Valve tapping noise (video)

[john]

I have what I think is a valve that is tapping and requires the shims to be changed. Can someone with more experience look at the video here of my GS1000G and tell me what they think the noise is?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOY2jkKO0pI

I thought it may be a cylinder not firing, but I sprayed starter into the air inlet and it did not change much - also all the exhaust pipes seem hot.

Thanks again for your help.

[Flyboy]

Hey john, yep, sounds like time for a valve adjustment, shoot Steve on here an email and get hold of his valve adjustment spreadsheet, makes life a breeze.

[john]

Thank you for your reply.

Is it bad to ride the bike/start it how it is?

The power of the bike is significantly reduced, is that expected from this issue (valve tapping)?

[Flyboy]

John, what you hear there is a valve with too much clearance, that is why it is tapping, that in itself is not bad, and will not cause any harm.....BUT, that is the exception rather than the rule, as sure as night follows day, you will find that most of the clearences will be too tight, and this is a bad thing and will lead to damage if left unattended.
When the clearance between the cam lobe and valve closes up, the valve cannot seat properly against its seat in the head, which means that it does not seal the combustion chamber properly, leading to a loss in compression and of course power, that is why your bike is down on power.
But more importantly, the valve works in an extremly hot enviroment, especially the exhaust valve, and they get rid of thier heat when they close against the valve seat in the head, if it cannot close, it cannot dissapate its heat to the head and gradually gets hotter and hotter, until it starts to burn away. That is where burnt valves come from, leading to head removal and valve replacement.

So yeah, I would rather do them before riding too much further.
It is not a difficult job, a saturday arvo and a six pack of tinnies should do it.
Check Basscliffs site for a full picture tutorial on doing the job, and just shout for help if you need it.