TOPIC:

My guess would be starter motor or starter clutch dragging

Yes, that would be my guess as well, starter motor clutch not disengaging and spinning the starter around.

Not sure how to check that other than taking the cover off and seeing if it moves freely in and out.

Paul

I'm back Andy,

Thanks for the list.

If the starter clutch wasn't disengaging you'd have possibly grenaded the starter motor, so I'm ruling this out.

My first suggestion is to re & re the C.C.T. This time DO NOT "finger tighten" the bolt. Turn the bolt in ONLY 'till it makes contact with the internals and then back it off 1/4 turn. I have a feeling that you're interpretation of "finger tight" may be too tight.
The sound is directly proportional to the RPM and the 'frequency" of the sound suggests it's in the valve-train - to me, anyway. It's not there at idle (no load) but appears to come-on at about 1200 -1500 RPM when the engine starts to work the cam chain.

Waiting to hear back, after you do this.

Thanks, I will have another look at it over the weekend and report back...
Andy

Just getting back from the Panama after a couple of weeks away.

Sounds like a cam chain noise to me, Almost as if the tensioner is too tight and the cam chain is riding hard on the nylon sprocket. I would be pulling the cam cover and having a good look around. and don't rule out the possibility of a bad needle bearing on the nylon gear. Definitely cam chain related noise.

You should hear a whine of a timing belt when they are tensioned up too tight.

Gents, thanks for your input…
I was primarily thinking it was a cam chain problem myself, but after a lot of head scratching…
I remembered that the bike has a nonstandard alternator stator which is 2 phase system and perhaps, may differ in size and shape from the original.
As soon as I removed the alternator cover I could see that the outside edge of the rotor had been in contact with something.
It turned out that this was rubbing on the bottom of the stator wire retaining clamp where the shortness of the wiring loom has pulled the clamp out into the path of the rotor.
Normally, the wires are long enough but when you remove the rubber sealing grommet to apply sealant – this pulls the wires up and forces the clamp outwards…
Lessons learnt – Ha, don’t drink beer and listen to loud music when you are working on your bike!
Secondly, check that after you have re-sealed the wire grommet into its slot, the wiring loom containing the stator wires has not pulled the bottom of the clamp away from the cover…
I am not 100% sure that this is the cause of that noise, but before road testing it to find out... I also noticed that the yellow rotor edging has broken and is coming away - I will try to glue that back into place first (if that is possible).
Andy