[Jeff Roof]

Hey guys, as usual I'm looking for advice. I had a ticking develop a while back and it was weird because it was intermittent. My bike has had the upgraded cam chain tensioner on both sides and it is now at about 50K miles. Anyway typically when I start hearing ticking I know it is time to adjust the valves which I did. By the way my ride intervals can be up to a month as my rides these days consist solely of going to the mtns for a couple of days. Other than that she is a garage queen.

But after the first adjustment on the next ride I kept hearing the ticking, there again it was intermittent. So when I got back home I checked the valves and nothing was extremely loose but a couple not exactly as tight as I wanted them. Then after a month or so I made a trip and this time the ticking was even worse.

So this past weekend we went and the night before I checked the valves and everyone was spot on, where I've put them many times. So this time on the ride the ticking became so bad that when I pulled up from a stretch my friends noticed and pretty much anyone within earshot could hear it. But then you sit there and take a break and when you crank it up to go it is not doing it. While you are riding it doesn't increase in sound nor do you even hear it while riding.

Well when I pulled in yesterday morning it was ticking really bad especially in the garage, so I left the bike running and got down by the right cylinder and sure enough that is where the ticking was coming from, the right cylinder. I cannot say definitively though that it was the cam chain tensioner. But that is what it sounds like to me.

So my question is, can these things go bad and not pump up intermittently or is it an all or nothing proposition. Does it make sense that it could not be pumping up at times but be doing it at other times? Any help or advice as always would be greatly appreciated. I did some searches but couldn't find much info as all of it was mainly on the upgrade.