New noise today
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2011
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From: No where near you, OH
New noise today
I went for a ride today and a new noise came up. It's a tapping or clanging type of noise coming from somewhere near the front cylinder on the right side at idle. Had a couple backfires while going around 75 mph on the way home too. It's got 77,000+ miles on it. Bought the bike a couple of years ago and the previous owner didn't give me a whole lot of info on it's history. But it ran great and is in pretty good shape for an old bike so I bought it. So the question is because of the tons of reading I've done here I've read about collapsed lifters. In any of your opinions is this an indication of a collapsed lifter and if so what do I have to do to find out if it is?
Tourer
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 401
Likes: 19
From: Middleboro, MA USA
I'm no expert, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express. A bad lifter makes an attention getting tapping sound. Not sure about the clanging type of noise you mentioned. The sick lifters I've heard made a loud tapping. If you gently raise the RPMs in neutral, the bad lifter might tap louder. That was my experience.
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2011
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From: No where near you, OH
I would say tapping would be a more accurate description. My hearing is crap so my head was as close to the engine as I could get to verify where it was coming from. I wear ear plugs occasionally and without the wind noise I heard it at 75 mph. At idle it's very noticeable. Revving it up makes it louder as you mentioned. All I can tell is it's coming from the lower part of the front cylinder but the lifter blocks are there which is why I'm guessing it's a collapsed lifter.
HDF Community Team
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 5,376
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From: NC USA
May be wishful thinking but...
I dropped off a ramp for fuel in Nebraska once and just knew I'd either dropped a valve seat or lost a lifter halfway up the ramp. Hell of a racket that changed with RPMs too. It was a broken tab on the upper front heat shield. Ha! Wrapped a hose clamp around the outside and went on with my trip. So check that heat shield before you go adding up parts
Hope that's all it is on yours.
I dropped off a ramp for fuel in Nebraska once and just knew I'd either dropped a valve seat or lost a lifter halfway up the ramp. Hell of a racket that changed with RPMs too. It was a broken tab on the upper front heat shield. Ha! Wrapped a hose clamp around the outside and went on with my trip. So check that heat shield before you go adding up parts
Hope that's all it is on yours.
Last edited by t150vej; Aug 11, 2019 at 11:41 PM.
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2011
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From: No where near you, OH
I'll check for loose heat shields before I get further into it. I replaced one last year because the tabs on the back side broke off. It backfired a couple of times on the way home on a flat stretch which caught my attention. I have new intake and exhaust seals and gaskets which I've tested for leaks after I put them on and all is good. The S&S super e that's on it is running a little rich so I've ruled the lean condition out of the equation. It was a preventative maintenance thing I did this spring. Far as the cam bearing and everything else I'll have to further diagnose things as I go. Process of elimination I guess
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