Hello everyone.  

I'm Andrew from Sevenoaks, Kent UK and I'm very pleased to find this forum. Been riding since 1974!

I have a Monster S4 which I have owned for about 8 years. Standard except for a full Termi system, chip, air filter and a power commander. Plus a few little touches like the slotted clutch cover and extra carbon. I am a real fan of Italian bikes and also have an Aprilia RSV and a Laverda RGS.

OK, so I'm here for a reason. Last year the S4 started to make a new noise when cold at about 4200 RPM. Just a light  "knock?" that I could just notice above the usual Ducati racket.    I have it serviced every year and it's only done 13k miles. It's not had a valve clearance check for 7k. I'm told that it might need adjustment of maybe a cam follower has worn. But I am not rich and I don't want to pay for a major service just to find the problem is still there. It's such a subtle noise that it's very difficult to communicate the symptoms to anyone.

I met a fellow owner a few years back who did his own servicing and said that he sent the valve gear to Pro-Twins for checking. I'm not too bad with spanners...With the help of the Laverda forum, I did a lot of restoration work on the Laverda myself. So, I'm hoping to get some advice from you chaps on the possibility of doing investigations myself.

I will have a good read of all the posts on this forum over the next few days and start a new thread if appropriate. If anyone wants to point me in the direction of a thread that you think would help me then I would be very grateful. (Including what the best manual is)

Thanks in advance and happy riding,  Andrew    

Welcome Andrew!

You'll probably hear more about rocker arms / 'cam followers?' issues on the 916/S4 engines.
Not that I know if that's your problem, but it might be...

I suggest copy/paste and open a new topic in 'Tech' - that's where you'll get answers

Thanks Stopintime. (I guess when the said cam follower, they meant the face on the rocker arm that meets the cam)

Welcome. Good luck with your tech hunt - hopefully it's something minor.