

Yes, especially since my wife's KLR lost a balance shaft bearing two years ago. It started by sounding a bit louder than mine at then engine. A few thousand km later it was rebuild time.

I have read of some problems with one of the crank bearings on '08's. Yamaha changed the part number of one of the bearings in '09 IIRC

Woah... really? Why haven't I read about this before on here or on ADV? This sounds like something the '08 owners should be aware of

galland1 wrote:

I have read of some problems with one of the crank bearings on '08's. Yamaha changed the part number of one of the bearings in '09 IIRC

I think both here and megathread on ADV. IIRC the one on here drank some water at low miles and failed later. Will try to find.

Wow... crazy... thanks for the link. It's a good thing to keep an eye on.

I'm not too worried about that. There are a lot of '08s out there with more milage than that. If it was very prevalent then we'd probably know.

The sound mine is making sounds more like top end, not bottom end. It sounds like either loose valves, or as mentioned earlier, a ticking cam chain.