Rubbermount_EFI Wife dropped bike, now the front cylinder taps and smokes

[archmayge]

2009 Nightster...

So my wife decided to put her foot down on the downhill side when stopping at a stop sign. She was completely stopped. She dropped the bike on the right side. Now the bike taps/clicks/pings (whatever you wanna call it) on the front cylinder and smokes somewhat bad until hot.

I am 99% positive the clicking/taping is not normal. I have replaced the exhaust gaskets...

What kind of damage do you think she could have done?

Just made the first payment

Any help/advice would be great.

[mikeLI_77]

Did the air filter take a hit. Maybe you have an intake leak.

[dr.feltersnatch]

first off welcome to the forum! is there any visible damage? if so start there. how long was it on its side? was she able to pick it right back up or did it lay there for a few minutes? was it still running while on the ground or did it get shut right off? the reason i ask is if it sat on its side for a bit it could have got some extra oil in the cyl causing smoking. not a big deal. also what color is the smoke? black = too much fuel, blueish= burning oil.

[Screw Loose Dan]

Was there any visible damage to the engine? Besides exhaust or intake seals/gaskets I really can't think of anything. I've dropped my 2007 way more times then I care to admit and never had any issue (besides the scratches ).

[chardhin]

Just possibly bent a push rod? look at the push rod tube, look for damage there. just a drop shouldn't( but could) make a engine knock. If the pushrod got out of whack it may cause smoking and knocking. future advice, she should put BOTH her feet down at every stop. one foot is for a scooter. Two feet is for a full motorcycle. But back to the problem.
Intake leak, oil seeping out of the head, base or rocker cover. For pinging to happen there has to be damage to the engine internally. But my first guess is a problem with push rods.

[MRMIKEY32]

The 09 has the tilt sensor that should have shut it off very very quickly as well, to help prevent engine damage

[Bigrick110]

Odd, I full on high sided with bike sliding on right side off into ditch! After I got everything back together engine fired right up, and I never touched anything internal. Maybe something was about to let go and the drop finished it? Wait it stops smoking after hot? Does the noise stop also? Guess I'm with chardhin until further investigation.

[IronMick]

Over the years i have had 60' and 150' slides along the pavement/gravel, plus too many driveway drops - never an engine problem. Always just pick it up, dust it off, straighten some bent parts, ride home.

Try this procedure from the IronHead forum Stickys to isolate the source of the sound ...

IronHead Noise
http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/s...d.php?t=832376

[sco0842]

My wife dropped my 09 low on the right. She applied brakes without clutch and stalled. It went over with help. Didn't have any problems. I was there and lifted it quickly. I would be curious how long it was over. My 09 has a tilt switch in it. I stalled taking off in a dip, my foot hit just as the exhaust touched and it posted a tilt on the speedo. Check the spark plug for fouling. If she let it lay there and some oil got in the cylinder and you ran it.

[Tin Man 2]

Sounds like some oil got in the cylinder, Dark Smoke, and Pinging could both be caused by excess oil in the combustion chamber. Pull the plug and take a look.