Thought I'd bump this thread up and see if some wisdom can be gained.

In the last week I've ridden quite a bit and done a few things that seemed to help a little, but by no means did anything eliminate the racket. One, while riding through town with my wife I reached down and turned my PMS out about 1/2 turn (not sure where it's at exactly now, but not important), and I sorta kinda think it quieted the knock/ping a little. Tried a tank of MidGrade, which seems to have had no effect whatsoever. Change my oil to Mobil 1 V-Twin 20/50, and that seems to have had no effect whatsoever, either. (I was running Mobil 1 15/50 synth.)

Here's the thing: this noise is unlike any other noise I've dealt with in the past 40 years of riding motorcycles, because it ONLY happens between about 1/16th throttle and 1/8th throttle. This leads me to believe that it's not valve train noise, since that would be happening all the time. And it's not a case where lack of octane is causing the ping, since that would get progressively worse the more throttle you rolled in. This is the point that I'm not sure I've been able to make here to the knowledgeable guys like Doc, Musky, Gram, et al,: If I'm going up a hill at about 1/4 throttle in say, 3rd gear, the motor sounds awesome...no problem. It's at the top of that hill, when I roll the throttle back into the 1/16th - 1/8th zone that my motor gets LOUD again.

I tried explaining this last year, but I'm not sure if I ever made this point exactly, that I can be chugging or revving up a hill and all is wonderful until I roll the throttle back down into that "Zone."

What this also means to me is that no explanation to date is accurate. Yamaha says that the big engine parts need good oil to keep 'em quiet. OK, so why are they quiet under a good load? Doc, you've said that if the valves are noisy when it's hot, they need adjustment. But wouldn't they be loud at all throttle settings?

I'm wondering if perhaps the TPS causes the timing to advance too far in this throttle zone?

I gotta get moving today, but I will post more later. Anyone with any ideas, please chime in!

Thanks,

MS07