Ticking sound coming from vertical cylinder, possible valve issue?

[SterbenSoup]

I have a 2005 Monster 620 ie, and after I last changed my oil the oil level only shows on one side of the bike. IT's only showing on the side were you actually put in the oil(right side).

Since then the bike has been making a fairly loud "ticking" noise, coming from the vertical cylinder, possibly the valves are not getting enough oil?  Since the tick started the power is also almost non-existent.

I'm not sure where to start if there is a clog somewhere, if anyone could give me some direction it would be greatly appreciated.

[Blackout]

There is only one oil sight glass and it is on the right side of the bike. You normally change your own oil?

[SterbenSoup]

On mine there is a glass on both sides?  They both have markers for the oil level, and both usually show oil.  I've always changed my own oil on this bike and used both sides to make sure the oil is at the correct level.

[SterbenSoup]

To clarify, there is one on the right side of the bike and one on the clutch cover.  The one on the clutch cover is the one showing no oil.

[Blackout]

It's not supposed to show oil. Don't worry about it. My only concern is the loud ticking noise. Did you put the right amount of oil in it?

[SterbenSoup]

Ok, guess it just threw me off because I never really checked that side much.  The oil level is showing correctly on the right side, I think I put about 3 liters give or take in, same as usual. 

The ticking bothers me as well, like I said it sounds like its coming from the vertical cylinder head.  It's a steady tick and goes faster when I rev the bike, then slows down as the RPM goes down.

Could this be a valve tapping somewhere?  What troubleshooting steps should I take before taking apart the head? 

**Note this bike is basically a project at this point, so I'm not scared to get in deep and learn a bit.  I've already taken the bike apart once when it jumped timing and was able to fix that, so I'm not scared to tear down the head if I need to.

[Kopfjäger]

The sight window on the left is for timing.

[Blackout]

Personally, I'd ride it around a bit and see if the noise goes away. Both of my bikes make some unusual noise at different times that have usually gone away.  But if you're feeling like you wanna get greasy, break on into it.

[koko64]

Or leaking exhaust from head.

[SterbenSoup]

Or leaking exhaust from head.

If that were the case, what part of the head do I need to look into?  I haven't torn it down yet but plan on it tomorrow, if I can check and possibly fix this without tearing too deep into it I'd much rather take that route.

[koko64]

I was thinking the pipe isnt completely sealed to the head, possibly

[Speeddog]

About the previous jumped timing.......

What happened, and what was repaired or replaced?

[SterbenSoup]

Ok, so I'm not very good for the names for everything but I'll do my best.

The timing jumped because somehow the hole that held the key that held the "cam gear"? in place was bored out, so the key would literally just fall out.  Obviously this was a big problem. 

May have been a cheap fix but instead of getting a new cam shaft I used JB weld to hold the key in place, and so far the timing is fine.  I ended up getting new belts because I didn't know how many miles were on the ones I had, since I got the bike at 20k, who knows what the last guy did.

[Speeddog]

I'm thinking you've still got cam timing issues, and I'd say certainly that if the previous problem was on the vertical cylinder.

[SterbenSoup]

It was the vertical cylinder.  I'll check the timing this weekend when I get time and see if it's still set or if it's off again.  Thanks!