It's still too GD cold here to ride but as soon as I get it out I'll be doing the oil change so I will let you know how it works out.

I'm pretty confident the noise will be gone.

 

I would be interested to see if it works out for you or not. I suspect that it is to much clearance between the shafts and the rocker support allowing them to move. This slop is what is supposed to get taken up with the lock outs. When I did mine 2 were snug and 2 just dropped in. The consensus that I have found with the noise appears around the 2700rpm mark.

 

Indeed you are correct, between 2200 and 2700 rpm to be more specific.

I did the rocker lockers on mine as well, all were snug going in and though there may still be some clearance I'd say it helped some with the noise but not a lot. Definitely didn't solve the problem.

I will definitely come back and post the results of the dino oil, like I said I'm convinced or I have myself convinced that this is going to solve the noise issue based on the research I did on viscosity ratings of the synthetics vs petroleum based oils.

That being said I also still think the synthetics are better oils and protect better but I have to find something that works better if this is the issue.

 

I had a lot of valve train noise also, so bad that I was short shifting so i didn't have to listen to it. I'm not willing to use a non synthetic oil so I started looking for ways to quieten it down. First I installed rocker lockers or rock outs, I forget which one and they helped a little. When I put them in I noticed the rocker box seemed a little too dry. I kept looking for ways to quieten it down and I found a post about some Johnson hi lift lifters from WFO Larry that supposedly pump about 10% more oil up the pushrods. I called Larry and talked to him about them and ended up getting his 842SE lifters. I installed them last Saturday and rode about 350 clatter free miles on Sunday running it up over 5k several times. It may not be everyone's problem but now I'm convinced my lifters weren't getting enough oil to the top end.

 

ran a new set of night prowlers until ~3000k miles on them then started having tapping at start up cold and hot. replaced them with the johnson hylifts and engine has been quiet as as hell since.

 

I have had great success in keeping my top end quiet.
#1 and the most important is keeping the engine running cool. Ultra Cool oil cooler and Love Jugs did the trick.
#2 Lucas Upper Cylinder Lubricant. 4 ounces every other tank and my bike runs super quiet.
Hope that helps

 

I did rocker lockers. New rocker cradles. Roller rockers.
Adjustable push rods. Nothing worked. Except
Specto 25 65 oil.

 

Hi all,
My 15 RGS with 36k on her had noisy lifters. Not bad enough for HD to replace on my ESP. I'm a Spectro rep and switched out to a combo of 2 qts 20w-50 full synthetic and 2 qts 25-60 dino after talking with their tech department. It was and still cool here but that did quiet it down substantially but not completely. Last week had Yellowstone HD replace crap stock lifters with S&S premium lifters and SE quickie pushrods. All quiet now but haven't had the chance to take more than a 100 mile ride and its still chilly here. Stock lifter rollers were all frosted. YMMV......goldie

 

OK...i was informed that one either cannot or should not mix viscosities. And here you go bringing on the apocalypse. What kind of mad man are you?

 

Thanks for posting your results. Replacing parts was what I was wondering about. Now I know to keep my wallet in my pocket.