950 noisy engine

Deaer 950 fellas,

I have a 2005.5 950 Adventure fitted with Akrapovics and since i got her, about 1 year agora i've noticed the engine is very noisy. I can hear the valves ticking and it vibrates a bit. It has been serviced in KTM dealers and all say they haven't found anything unusual.

However recently went for a few rides with mates on 950's too, 2004 and 2005's and theirs are not as noisy as mine. All fitted with akras or wings. Can hear the exhaust, the engine too, but not that ticking and vibration...

Last service it had the vales checked, new shims, but no tensioners as the mechanic said it was not required.

Don't feel the bike underpowered, but the clatter and vibration, when compared to identical bikes is buzzing me.

any hints?

Cam chains, cam chain tenshioners, oil pump... work that if your paying a shop to do is gonna get real expensive real fast, I'm afraid.

How many miles? What oil are you using?

My 2004 gets real noisy from time to time. It has since new. My friend's does too. The older bikes would sometimes loose oil pressure in the hydraulic cam chain tensioners (I am told). Makes sense to me because it eventually goes quiet with higher revs, which suggests the pressure pumps back up again. It's fairly intermittant, but on a long trip can happen a couple timer per day. It can be particularly noisy when it is hot after stopping. Starting it up again can sound like it is coming apart. :eek1

It is so noisy that riding buddies have asked me why it's so rattley!

Yep, mine does the exact same thing. Nothing to sweat!

36.000 kms and 10W40 Motul oil.

However it had exactly the same sound when i used Motorex 10W50 or 10W60. Has been like this since i bought it 8.000 kms ago.

I'm trying to find a way to post a video with decent sound.

Forgot to mention that i also have a 990 and there is no such sound or vibration.

Same here also. I noticed it starting get rattley around 12K and now with 28K, it's still the same.

Worn wp can be the reason of rattles. When oil and coolant mix they create a sludge with lower pressure in the cam chain oil tensioners.
Other problems reported in here where faulty cam chain tensioners, worn cam chain and faulty oil pump.
Cheers.

My 04 with 65K miles is noisy... Always has been.
I tend to use a 20-50w oil and that helps a bit.

But in general, the V-twin motor is noisy...
It's not a flaw, it's a feature.

Q~

My 950 sounds like a bag of nails, sounds best after a new oil change but that last about a 1000 miles. Check you aren't losing coolant as Gefr say...

Tired oil pressure dump valve spring. Relatively easy fix.
Pics from Blackbert's bike :

The new ones, seems to be like 2006 and up, are FAR quieter then the 2004 that I have. Friend of mine had the exact same year and model, 2004 "S", his only had 6,000mi. as opposed to my 45,000, and sounded just as rotten. My dealer (Town & Country) started paying attention to how any 950/990 he got in for service sounded after my alerting him to my, seemingly about to blow, engine noise and he found himself that all the "old" ones like mine seem to sound like a tin box full of rocks, and the "newer" ones sound all happy.

Oh well, as long as mine KEEPS making noise I'm happy!

Chris

I wear ear plugs

i'm away from home for a few days so can't do a small film with the sound.

What councerns me is the sound and vibration.

Oil is ok, not milky, so i assume nothing is wrong regarding coolant leaks that could contaminate the oil and reduce CCT effectiveness.

the water pump seems to be ok too, it has been upgraded, and i haven't noticed any unusual hight engine temperature.

I know early bikes tend to be more noisy but a few friends of mine have 2005 950's and one of them has a 2003 with approximatly the same mileage and it sounds completely different. His sounds much better, vibrates alot less and has been ridden quite hard.

It is not the 1 second start up rattle. that goes away fast. It is a constant not so light ticking.

I'm doing the oil pressure dump vale spring job anyway. Fairly easy job to do.

Regarding the ear plugs, i just love the sound of thos akras. No can do!

While you're in there make sure the clutch basket and flywheel bolts are torqued and lock tightened properly.

Refer to the Hall Of Wisdom for the deets on those items.

Vibration could be affected from carb balancing. Worth checking this as well.
Cheers.

Hi,
Checked that too. Not much improvement, although i notice these carbs get out of balance fairly easy. Am i the only one noticing it?

Just bought a 04 with 25k and it rattles like crazy , sounds nothing like the other two 2005.5 it sets beside...I,d been wondering if the sound was normal , sounds like that,s just an older model thing

the first thing before anything, check the oil pump regulator, most of the problems start here.
I would recomend taking it apart (taking the clutch basket out) and pulling the cover on the pump, that way you can clean everything and see if the piston has marks and to meassure the spring. If not, just buy the cover (it comes with the regulator built in and change it.

After that, the second thing to look is the tensioners.
The third is the balance shaft to see if is properly armed ( i have seen cases in which the shaft came loose and it touched the timming chains)

I think it'll be the way to go.

Let's see if i'm not getting into more trouble. getting KTM parts around here is a a time consuming experience.

thank you all.

KTM made a ton of mods to the engine on "later" models, a lot of which seemed to be aimed at quieting the things down so so many people weren't thinking their motor was about to grenade itself.

Chris