Good, well I guess it's morning now, gents. I had a thread about the softail slim last week and I found a dealer close by that had one for rent, so I took it for a couple hundred mile test drive. I liked it a lot and I think I'm going to go see about picking one up on Tuesday... With the 2015's coming out the salesman seemed pretty motivated to sell. I do have one question though, about the 103 in general.

When starting up the rental slim for the day I noticed a lot of clatter coming from the engine, but quickly dismissed it as reverb from the windshield it had on it. It didn't sound like it was a problem with running, just sounded like valve train noise. As the ride went on I kept thinking about it more and more, it seemed like it was the prevailing noise even at highway speed with wind noise. I wound up parking it at a gas station and listening to it around the bike and even if there was an amplification from the windshield sitting on the bike, it was still really loud off of and around the bike. The noise was constant in volume but changed with revs, there was no "hot spot" in the rpm band that made it better or worse.

My sportster has screaming eagle slip ons with aftermarket baffles that really don't do a lot of baffling so my frame of reference may be skewed, but even crouched down by the motor on my sporty the valve train noise is nowhere near as loud as the 103 was.

So my question, is the 103 generally a loud engine as far as valve train noise is concerned? The rental had like 1500 miles on it so I have a tough time seeing how a dealership owned bike could have been improperly maintained or abused in that short of a timeframe that I assume could cause that issue. It was even the GM that showed me the bike, and I'd guess that he would've noticed something if it was being weird.

I'll have the salesman start it for me when I go to possibly buy it Tuesday, but I just wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts on the matter first... I googled around a bit and didn't find much.

Thanks everyone!

 

Yeah, I thought the 103 was pretty loud too, when I made the jump from the 88. You get used to it. Loud pipes will do the trick

 

My Slim has the same valve train noise, more pronounced with running Syn3 in it. I am going to make the switch to Amsoil on my next oil change to see if that alleviates the noise issue some...it didnt make that much noise when I was running the regular HD 20/50 oil (stock). From what a couple of wrenches in my HOG chapter tell me, Amsoil should do the trick...

 

At my 1K service I switched over to synthetics.
The engine "clatter" cut down almost completely...
Before that I could drop my head down behind the windshield and it was LOUD.
Not anymore...

 

I also noticed the magnitude of the clatter. Honestly, even after the 1k mi service, where they changed the engine and primary oil to Syn3, it still pretty pronounced. I would like to hear if there is any other method to reduce this......thanks.

 

our 103 has the chatter as well, and since my hearing isnt the best i was wondering if the noise was from the primary.. after reading this im gonna listen a little closer to the top end

 

I figured that would help drown it out a bit. I gave my Sporty another listen this morning when I got to work and I guess I think that my Evo motor in that makes more noise than I thought (but still less than the Slim), I just can't hear it over the pipes unless I'm listening for it.

I think I will take that advice as well, I do like the Amsoil.

This is good to know, thanks for chiming in!

You know, it might be primary noise in part as well, but I didn't notice much of an audible difference on either side or the front, the only think that the back was the only place I could hear the exhaust... silly stock pipes. When I have him start it up tomorrow I will listen to the primary side, see if that changes anything.

Thanks for the replies so far guys!

 

My 103 is the loudest motorcycle Ive owned. The valve noise is kind of ridiculous. The bike rocks though

 

Well, bottom line is that I wear ear plugs. Reduces both the clatter and wind noise...but since I upgraded the stock exhaust to SE slip ons, I can actually hear the exhaust note....FWIW.

 

Bought my 2013 Heritage used with 1500 miles on it. It had been changed to HD syn.oil at 1000 miles. There was excessive valve clatter when I bought it. Service manager at the dealership says, "That's normal". At 5000 miles I switched crankcase and primary to Amsoil. If anything the damn engine got noisier in the top end. I was half way expecting it to quiet down some. Go figure???

Prior to the Heritage I owned a Slim for 9 months. Same story, excessive valve train noise. So, to answer your question, Yes, TC 103's are definitely making more noise in the valve train than other HD engines.