1980 Kawasaki 750 ltd

Hello everyone, I'm thrilled that I stumbled across this site and I hope some of you will be willing to lend me your oppinions. I have never owned a bike before. I traded an old camper for this 1980 kawasaki 750 ltd it's a great looking bike and seems to run good but I noticed when you start it up it has a definate rattle of some kind that you can hear at idle when you throttle it you can't seem to hear the rattle, any clues anybody could give me would be greatly appreciated.

I did try to search the forums to see if this has already been asked and I couldn't find it so if I missed it somewhere I appologise.

hard to say about a generic rattle. When I am tracing a noise, I cup my ears forward and try to locate the area of the noise.

Hello, badlyb. And Welcome to KZR! We're glad you're here!

Lots of KZ's have a little camchain noise noticeable at idle speed. A routine camchain adjustment often makes it quieter. As does a complete tune-up and carb synch.

thanks for your replies,I appreciate it a lot,I absolutely love this old bike I do plan to give it a tune-up but I noticed that little rattle and figured this would be a great place to get some advice. I'm sure I'll be here quite often seeking input so thanks again and I'm looking forward to being around and learning some things.

if the rattle is in the gear box back behind the cylinders and goes away once you're going then it's probably the primary chain. Nothing to worry about. Mine has had that same rattle the past 10,000 km. Quite common.

One way to find where a noise is coming from is to take a long screwdriver and put the blade or tip against a point on the motor and put the handle against your ear. Works as a crude but effective stethescope.

well I can't hear it when I'm going,so I assumed (probably shouldn't assume) it went away,I will absolutely take your advice and give it a try in the morning.
thanks for the helpful advise!