[zohararad]

The ticks sound like soft metal on metal - the closest i can compare it to is the sound of a playing card, flicking on bicycle wheel spokes.

The ticks increase or decrease in rhythm as I drive, regardless of the gear I'm in and completely disappear if I press the clutch or am standing in neutral. So for example, I'm driving in 3rd, approaching a traffic light, pressing the clutch as i slow the bike down - As long as the clutch is not engaged, the ticks are audible and increase / decrease in speed as the engine revs up / down. When i press the clutch and let go of the throttle, the ticks disappear. When I start driving again, they appear, increasing in speed as i rev up. Since it's hard hearing them due to wind noise over a certain speed, I cannot say for sure if they persist in higher speeds / RPM.

Their rhythm does appear to be correlated to that of the engine, rather than wheels. They are always consistent in loudness.

What I'm trying to figure out is if I should take the bike to the dealership for a quick check and how urgent is the problem if it is indeed a problem.

 

[zohararad]

Roger that - thanks, that's what i'll do first thing tomorrow morning. Shouldn't cost anything as the bike is under warranty.

 

[zohararad]

It seems the "clicking sounds" you hear happens when your engine is under load between mid to high RPMs when riding. Have you considered that it may be engine "pinging" maybe because of the quality of the gasoline or inducing too much load (try shifting to the next lower gear)?

Try using higher octane fuel and/or shifting down a gear and see if your issue is still there.

Just a suggestion as I occasionally ride our Rebel hard, but never encountered the pinging sounds you describe.

Good luck.

I don't think it's a load issue - the clicking is audible even under relaxed riding style with fast gear shifts and lower RPM. As for gasoline quality, we only have 95 octane as an option, so it's a no go.

I'll visit the dealership today and have them take a look

 

[zohararad]

Quick update. Dealership checked the bike and confirmed all is good. The ticking is most probably (my educated guess) part of the engine's natural sound, which I have to get used to

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[zohararad]

If you're ever able to, try and get some audio recorded of it. Getting quite curious to as what sound you're hearing..
Because I've can't say I've ever heard such a noise from a bike before.

But at least now the dealership has had a personal look on it, and if they say it's normal and everything is fine then ok.
So if the bike somehow should blow up now, you should stand pretty solid about the dealer making a mistake here :grin2:

Already thought about trying to record it somehow and posting the audio. I'll see if I can reproduce this when the bike is not moving and make a decent recording.

The ticks don't sound as if something is horribly broken with the engine, it might be a sound related to valve operation / rockers / timing chain - I don't have enough mechanical knowledge to guess, but my very limited logic is drawn to that direction.

 

[zohararad]

It might be, although the guy at the dealership asked me to sit on the bike so he can check the chain tension.

 

[zohararad]

@Cuthbert - that's very reassuring. Did a bit of reading, and found a comment on a Honda forum that claims Honda engines have "noisy" valve trains. I'm guessing the mix of both noises is what we're probably hearing.

Also, being a bit of a worrier, I wanted (but haven't had the time) to test this with a different helmet. Something made me suspect that different muffling on the ears from the helmet lining will make this noise more / less prominent...

 

[zohararad]

No worries, also the noise will go away if you fit a loud exhaust lol

Or as I slowly go deaf from old age