Hello to all, new to this forum and I think its great. I bought a 94 Electraglide in November
so I dident get a chance to ride it, but I herd it run and it sounded fine ( I thought ) Well, I
got it out this spring and noticed some, what I thought was rocker arm noise. Took it to a few different local shops and got a few different answers. One guy told me to turn the radio up,
( wont be going back there ) The general consensus was at 54000 mi I should think about a
new cam and lifters. Had the cam and lifters changed ( one lifter was bad ) and got the bike back
and the noise is worse. The mechanic said something about the cam and crank gears. Looking
for opinions, this is my first HD and I dont know all the noises these bikes make, some say the sound is normal. Thanks

 

I thought I had the same problem,I noticed it more when I was riding. Turned out to be my hard bags, The lower rail that the bag sits on has like a 6 inch rubber hose around it front and back seems the one in the front slipped to the rear which made the hardbag vibrate on the lower rail, fixed it problem solved. I don't know if this is your problem but it's worth checking out. .......also make sure your bags are tight , It's amazing how you can here the rattling over the loudness of the bike.

 

Slide the rocker arm shafts out and see what they look like.
Mine were wore out and made a heck of a racket near 100k miles.
Shouldn't take but an hour.

Good luck.

 

Engine noises are funny things, sometimes being the last thing you'd think of.
I kept hearing a decidedly "tingling" sound, and after several rides with my head hanging down to one side then the other,(not recommended riding posture,BTW), I discovered it was the enrichment lever that was loose, and vibrating to beat Hell!
Sometimes it aint what you think!

 

I went crazy trying to find what was wrong with my evo. I leaned on it one day and found one of the clamps holding the heat shield on the exhaust was loose. Tightend the clamp no more noise.

 

Welcome to the forum! And welcome to the oft flustrating world of HD's.

They do make noises. They aren't automobiles, lawnmowers, airplanes, or Goldwings. And no two EVO's willsound alike, because of the variety of mods that may have been done to them. The 'newest' EVO is almost ten years old...That's why we got our own thread now.

That being said, I wonder why someone (qualified mechanic)would install a cam with the wrong gear on it. If that's what he thinks is making the noise. HD EVO cam gears are color coded, it's always 'best' to just press the old gear off and install it on the new cam. Duh, he should've known that. Oh, and I really, really hope that when whomever did the cam install, if it was an aftermarket cam...Replaced that INA bearing with a Torrington. Again, that is 'common practice', with any cam swap.

Wash the bike...Trust me on this...Take your time and touch, wiggle, and inspect every thing that is bolted, nutted, wiretiedor otherwise held on in any sort of manner. Like was posted, it doesn't take much to make these bikes 'chatter'...Even a rubber mounted 'glide will clang, ting, etc. if anything is loose. Hell my saddlebags make all sorts of racket at idle if they're empty. Locktite and thread sealer are your friends...As are torque wrenches (which really are a necessity with certain repairs).

Get the FSM (factory service manual) and the FPM (factory parts manual). The 94 has some slight differences from earlier and later models. Wiring mostly. Invest in a jack and if you've got the $$$ get a stand (so you don't have to work with the bike on the jack). And do you're own routine service on the bike: Oil changes, clutch adjustments, cable lubes, wheel bearings (the 94 has 'packable' bearings-not sealed), belt adjustments, etc. Stuff that's gonna cost ya more in time andaggravation, if someone else does it, than in money.