Well that is one option .... But , I'd be wanting to know what has caused it to start happening .... .... call me old-fashioned .... Excessive radial play in the bearings ?
Wipe everything clean inside the cover and the rocker, then smear some engineer's blue on the rocker. Put the cover back on. Turn the engine over several times and then look at the inside of the cover......engineer's blue will transfer even with the lightest touch. PS.....Hopefully it isn't a piston just touching a valve.....
It was tongue in cheek. Hence the .... I'm old fashioned too. I'd be inspecting myself rather than asking.
Yep .... engineer's blue is one of those vital things that you don't need often , but mighty useful when you do need it ..... " What can't speak can't lie " Same goes for Plastigauge , which seems to be very expensive these days !
We use blue all the time Ear defenders, phone earpiece, inner brim of bump caps and nose bands of glasses. Swap to Rouge to mix it up a little.
Perhaps leave the cover bolts slightly loose and see if you can feel or see any movement of the cover while turning.
Can't believe four months have gone by! Anyway thanks for all the advice, sorry it's taken me so long but a number of non-Ducati life issues got in the way. I decided drop the engine and take the head off. I couldn't find anything wrong but had it looked at by Geoff Baines ( super guy) who said it all looked okay, so still a mystery. I decided to give it a clean and recheck everything and popped it all back together. It started first time and no rattle - great! I can't take it for a test run just yet as in the meantime its MOT and VED have expired so need to get that sorted. I do have one small issue outstanding though. When dismantling I make notes and take photos but when near the end of the taking apart process I was interupted and didn't make a note of where this M6 allen screw came from (photo). It's clearly been exposed to the elements so isn't internal. Does anyone here know? I could be going mad but I don't remember it and I usually lose parts rather than have them left over. I've looked over the bike time and again but can't see where it may be missing from. Any advice gratefully received.
It may be the screw that holds the plate that secures the rev counter drive to the horizontal cylinder - My experience is with a 900 so above may be rubbish
How about the coil mounting plate? Should be 2. IIRC I can't remember what size screws the airbox was held on with.....only that there were 4.
Screws that hold the solenoid plate to the battery box (X 2) Or the black fairing outriggers (1 each) Failing that, have a look at the rear end.....tool tray, seat lock or grab handle possibly......
Nice ideas but not them either I'm afraid. It's booked in for an MOT next Wednesday so I'll take the screw with me in case they spot something - assuming I make it there
Have you checked the heads? There 2 screws on mine that block off oilways where they have been drilled, near to the spark plugs....
It shouldn't be, they should be mushroom head. How about mirror mounting screws (2 to each mirror)? Or rear brake reservoir mounting screw? Rear brake hose clamp/guide to swingarm? Front brake hose guide clips to front of bottom yoke?
many times i've found a redundant screw when stripping a major-ish part of a car/motorbike that's almost certainly been dropped into a nook or a cranny by a previous owner and they've then given up looking for it and replaced.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I've checked them all but everything is present and correct. Maybe it was a lost rogue from the past as Chris suggests. I think I'll try ingesting a drop or two of Balvenie and see if that jogs anything...
