The Yamaha Road Star Warrior Forum

Guys, could you help me? Just brought my bike in for about the sixth time for a noisy engine. They told me it sounds like a stuck valve. Turns out after a $200 bill, after they took the head off, it wasn't a stuck valve. The valves barely needed adjustment. Needless to say the bike only has 7,500 miles on it and the engine still makes a racket. Now the tech tells me that I have the wrong oil in it. The oil is too thin, according to him. So I tell him that it's Mobil One V Twin 20-50 and he says that I shouldn't have put synthetic in there and that's why the engine is so noisy. I tell him that I changed the oil to synthetic at 3,200 miles. The bike is just as loud now as it was before I switched to synthetic to try to quiet the noise. Does anyone have any idea what I can do to quiet the god-awful noise in my engine? They tell me everything is fine with the engine...it's just noisy. Even the tech agreed. Is there something I can add to the synthetic oil on the next oil change to help, or maybe another synthetic or synthetic blend that would work without ruining the engine?

Lifters were my first thought too. And don't believe the bull about using synthetic. I use Mobil 1 15W/50 and it's fine.

Have you ever ridden another Warrior. These are air cooled OHV engines, they have very noisy valve trains. I'm not saying it's normal BUT IT COULD BE.

 Install louder pipes!

Mine has alway rattled and knocks on take off. I really notice it when I have the shortie helmet on cruising around town.

It's not the oil. Collectively, the riders on this site have hundreds of thousands of miles of issue free riding on various kinds of synthetic oils. 

Your tech is a toolbox, period. 

I think lifters is a really good place to start, and louder pipes are always better.

I'll make a call to my buddy who owns a Yammi shop here in western PA and get another opinion. 

 If you have in the past been running the idle too low, you could have premature wear due to low oil pressure, not a big chace of that, just throwing it out there.

On edit:  Also where is the noise coming from, it will be low on the right side if it's a lifter.  I am assuming it's not the heads since they had them off already.  I would recommend finding another shop (preferrably one without a dillweed) and letting them take a look at it, of course that is if one of the site guru's aren't near enough for a housecall.

 Superbee....Thanks for the response. If you talk to your Buddy ask him if I can put something in the synth oil to make it a little quieter. Right now I have SpeedStar pipe what are a good load pipe I could replace them with?              

Thanks ,the 6 or 7 times I took it to the dealer they said the same thing THERE VERY NOISY ENGINES. I;m thinkin load pipes not my SpeedStar pipes

 Putting something in the oil is really not a good fix.  Oil is my business and I can tell you, dumping some kind of thick crap in your oil is not going to fix your problem.  If it's that loud there is some kind of mechanical issue making the noise IMO.

Have you idled it slow, run it low of oil, over filled it, anything like that?  Where is the noise coming from? Use a screwdriver and put your ear against it (the handle), and move the blade end around the engine.  It acts like a stethoscope of sorts. If you can pinpoint the area of the noise it will be easier to figure what it might be.

  The other thing is, it might be normal.  Have you heard any other Warriors?  If you have a problem, it should be addressed, I just hope you're not chasing your tail.

Also, the loud pipes thing was a joke, kinda like saying to turn up the radio if your car is making a noise. 

Make sure you don't have too much oil in the system. Do a search for the oil check video link, i'm to lazy to search for it right now. Last year I managed to over fill with oil and ended up with a lifter noise. Removed the excess oil with a turkey baster and after a few hundred miles the lifter noise went away. The theory (posted by another member, don't remember who) is that too much oil in the crankcase can cause air bubbles to get "whipped" into the oil by the crankshaft, if enough of an air pocket builds up in the lifter it won't pump up properly, resulting in noise. Sounds odd, but removing the excess oil did seem to make the noise go away. YMMV

Superbee the Oil Geek:

The other thing is, it might be normal.  Have you heard any other Warriors?

+1  I thought my Warrior wasn't starting properly because it sounded so weak and seemed to take so much to turn over until I heard other Warriors and discovered that's just a difference between a FI bike and the carb'd V-Star that I was used to. 

I know my '06 is making a loud ticking noise when taking off like a lifter is not pumping up, then when crusing is quieter. I would bet you have a soft or spongy lifter or two. I hear nothing but bad things about the stock Yami lifters. I'd like to change mine out for a better set. Definately change mechanics! Hard to find a decent tech in my area, I know. I am about to change to Mobil 1 V-Twin 20w50 as many of you guys have and don't expect my noise to change (until I replace my lifters). Good luck and let us know what happens.