My heart sank... I nearly vomited!!!

So... let me begin this story by taking us all back to a day not so long ago....

The time? It was two years ago. I was the, not so happy, owner of a 2007 kawasaki mean streak. (I wanted a crotch rocket but my wife said she would ride with me.... she didn't) It was big and not fast enough. I had purchased a quickly growing web forum called meanriders.com where many riders from around the world discussed their mean streaks. With the growing success of the forum (nearly 600 members in 1 month) my pride began to grow. If I owned the site I had to have the coolest one! I decided have the heads ported and polished, get a big bore (really really big bore) kit and a set of aftermarket cams. I also decided that to be the coolest I would have to install it myself.

Everything came in. After forever in the garage the old girl was back together. It had an oil leak and I was out of patience. I took it to the local dealership who dropped a magnet tool in my engine and destroyed one cylinder (20 psi compression instead of 210 like the other cylinder). I was ruined. This meant a new engine. I was over the mean streak and traded it in a few states away for my Superduke (the redeeming part of the story). The shame of the expense and failure has plagued my marriage ever since.


Fast forward to today

I finished my valve adjustment, got the bike back together, and was ready to start the ole girl up. It wouldn't register that the bike was in neutral. It ended up I had the gear sensor plugged into the wrong place. Now the bike was ready to start.

Press the button, it turns over - CLACK CLACK CLACK - SPUTTER - DEAD

Press the button again - clacccck, groan, blinking dash board.

My heart sank... I nearly vomited. I thought for sure I had screwed up the timing (which I had checked 5 million times). I felt the shame and fear of the last screw up roaring to the surface. I was going to be sick!

Wait... why would bent valves cause a blinking dashboard? Why are my lights fading? Could it be?!

I checked the battery (that i've killed 12 billion times... its the original)... dead! Hope glimmered on the horizon.


I remembered that the old Duke was pretty loud when you first change the oil... and that was when you changed it and started it up right away. This time I had the bike sit cold for nearly 2 weeks and with the tank drained and the crankcase drainplug out the entire time. This bike was BONE DRY!!! Could that be the clanking? Could the fact the the throttle bodies were BONE DRY too cause the bike not to have enough juice to keep going?

Well.... since my battery is on the charger I don't know for sure. I guess I'll find out. In the mean time I believe that the battery is the cause of the problem... well... that and dry valves from lack of oil... you really should be able to put SOME oil in the crank case.

Thoughts from you guys? Am I doomed or just being a worry wart?

Until the morning answers it I'm going to bed!!!

Hey Austin, don't worry too much, some of the best LC8 guys hang around here, and will help get you through you worries with you baby.
First off. did you have the cams off to re shim the buckets?
If yes. was the motor turned over with the cams out ? Even If the motor was not turned over it is still possible to put the cam back in "out of time"
You said you checked the timing a million times( I do the same). did you turn the motor over by hand ? ( with the 14mm socket at the crank or using the rear wheel to move the motor)
The "rattle" we sometimes hear at start up is from the cam timing chains, which you know is normal with the LC8. you can't hear this rattle till the engine is actually running.
Some of the early motors had a problem with the starter torque assembly. and it made a awful sound at start up. (not sure what year they got it sorted.. 07?)
I would check the timing marks AGIAN and go over every thing once more. ( proper torque on all the cam hold bown brackets. ect) then after you are completly sure the motor is properly timed, turn it over by hand at the crank.
Sometimes when things like this happen it is usualy somthing simple.
Hope this helps and good luck