Make sure the oil does NOT have friction modifiers in it....Coug

Be sure to use a MOTORCYCLE oil 20/50 V Twin oil synthetic or regular oil doesn't really matter at this point. Best to go cheaper right now. If it starts fine and deosn't knock You probably got off lucky. This engine does tick normally to the point of making you think it is damaged.
I would change the oil then take it for several short rides to gain confidence that it won't leave you stranded. After a few hundred miles change oil again and if ticking is the same you are probably ok.
By the way you never never use a wrench to put on the oil filter. Spin it on by hand until snug then 1/4 turn more by hand thats all you need. May also be a good idea to invest 3 bucks in magnetic oil drain plugs.
Change oil as per bthomas said. No more than 4 quarts. Be sure to put oil cap on after 2 quarts before starting the bike shut down then add other 2 quarts very slowly.

My friend came by and changed the oil. There was a couple of gallons of yamaha oil in the utility room and a couple of oil filters as well so we didn't even have to go get anythng. After putting a gallon of oil in it and a filter we started it up and the ticking was gone. We probably should have gone down the road but for right now the ticking has stopped. Might go down the road a little later this evening to be sure.

Thank you guys for all the help and suggestions. There seemed to be a consensus around changing the oil and so far it looks like that may have fixed it. What a relief!

Donna

Did you drain the oil in two places? (The tank and the crank case)

Yes, he drained it in two places and put one gallon of yamaha oil in it. We started it up earlier and it sounded fine but just got back from taking it down the road and it started ticking again.

After reading all the post it looks like most think it might be valve or something. Is that something that's easy to fix?

How many miles on the bike? The book says to adjust the valves at 16000 but mine didn't need adjusting some do.

how much oil came out??

My suggestion... just ride it. There is a good chance that it isn't hurt very bad if at all. Modern oils do a good job of protecting the engine. I would probably change the oil and filter once more just to make sure no particles are circulating that may harm the engine.

Short story; Back in the early 90's Nissan bought back some vans and ended up destroying them. We drained the oil out of one and let it run to see how long it would take to lock up. The first day we let it run 6 hours; the second day it finally locked up after about 4 hours. No, it isn't an air-cooled v-twin running hiway speeds 2-up but it gives you an idea of what oil is like now.

Good luck!

How many miles on the bike? The book says to adjust the valves at 16000 but mine didn't need adjusting some do.


The bike has 18,000 Curt.

how much oil came out??

As near as I can tell, about two to two and a half bottles olskool

My opinion is run it. It probably didn't hurt a thing. As someone suggested earlier, change the oil again in the near future after putting a few hundred miles on it.

I really wouldn't worry about the noise. These motors are known for the noise they make. Someone at the clinic here did a nice job putting together a sound bite of common motor noise. Hopefully someone can find it and post it for you. It would be good for you to compare "your" noise to the common clatter these make.

Go enjoy it!!