Metallic rattle in 1st gear

[scawein]

That was a bad sound til I heard another warrior make the same noise. It has been making that sound on mine forever...no problems.....nature of the beast me thinks....

Like Jbat said, be mindful NOT to use automotive oil, general consensus seems to be Mobil 1 V-Twin 20-50. I use it and like it.

[rquest]

Another +1 for high octane.

[Cruzader66]

But if the bike needs more octane than the manual suggests, doesn't that mean there's something not quite right with the engine?? I just noticed yesterday that it also happens when shifting to other gears . . seems to need more throttle than I'm initially giving. Also, I'm wondering if it might just need an adjustment on my Fi2000?

[gilly]

You could try to idle your bike up a little higher if it is not quite at 850-900 rpm. I don't like mine that high but it might help. You could also add an ignition module to adjust the timing a tad to remove the ping if it bothers you that bad. It only pings under low rpm strain on the engine.

[LeaderDuece]

What is your FI2000 set at?

Sent from my DROID RAZR

[arizonawarrior]

May I suggest go for a ride and give the beast more throttle. Don't treat it like a vespa. Go out and ride for twenty miles or so, then pull and read your spark plugs. If the noise is gone and the plugs read okay then there's your answer.

BTW I totally agree with you that if the noise continues then its a motor problem and using higher octane fuel will only mask it. In NJ you are not suffring from mile-high oxygen deprivation so its totally correct to find the trouble and fix it. On the other hand, if you are buying bad gas right at the time winter blend is at the pumps, knowing the fuel has less zing than summer blend, then consider swapping gas stations and see if the noise goes away.