First of all I amNOT complaining about the following:
1) I'm not complaing about the 5th gear tranny noise, thewhine,yes I know its normal due to the spur gear cut.After warranty expires I will go for theBaker F6F kit to change out the gear to a helical cut.
2) I'm not complaining about Spark Knock, the ping on hard acceleration caused by poor tuning or at least in the case of my 07 Deluxe the EPA.
3) I'm not complaining about Clatter,caused by cheap fuel, I use premium. andI knowHarley'sjust sound like, so save anycomments about that.In the case of 6th gear clatter, the manual states shift at 55 mph, NOT, lugs the engine and I have learned not to shift until about 65, went away after that.

Now to my noise that ICAN'T figure out. Please only respond with ideas of what is wrong or how it might be fixed, responding that you have the same thing, but not telling me how you fixed it does not help me or someone else that might be looking to figure out the same problem. It is only present for the first 1/2 mile of riding, yes I know its weird and frustrating. After about 1/2 mile it goes away. The noise sounds like how many desrcribe a rock in a can. It happens when I drive over rough road but it goes away. It only happens when the bike has been sitting a while (over 30 minutes) happens even if the bike has been warmed up 5 minutes. I though maybe forks but that would continue to make the sound at every rough spot in road? I thought maybe primary chain hitting casing? But would it just stop a 1/2 mile down the road, I am not exactly sure the workings of the primary adjuster, could it be slack at first then tighten up? Or lastly an actual problem in the engine? I did change to Royal Purple in justthe engine at 8000 miles I am now at 10,000. Is it possible that oil is not lubricating properly at idle and is making something rattle on rough rough road.I could swear it is coming for the top end under thefuel tank, but that could just be an echo effect.Any help would be appreciated.

 

By any chance do you have the Finned Head Bolt Covers ? I have them and had the same problem,1 of the Allen bolts that hold them on came a little loose and the would make a weird sound like that, and as it got hot It went away... Tighten them up and noise is gone.. Hope this may help

 

I found the noise, it was the bolts holding the horn bracket to the engine.

[IMG]local://upfiles/37977/F1AB7EA7A3614F3FA035551B58C13C87.jpg[/IMG]

 

I have been trying to trace down a similar noise. See post: https://www.hdforums.com/m_2381260/tm.htm

Man I hope that is my problem too. Like you I suspected the forks or even something behind the headlight nacelle. Mine does the same thing, when bike is cold the sound is very profound, but as the bike warms up it goes away. Kinda makes sense since the horn bracket bolts are screwed into the top of the heads. As head temp rises the metal expands and tightens up against the bolt.How did you find the solution? I will check my bolts in the morning.

 

That"horn bracket" is the top motor mount. No wonder it made noise.They should have a little blue loc-tite on them and be torqued.