I have an 09 Street Glide with approx 18000km (approx 11000 miles) Took it for it's 1st big trip last weekend and after riding for more than 8hrs and letting the bike cool down over night, I noticed that there is a very loud clacking sound when it's cold....almost like the lifters arnt pressuring up,(I know the bike has solid lifters) noise is there until the engine reaches operating temp or it's riden for 1/2 hour then noise is gone for the rest of the day till the engine is cold again. Bike is going in for broken fairing brackets and front tire this week, just wondering if anyone has the same issue and or what they did to get rid of the noise.....I also have a 2010 Street Glide and that thing is as quiet as a mouse, no valvetrain noise what so ever...engine are all built the same, same parts, but some are noisier than others, so I've been told by HD.....but this very loud clacking noise shouldn't be considered normal....any suggestions?

 

The hand book states that valve train noise should settle after a few mins on starting, however if there appears to be excess noise it should be chcked out. In my opinion if its as you've described I'd get it checked.

Reddog GB

 

My bike is just now back home after spending a week in the shop. I explained to the tech that I had what I initially thought was excessive valve train noise but was now leaning toward primary noise. Almost sounded like chain slap. It went away once the bike was at full operating temp. When first taking off it was very loud at and above 2600rpm's. When I would decelerate I could hear it too. It turned out that my clutch hub bearing was bad (29K on bike). It had walked on the shaft over to the inner primary wall and was smacking against it. The tech thought that maybe it went away once there was enough oil around the bearing to act as a cushion. My chain needed replaced too, as almost all of the rollers were pitted and most had visible dents in them from excess pressure from the too tight chain. I don't know if this is your issue at all, but my bike is soooo quiet now it's awesome again. Good luck.

 

Q: (If this is your problem?)

A hydraulic lifter, also known as a hydraulic tappet or a hydraulic lash adjuster, is a device for maintaining zero valve clearance in an internal combustion engine. The conventional means of adjusting valve actuation always requires a small clearance to be left between the valve and its rocker or cam follower to allow for thermal expansion and wear. The hydraulic lifter was designed to ensure that the valve train always operates with zero clearance, leading to quieter operation and eliminating the need for periodic adjustment of valve clearance.

The hydraulic lifter consists of a hollow expanding piston situated between the camshaft and valve. It is operated either by a rocker mechanism, or in the case of one or more overhead camshafts , directly by the camshaft. The lifter is filled with engine oil intermittently from an oil gallery via a small drilling. When the engine valve is closed, the lifter is free to fill with oil. When the valve is opening and the lifter is being operated by the camshaft, the oil feed is blocked and the lifter acts just as a solid one would, oil being incompressible.



A: (You are use cheap oil or your oil level is low in your bike.)

 

20oz lucas oil treatement wiht your oil changes... goodbye sound! works great i have a built motor and mine even went away

 

It has hydraulic lifters if it's stock........

 

I sorry I don't buy that answer. almost everyone I talk to that has 10-15k mile has a lot of what sounds to be lifter noise. I had it on the 05 EGC and I have it on the 09 EGC I have how. I started with dino oil until the first 1k service and switched to syn3. somewhere around 10k I started noticing the lifter noise.I'm at 16k now. I switched to Redline in all 3 hole the last service and it may be a slight bit quieter but not much. I've asked the very same question on this forum and was told,

1) it's a harley get used to it
2) buy earplugs
3) wear a helmet

I love my Harley and wouldn't get anything else, but it it is a little hard to get used to it sounding like a Ford diesel. I've had people tell me they tried throwing money at it replacing lifters with no change. The only answer I can come up with is I wear a 3/4 helmet and keep the radio loud

 

Cadman311....no, the oil level is where it's suppose to be and I have only used HD oil in it...and it's not synthetic...I was told engine noise would increase if I used synthetic.

 

I was checking on the lucas oil treatment and found this link

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm

 

Also a buddy was telling me that for '10' HD changed the springs in the lifters to a stronger spring so there's less valetrain noise, so I'm wondering if a person put lifters in from a 10 if that would quieten it down.....