ZX9R Engine Rattle

[Hondafan]

Cam chain rattle?

The last Kawasaki I had made a rattle.

I was advised to take the end out of the tensioner ( just the cover not the 2 small bolts holding it on) and push on the plunger inside.

apparently K's have quite large steps in the auto tensioner allowing it to be quite loose before it clicks over one notch.

The bad news is that I was working on a KLR 650 single and the tensioner was easy to get at.
Yours might be a little harder to access

[Scotty]

Is the noise getting worse or just the same as it's always been? Kawasakis often have "noisy" engines, especially in comparison with Hondas, kinda comes with the badge. If the oil and filter are changed regularly it's unlikely to be anything bearing-related, so maybe the camchain tensioner is worth looking at. If you have a go, DON'T just remove the tensioner without taking the cam cover off and cable-tieing the chain onto both camshaft sprockets first - with no tension on the chain it's possible for a camshaft to rotate and jump a tooth under the chain, which could end up giving you an expensive repair bill if it isn't spotted before you run it.