2012 1200 rt. Clanking noise at startup

[christianf]

Good afternoon, 

thank you for taking

my question. 
i have just tried this 1200rt from2012 with 112,000 miles. When I started up, it was making clanking noise behind the belt cover in the front of the engine. Worked fine on the road though and when I stoped after a few miles I could not hear it anymore. Is this a typical boxer engine noise or an issue I should be worried about at this mileage? The bike is for sale at $2000 and the garage which is selling it mentioned that the previous owner just bought an Africa twin and pan other bike and neither Rhin or the garage wanted to deal with this. 
please let me know if you have any advice on purchasing this bike and selling my 2004 rt1150 with 70,000 miles instead. Thank you so much. 
ride safe

Edited September 25, 2021 by christianf
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[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, christianf said:

Good afternoon, 

thank you for taking

my question. 
i have just tried this 1200rt from2012 with 112,000 miles. When I started up, it was making clanking noise behind the belt cover in the front of the engine. Worked fine on the road though and when I stoped after a few miles I could not hear it anymore. Is this a typical boxer engine noise or an issue I should be worried about at this mileage? The bike is for sale at $2000 and the garage which is selling it mentioned that the previous owner just bought an Africa twin and pan other bike and neither Rhin or the garage wanted to deal with this. 
please let me know if you have any advice on purchasing this bike and selling my 2004 rt1150 with 70,000 miles instead. Thank you so much. 
ride safe

Afternoon  christianf

 

Without hearing the noise it is about anybody's guess.

 

It could have been the front accessory shaft chain tensioner had bled down & allowed the chain to slap, or the alternator over-running drive pulley failing, or the balance shaft drive or driven gears are loose, or some other internal engine part starting to fail,  or?????

 

That puts up enough of a red flag for me to say (personally)  to not buy that motorcycle until that noise is identified  & understood.

 

You would think that if it was an easy-to-identify & quick repair issue the dealer would have already done that to make selling it easier. 

[christianf]

Thank you but I don’t think he wants to get involved, just sell 

 

[dirtrider]

21 minutes ago, christianf said:

Thank you but I don’t think he wants to get involved, just sell 

 

Afternoon  christianf

 

Then it's possibly he already knows something that you should know, or should be told. 

 

Maybe not but that is a risk you would be taking without knowing what the knocking source is. 

 

You might go ride it from cold  2 days in a row, if the cold-start noise is there every time then I would worry a bit, if the noise is gone with only an overnight park then maybe not so serious. 

[WILDPIG]

got A WHEEL BARROW FULL OF MONEY? cuz the chances are--that's what you're going to need..... we are talking bmw's.....

[christianf]

I think I’ll pass on this one

[MichiganBob]

Smart move. "Trouble ahead, trouble behind, and you know that notion just crossed my mind." (Grateful Dead)