KZ700 Engine Rattle ?

MatiasMyles wrote: Hi - I started my 84 KZ700 for the first time since winter. I’m getting a distinct engine rattle that wasn’t there last fall. It’s hard to tell where it’s coming from. Sounds worse at idle.

I took the valve cover off. Everything looks good, valves in adjustment, timing good.

The bike has a manual cam chain adjuster. Adjusting it while running does not affect the sound.

The only thing that’s I noticed is that the starter is acting funky. When I try to start it, sometimes the starter just clicks, sometimes it works. Would it be possible that the starter is hanging up somehow making the noise.?

I know this is not much to go on, but any ideas?

Thanks

wrote:

I'd second this. It sounds to me like one of more of the carbs is flooding a bit on choke when cold, as it sounds like it's running on 3.5 cylinders. The carb sync could be out too. As soon as you bring the revs up above idle, the knock / clank stops.I think it's the clutch basket: on the KZ650 & 750, the clutches are notorious for having the shock-absorber springs on the basket get loose after a couple of decades, which makes a racket at idle unless the carbs are sync'd correctly. It can also make a screech / grinding noise if you do a fast getaway from a standing start, caused by the radial play in the basket because of the springs getting slack.Unfortunately there's no easy cure apart from stripping the clutch, installing stronger springs and re-riveting the whole thing back together. Every used clutch basket you can find is likely to be worn, and an NOS clutch basket is gonna be as rare as rocking-horse shit.