I am concidering roller rocker for my 107 build, but keep reading about them being noisey. That does not make sence to me, I would think a quality roller rocker (s&s) would be just as quiet as stock rocker arms.

What is the general concesus on roller rockers?

 

Well I'm not the expert but I think the experts would want to know what lift your cams have before they weigh in. Might throw in info on your headwork if any.

 

Some are more quiet than others but all are noisier than stock. I have only run Jim's and SE rollers, same thing; however, I understand that Crane rollers are less noisy but cannot testify to that as I have not run them.

Unless lift is greater than .600", you are wasting money on rollers. Rollers sound like a sewing machine on steroids. I run .600" lift cams in my all bore 107" '02 FLHT with OEM rockers because the Jim's roller rockers I was running made more noise.

 

I am at .575 lift. Coming from an automotive back ground, I want to believe there would be advantages with rollers

Like
Less friction, that's a plus

More accurate valve timing, that would have to be a good thing.

I just don't understand what makes roller rockers noisey?

 

You are over thinking. The motor is a vtwin, air cooled, pushrod, odd firing design that has basically remained the same for 100 years and spends most of it's life operating life between 2500 and 3500 rpms; no comparison to today's automotive engines.

It's your money, buy whatever you want but, as I said previously, you gain nothing in the way of performance that can be measured by investing in roller rockers. However, they will make more noise than the OEM rockers. Why? I can't answer that but having run them in my own bikes and installing them in others, I can tell you that they will make more noise than the OEM rockers. Heck, you might even like the noise for all I know; your ride, you decide. JMHO.

 

I have S&S roller rockers in my '09 (just because I had a set) and yes they make some noise.