Why yes it is a dinasoar pushrod design sitting in the open air just 24" away from your ear, not your grannys overhead cam super smoothie buried under sheetmetal and insulation 6' away. Maybe that's why you hear the valve train noise...JMHO. I did notice a little more noise when I switched to syn 3 at the 1000 mi service.

 

I get some valve train noise on my 2011 103", but not bad. Overall noise from the drive train is much less then my 09 or 07 was, especially 5th gear. Tranny noise is non-existant except in 1st gear. No starter clunk either. When I wear a 3/4 I hear nothing from the drive train except a little bit of the pipes, wind, shifts, or radio. When I wear a 1/2, I hear some top end valve train noise, but nothing bad.

I have noticed the heat management system seems to kick in fast on the 11 103" when in traffic and it's hot. I would almost say it kicks in earlier then the 09 96" I had? Not sure. Maybe just because the crotch shields don't let me know how hot the engine really is unless I have been sitting a while.

 

Three things, if you are using Synthetic, go back to Dino Oil, if you dont have a tune, (PCV) get one, and the real reason is probably Shitty GAS.
I got a tank full of bad gas when I was in Hot Springs at the Hog Rally several weeks back, the fricking bike sounded like a Hay Bailer, terrible, noisy no power, ran like ****, got to a EXXON in Texas and filled it up, and issue went away.

Just saying.......

 

Try running RED LINE OILS, It has cut engine noise by half. Had bad clutch noise, ran Red Line Tranny oil, better. 2010 Ultra Limited.

 

I was concerned with the noise also, but I guess it's normal. I usually have the tunes cranked up, so I don't fixate on it.

 

Bud light is right put redline in my bike it quieted down a lot I am using 10w40 for the winter, i also notice that free flowing pipes make my engine sound louder, i think its due to the exhaust gas pressure wave, when you add aftermarket pipes changing the back-pressure this changes the pattern of the exhaust gas pulse. So what happens in theory the fact that there is no constant pressure pushing against the exhaust valves to keep the valve-train tight on the exhaust side causes some rattle and the p-wave from the exhaust gas is allowed to flow uninterrupted back up until it hits the valve causing a "tick" as a result of the wave crashing into the valve. I have tested this many times with all types of mufflers and all the pipes with internal chambered baffle design made the engine a lot quieter.

 

Had a noise develop in my 2011 ultra limited. took it to the dealer and they replaced the bearing on in the transmission. i had 4500 miles on it. my buddies started at 1000 miles. both of us got our bikes back and the transmisiion noise is gone but the front cylinder is noisy. I have listened to both of our bikes and they sound pretty much the same. The dealership is saying it is normal that the 103 is noisy. I hope that if there is a problem that it shows itself before the warrranty expires. the trans. bearing i was told they had got some bad bearings at the factory. the dealer i use has only had the problems on the limiteds for some reason.

 

been using synthetic for over 30 years....and recently switched back to dino...and I have to agree....as I scratch my head and say wtf

 

Mine does the same thing at 2800 rpm.It's either pinging or valvetrain noise.
Ear plugs help alot!

 

Thank you!!
Finally someone else has it at 2800 rpm. I wrote about this when I first got my RG.103. I cant believe I've finally accepted this noise and have gotten use to it. Plus ear plugs do help alot
I am not referring to pinging. I use to have it till I got PC5