Motorcycle Repair: lifters, camshaft lobes, 1978 honda cx500

Question
Hi I have a 1978 Honda cx500 that used to run a little funny i took it in to have the carbs done and when they rebuilt the carbs they noticed a problem with the lifters they said there was something the exhaust lifter on the left side was acting up the bike didn't want to start and when was running before carbs had a tick in the left side of the motor. So my question is are the lifters supposed to be able to move back and forth by hand or should they have a little tension on them and if so are the springs bad or is it the lifters themselves? I currently have the motor out of the bike was going to chage the lifters but if thats not the problem I would like to find out what is.

Answer
Darius,

this could be a complex answer as it is hard
for me to tell which parts you are referring to
exactly. The lifter assembly on the CX500 is
made up of many parts. First the camshaft
can have wear on the lobes that the
lifter rides on, this can make noise because
the cam surface is flat.
-these lifters have small springs to keep some
pressure on the side of them.
-then you have a push rod which rides in the lifter
and goes up to the rocker arm on top of the engine.
The rocker has the valve clearance adjust
screw in it and sits one end on the push rod
and the other on the valve spring cap.
The rocker arms should have .004" clearance on compression
and only move a little when they are not
pushing a valve open.

-if you have tapping noises, check the
camshaft lobes for flat spots or wear.
-check the cam chain tensioner and guides throroughly.
-check the crankshaft bolt, make it tight.
-lastly, if it is knocking, it could be crank bearings.
Other possible problem areas on CX500 is faulty stator
and water pump seal at the rear of the engine.