Finally got around to installing Rocker Lockers to help quiet the valve train up some.


I have a 2002 CVO Road King, 103CID, with high compression CNC ported SE heads and big cams. I love everything about the performance, but it sounds like a "meat grinder". The valve train is really loud in the 2000-3000rpm range.


I've tried tight lashing the lifters but it really didn't do much for the noise, so I installed Rocker Lockers to keep the rocker arms shafts from pounding against the hold down bolts.


The job was really easy, I just removed the seat, tank bolts, console/wiring, and blocked the tank up enough to get the valve covers off and rocker arm hold down bolts removed. Slid the brass sleeves in place, bolted everything back down and good to go. The entire job took just over an hour.


I noticed when inspecting the hold down bolts that they had bright/shiny spots on them where the rocker shafts had been pounding on them. The rear cylinder was hitting a lot harder than the front, but all the bolts had all the black coating gone and getting pretty highly polished from all the contact with the shafts.


After the install I took the bike for a ride hoping all the noise would be gone, but it's still clacking pretty hard past 2000rpm's. The "heavier" noise is gone, but I'm still having to listen to quite a bit of "clatter".


So good news on getting the noise reduced some, and for sure the rocker shafts were pounding away pretty hard on the retaining bolts, so we cured that portion of the noise.


The rest of the clatter is from the "aggressive" cams used for this build. I have a good friend who did a similar engine and has to deal with the same thing.


I'm still going to replace the lifters next week, just in case they aren't up to the task of handling this engine build. I order genuine Hylift Johnson high performance lifters with the pin oiling feature. Not sure if they are going to do much for noise either, but at least I'll sleep a little better at night knowing the Delphi lifters have been replaced with better parts.......Cliff

 

So where did you get these Rocker Lockers at? I would like to try them on a stock 103.

 

Thanks for fixing that formatting- the original post was impossible to read.

mike

 

I got the information from this thread:


https://www.hdforums.com/forum/new-r...t-is-over.html


The contact info for the parts is:


Autonews2@yahoo.com

 

==============================================

Again,try what i rec in your prior posts which i pasted for you below because it (spectro 25-60) should reduce valve train noise vs the 20-50 your currently running especially with the more aggressive aftermarket pef cams & hvy dty valve springs you running that cause more lifter bleedown & noise when the motor & oil is hot & thinned while at the same time reducing oil pressure 10+ psi which can also add to valve train noise issues too.

But keep in mind when the motor and oil are somewhat over heated/heat soaked on a hot day thats another story which i also suggested you address in prior post by going after the root cause of oil thinning when the HD motor overheats the oil also adding to valve train noise issues too which was to install wards cooling fans with an ultracool oil cooler with dual elec fans that collectively working together reduced oil temp 50+ deg on my bike.

So with your valve train noise issues thats something you also need address because oil temp being reduced 50+ deg which reduces thinning of oil resulting in less lifter beelding down due to the heavy std valve springs your running along with significantly increased /higher oil pressure when hot along the 25-60 oil make the hyd lifters stay pumped up better .

That results in less noise as long as lifters arent defective to begin with like being mfg'd with wrong/incorrect /too much clearance between lifter body and plunger that i have personally run into problems with a couple times over the past 6-8yrs with std -flat & or roller type hyd automotive lifters since mfg went off shore some yrs back causing issues.

Getting the oil running 50deg cooler by installing the 2 cooling mods i rec along with also running the spectro 25-60 oil at the same time should reduce valve train noise while increasing oil pressure enough that there would be no need to open up motor again to install a high pressure spring in pump or replace pump (like you said you may do in a prior post) to increase oil pressure when root cause of lower oil pressure had always been oil getting too hot in the 1st place.

Before adding 2 cooling mods to my hd oil pressure on a 90 deg day was 8-10psi at idle & 32-35psi @ cruise with valve train noisey when hot too.

Then after installing the 2 cooling mods reducing oil temp 50+ deg on same 90 deg outside cond oil pressure hot is 16-17psi & hot cruise is 45-48psi all the time along with the valve train now staying nice & quiet too .

So thats an approx 8-9psi increase in hot idle oil pressure & approx 13-16psi increase in hot cruise oil pressure due to reducing hot oil by 50+ deg f which is a lot negating any need to upgrade oil pump spring or pump itself to increase hot oil pressure.

I was using the same mfg's oil & grade before & after installing the 2 cooling mods which was sepctro motorcycle oil in 20w-50 in std dino and then tried their full syn too and both performed better then when i had syn3 syn & m1 v-twin syn both in 20-50 in the motor.

So bottom line is if you do all the above as rec the least that could happen is your oil/motor will run cooler and oil pressure with be significantly increased which is a win win right there .

Best case would also be the valve train is significantly quieter too which i think the oil/motor running cooler with 2 cooling mods installed resulting in less thinning of oil significantly increasing hot oil pressure along with running the thicker 25-60 oil that specifically mfg'd for hd's should help reduce valve noise at the same time too.

Happy motoring!

Scott

http://www.spectroshop.com/heavy-dut...60/prod_60.htm



Heavy Duty
Spectro Heavy Duty Engine Oil is a superior motor lubricant designed specifically for use in American-made HarleyŽ V-Twin engines. Crafted from superior petroleum stocks combined with the most advanced anti-wear, anti-carbon additive systems available, Spectro Heavy Duty extends component life, reduces wear, eliminates valve sticking. Meets all known OEM warranty requirements. Exceeds A.P.I. SF/SG – CD/CG - 4.
Price: $8.93

 

Mine went into the shop this morning to get the Rocker Lockers installed. Also going to shim the rocker arms while they have it apart. My dealer is anxious to see (hear) the results.

 

Scott, I plan on changing to the higher viscosity oil at the next service.


I also want to make sure I've got Hylift Johnson lifters in the engine and not Delphi lifters, which are not USA made. I ordered their "SE" series lifters with the positive pin oiling feature for added insurance with this application. They are designed for high performance applications, the "S" series are slow bleed, with ultra-tight internal tolerances, and specifically designed for higher spring loads, and the added lift/duration and seating velocities of aftermarket camshafts.


I have a thread running on the lifter topic here, (it's automotive but still related to lifters used in HD engines) as we've done a LOT of research lately on lifters, cams, and cam cores:


http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=778724


It's a lengthy read but there is some very good information to be found there.


I'm already certain that a good bit of the noise my engine makes is simply from the "aggressive" cam profiles. They aren't very gentle on the top end and these engines have relatively "heavy" parts in them, and it's somewhat of an antiquated design, so an aggressive camshaft is certainly going to add to the noise levels.


I'd also add here that I've put quite a bit of time/miles on this engine, and thrashed it pretty hard on the dyno, and it's flawless. So basically the noise isn't hurting anything that I can tell or nothing has broken yet for sure.


When this is all said and done, I'm still going to have a noisy valve train, but at least I'll know I've got good parts in there, and it's not grinding anything up, and more or less just the "nature of the beast"......Cliff

 

Here's a good video on rocker lockers.

 

Oil related topics go here: https://www.hdforums.com/forum/oil-a...ted-topics-30/

This thread is about Rocker Lockers.

You have literally posted this exact Post 43 times. Copy and paste.

How do we put someone on Ignore? Whoop Whoop! I just figured it out.

 

+1 I just ordered the rocker lockers, I would like to here more comments about them. There are hundreds of oil threads.