I just talked to the dealership and explained the situation. Based on my explanation they tell me that it is a normal noise for this bike as well for the Warrior. The have had these cases before and the issue is not the engine. They told me that the sound comes from the belt in the tranfer case. Anyways the asked me to take the bike to them on Saturday to check it out and if it is similar to the cases they had before to explain me in detail the source of the noise.

Thanks for your advise and I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Knocking like a diesel is not a normal sound for these engines. Also, the transfer case has a chain, not a belt. If it was normal, they would all knock.

A true knocker cannot be hidden by pipes.<br><br>Post edited by: USAFRETIRED, at: 2006/04/17 01:06

I, too, believe it is in the engine, probably, piston skirt slap. I have been running Amsoil 10W 40 and switched to the new Amsoil 20W50 and a major portion of it has gone away. It now only does it when the engine is hot, under hard acceleration. Before, it knocked whenever I twisted the throttle.

I think there is too much clearance somewhere and it has to be the Speedstar/JE pistons. That's when mine started.

I wonder if the knock happens on bikes that upgraded to Greg Wicks' (Nemesis Racing's) HC pistons which were not produced by JE?

Try running regular instead of premium. I read somewhere that premium burns slower than regular. That would mean your not getting full combustion and you would be getting some compression (aka Dieseling) I hope I explained this right. Where ever I heard or read this they said if your engine is designed to run on regular us regular. Does anyone else know of this or can explain it better?

I went throught this on my 04 for about a month - tried everything: Ring Free, All three grades of gas, countless PMS adjustments, you name it and I did it. When the weather gets hot I can hear a knock. I ride in a group of about 25 Roadies and every one of them does it. I have 17,000 miles on mine and it still runs great! There have been many posts concerning this (me included) about taking it to the dealer; DocShadow said it best &quot;they'll probably say its normal&quot; and it probably is! Having said that you should be aware that exhaust/intake leaks can produce this problem - my experience tells me you shouldn't have to wait for the engine to warm up before one of these would show up.

Air cooled, external push rod engines make noise. If you are using a windshield - the sound the engine makes normally is magnified and echoed back at you. I can tell you this - since I replaced the pipes and air filter, went to a shorty windshield, I haven't noticed it.

But its still cool here... hope this helps.

I took the bike to the dealer last Saturday for a checkup. It had 218 miles on. The mechanic did some test rides with the bike cold and hot to make sure it wasn't anything other than what he calls &quot;normal engine noise&quot;. He mentioned that the Warriors also make this noise, that I shouldn't worry. No problems were found with the bike. Also since mine has a windshield, I might be more exposed to the noise from the engine.

Once I pass Breaking I'll try synthetic oil since I run in hot temperatures all year around (from 78 to 90 deg F). Have anyone of you experienced using an external oil cooler; those nice cilyndrical ones with fins that attach to the front frame members (expensive too).

Thanks in advance and also thanks again for the suggestions. This is an excellent source of information.

CAPR06 wrote:
[quote]Have anyone of you experienced using an external oil cooler; those nice cilyndrical ones with fins that attach to the front frame members (expensive too).
quote]

Personally, I don't think that those &quot;nice cilyndrical ones&quot; are neccesary. Check out Buck's oil coolers at http://home.twmi.rr.com/bikepics/
A whole lot cheaper, and they protect your oil filter from getting hit by debris getting kicked up from your front tire. I painted mine black, then polished the edges of the fins with my dremel tool to make it match the motor on my bike.
Tom

Post edited by: aceman, at: 2006/04/17 15:28<br><br>Post edited by: aceman, at: 2006/04/18 15:14