I have a 81' FLT. It has its original hydraulic lifters. When I bought the bike, it had a bent pushrod and a bent intake valve on the back jug. It really didn't run at all. It tried to run, but only one jug was firing. (I can see why...) The engine had recently been rebuilt by a Harley dealership and had only been ridden about 1000 miles since the rebuild. It was basically a "Barn Find" with a little history. I repaired the valve and pushrod, rebuilt the carb since it was sitting for years and it fired right up. Ran very well. Rode it a little when it made a strange noise. Ran horrible for a few seconds then smoothed out again. The other day, I was poking around and decided to check my valve adjustments when I found that it bent another push rod! (ARGH!!) Didn't hurt the valve this time. Compression test showed over 100PSI in both jugs. I suspect that I had a lifter float on me which caused the bent rod. Cam looks fine too. I have since soaked and cleaned the hydraulic units, which were pretty gunky. All sorts of black crap came out of them. I am at a crossroads now and ready to put it backtogether.

Here is the question: I've talked to several Shovelhead "experts" who tell me to stop fooling around with hydraulics and just convert to solid lifters. I have not heard very many advantages BUT, I have heard plenty of negatives about going to solids, I.E. Noisy, always having to re-adjust, possibly needing to change the cam, plug the oil holes, don't plug the oil holes, use springs, don't need to use springs, etc. (My head hurts...) I think that I have managed to come upon one the most widely debated topics among Harley wrenches!

Opinions?
Will be appreciated.

 

I've run solids on my Shovel for years. I had a similar problem with a lifter pumping up and losing compression. Yes they are noisy, but they have a rythm to them and you'll soon know when to adjust just by the change in that sound. And adjusting them is super easy too.

 

+1
I can't remember last time I adjusted my solids .... still sound perfect and starts in 2 kicks after sitting all week.
I wouldn't switch to solids "just for the hell of it" , but since you're having issues and will have to replace hydraulics, I'd do it.
Adjustments are quick and easy and can be done on the side of the road if need be. The only time I had to mess with lifters on the side of the road was due to my own negligence, though.
No need to change cam, btw.

 

Do your self a favour and change all the hydraulic units at one time. Get new ones and clean your oil tank and check the screen in the engine case. It will be dirty, possibly clogged with particals. If the units you now have were that gunky, I'd say you have an issue with dirty oil from not being taken care of in the life of the bike. Solids won't help with that oil deal. The units will go bad from normal wear and must be replaced as a unit. Also you should not mix the units with parts from other units as they are matched at the time of manufacturing. They will come apart to clean and there is a check ball inside which can get gunky or dirty to the point it will not work well. To get to that ball you have to push the tube at the bottom of the unit up into the lower body of the unit. It will come out and there will be a ball and disc in there. You can then clean every thing with spray cleaner and reassemble. Don't mix the parts with other units! Do one at a time.
When you adjust the push rods, do so with the units 'dry'. I have never had a problem with doing them like this; pull the units, one at a time, and use a small wire to open the ball. With the wire shoved up the bottom, push the cup end several times to drain the oil from the unit. Then gently insert the unit into the lifter hole and adjust the rod till there is no play in the rod and further movement will open the valve. Don't open the valve. Now back the rod off four turns and lock the rod jam nut. Go to the next rod and do it the same way. Note: you must have the rod you are working on at the lowest point on the cam as the manual states. Read the manual to learn how to find that point. After you have adjusted all the p. rods this way, .....Go ride and quit worrying about them. I have never bent a rod or valve doing it this way and haven't had to mess with them on the road side either.
I've nothing bad to say about solids, I've run them in my Pan. They can require adjustment more often than hydros, but then you get to be more familar with the bike that way.
I dare say if you are having these problems with this Shovel there is more than this to look at. Too many people just rode them and didn't take care of them properly. I didn't see what year or model you have, but if you are able, I'd say do a complete rebuid on the engine. Then take care of it and it will give you the time of your life!

Krutch

I looked back to see it is an '81 FLT.

 

Think Jim's or S&S hyd. lifters please they cost yes but you'll be a happy camper in the long run and you can still run a big cam . Solids were the **** 20 yrs ago you didn't have much choice over the junk HD used that isn't the case now better tech is available . You adjust solids with a cold engine fine , a shovel motor will grow or expand almost .070" or more striaght up when at running temp . You lose that much lift off the valves and you have a very noisy motor to boot , I find bent pushrods in shovels with solids particularly the cheapy fat aluminum ones real regular got shoe box full of them .

 

Thanks for all of the feedback. The engine was recently rebuilt by a Harley dealer, so I suspect that any muck in the oil is due to the fact that it was sitting for years without running. It was only used for one season after the rebuild. I did learn a very interesting fact. A friend of mine is a Mopar Hemi purist and he tells me that Harley heads are very much like Hemi heads. The valves are VERY close together and they have the same inward angle that a Hemi does. Apparently, it's very common among Hemi engines to have the valves slightly out of adjustment and what happens is that the two valves can actually "collide" at some point. I think this is exactly what happened because when I pulled the bent intake valve out, I did notice a little notch out of the edge of it. Didn't think much of it at the time, but now that he told me this story, it all makes sense. I think for now, I'm going to try and re-adjust the hydraulics and see how it runs. I have heard from 2 people now on how to adjust them different than what the manual says. The manual says to start with a dry lifter at the low spots on the cam. Insert the pushrods and turn the adjusters all the way down until the lifter bottoms out. Then turn the adjust back 1 1/2 turns. That's what the HD manual says. Seems to me this would provide too much lift and can lead to the problems that seems to have occured.

I'll see what happens. Any more issues and I'll try the solid lifters. No big deal to change or even change back if I wanted to.
Thanks again to all.

 

Nope that works fine for stock shovel lifters and yes they have a very domed compression chamber & close running valves . Shovels didn't have the greatest oiling system or lifters in the world anyway so overlift with the stock hydraulics isn't likely at the age the bike is , they usually collapse instead of pump up too much . Could be the shop who did the R&R didn't check for clearances when they put it together , you have to with new valves or new cam . Most time's bent pushrods & valves contacting were the result over revving or the occasional out of time cam everybody swears they didn't do when I take one apart

 

Well, tonight I put her back together and adjusted the pushrods as suggested with the 4 turn method. As expected, she made a hell of a clatter when started, but as soon as the oil pressure came up, she smoothed out and the noise settled down. Runs better now than it ever has. Now all I have to do is re-jet the carb and she should be ready to ride once again. Might even try to make Sturgis this year...

Thanks for the help all. Now if it would just stop f&^%ing snowing, I might be able to ride this damned thing!

Pictures coming soon...