[Devil920]

So I bought a 2009 1300 GT about a week and a half ago. The bikes been a lot of fun and I've had some good times with it already racking up bout 1000 miles. Earlier today I was on my way back into town and got down to about 30 miles left on the gauge so I decided to fill up. I stopped at a new gas station and filled up with their premium. It's a 91 octane with 10% ethanol. This may be a stupid conclusion but within roughly 10-15 minutes of filling up I noticed a tapping noise as I came to stop lights at idle. Upon further inspections it seems to be coming from near the top of the engine near on the left side if you're seated on the bike. I can't help but feel that these two events may be related, any info / thoughts are much appreciated!

 

[Devil920]

So after some research I decided to go about checking to ensure I have a cam chain jump guard while I'm figuring out what this is and decided to take the clutch cover off to have a look around and check out condition of the chain guards, the bottom part of the cam chain is super loose, It's loose enough that about half way through the sprocket the cam chain is no longer touching it, it's resting on the bottom guard, is this normal on these bikes or should this be concerning? I've also noticed that the noise described only happens when the bike is hot, on cold starts it's not heard but after a quick few mile ride the bike starts tapping.

 

[Capt howdy]

So after some research I decided to go about checking to ensure I have a cam chain jump guard while I'm figuring out what this is and decided to take the clutch cover off to have a look around and check out condition of the chain guards, the bottom part of the cam chain is super loose, It's loose enough that about half way through the sprocket the cam chain is no longer touching it, it's resting on the bottom guard, is this normal on these bikes or should this be concerning? I've also noticed that the noise described only happens when the bike is hot, on cold starts it's not heard but after a quick few mile ride the bike starts tapping.

Not sure but it’s possible that the cam chain tensioner has drained of fluid and not tensioning the cam chain. If this is the case you will hear a noise like the clatter wheels of destruction on starting which will abate as the tensioner pressurises. If the cam chain is very loose the noise won’t leases. Just a guess

 

[stevekbmw]

There is an updated cam chain tensioner that has a new part number. I replaced my tensioner and that type of problem went away.
Steve

 

[botus]

cam chain is a 30k mile service item

not sure on the fuel you got, as you guys number it all wrong - your scale is 5 to 8 too low. Octane rating - Wikipedia
ethanol is evil crap (rots aluminium and rubber and makes plastic upset) - my GS with 10 % of that shit, runs slow and like a sick dog
euro bikes designed to run 98 RON octane, they run MUCH slower on the std 95 stuff
there was an updated engine map that gives better idling and low speed throttle response.
check this out and put a AF-XiED on it BrenTune vs OETune K1300GT