KZ700 Engine Rattle

Hi - I started my 84 KZ700 for the first time since winter. I’m getting a distinct engine rattle that wasn’t there last fall. It’s hard to tell where it’s coming from. Sounds worse at idle.

I took the valve cover off. Everything looks good, valves in adjustment, timing good.

The bike has a manual cam chain adjuster. Adjusting it while running does not affect the sound.

The only thing that’s I noticed is that the starter is acting funky. When I try to start it, sometimes the starter just clicks, sometimes it works. Would it be possible that the starter is hanging up somehow making the noise.?

I know this is not much to go on, but any ideas?

Thanks...

The primary chain will rattle at idle if the carbs are not in synch or letting it idle when the engine is cold.

baldy110 wrote: The primary chain will rattle at idle if the carbs are not in synch or letting it idle when the engine is cold.

Thanks for the tip. After some more research on this site, it sounds like it might be the primary chain. I’m going to let it warm up tomorrow and see if the sound goes away...