I have a stock ( except for exhaust) 03 Heritage with 32k mi. At apprx. 30K due to engine sounding slightly different, I had the stock camchain tensioner shoes replaced and screaming eagle adjustable pushrods installed. The work was done by a friend who has worked at my local HD dealership as a mechanic for over 10 years.
The originial cam tensioner shoes were in fair shape, about 1/3 worn.
I rode the bike to Daytona ( approx 1k mi. round trip) and on the return trip, noticed the valve train similiar to my old solid lifter iron head sportster.
I removed the cam chest cover,... shoes, chains, etc all looked like new.. changed engine oil, readjusted my lifter pre load to 2 1/2 turns and the noises were gone.... I thought. When the engine is cold it sounds fine. But, when the engine is hot at certain rpm's it sounds like the solid lifter sporster. Whats strange is the noises seem to come and go. I bought this bike new and have never abused the engine and have serviced it religiously.
The bike runs great and uses no oil but this noise bothers me
I seek and would appreciate expert advice.
Thanks in Advance.

 

Sounds like a lifter is heading south.
I'd grab a set, and then load the lifters to .140-.150", and might not be a bad idea to install an oil pressure shim, or spring at the same time.
BTW, what flavor oil are your running??
Scott

 

Hi Scott,
Over the years I've tried many different 20w50 oils, even ran 15w40 during the winter. At this time I'm running Vavoline 20w50 motorcycle oil. I usually change around 2500-3000 miles.
The noise sounds like all the vavles have some lash, not just 1. And it seems to change daily.
What brand lifter would you recommend?
I will shim the spring in the oil pump. Maybe I should have gone with the new Harley upgrade kit with the larger oil pump and camplate. I could not decide between the gear drive and the new style kit so I figured I had another 30k miles to decide. Which due you prefer?
Is swapping out the lifters a big job? I'm familiar with Shovelheads but due to the newer engines needing less maintanence, I'm not tooo familiar with the twincam...yet.
Thanks for your reply.

 

We use H-D lifters here in almost all our builds.
If you have pulled lifters on Shovels, your T/C shold be a piece of cake.
If you run into a snag, just holler.
Scott