I am looking for some re-assurance. I am new to Harley. I have an 03 Road King that I purchased 1 year ago. Great Bike, and I have not had a bit of trouble with it. I have put around 7,000 miles on the bike. It has almost 11,000 on it now. I have an engine knock that comes in at the high end of each gear range. When I am in 5th gear cruising at 65/70 it is almost constant. You do not hear it under acceleration, just when you reach top speed at each gear range. It is a fairly rapid knock, not overly load, and will go away when you let off the throttle. I switched to Sys3 synthetic oil and that made no differance. Is this normal or is there something going on that I should be addressing? I see there is no valve adjustment on my engine, so I'm a bit worried. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

If it were me, I would take it to the dealer and let them check it out. Unless you have a loose bracket somewhere, knocks are never a good thing.

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Yes - it should still be under warranty. Have it checked asap - not sure what exactly you mean by an engine knock, but, that would be worrysome to me too.

 

that cant be good, and usually gets worse! have it checked out please let us know what they find!!

 

being new to harleys myself, i was a little bit concerned at first too.....the valve train makes a lot of noise on my road king, but the other harleys i rode do the same thing.
take it to the dealer, let them check it out.

 

Interesting. My 05 R/K engine is noise free up to the redline 5200 RPM. No knocks or valve noise at all.[:-]

 

I have a 2003 EG and I also get a knocking sound in the higher ranges. Look in you 2003 owner's manual and there should be a blurb about auto advancing or retarding the timing slightly as you accelerate and states that noise as normal. I don't have the manual in front of me but it is in there. I also attribute it to hearing more because of the batwing fairing acting as a noise enhancer for the engine. Just put louder pipes on it and it will go away

 

Thanks to all for the help and advice. I called Harley, and also visited the dealer. Both told me that the noise is normal. They also told me that not all engines have the noise. Harley said the engines are still hand assembled and each one is unique. They also said no 2 Harley engines sound exactly alike. I went to Jim's web site and found some additional information. There are aftermarket valve train parts that will illiminate the noise. I am convinced Harley does have valve train problems from what I have read. There are many folks out there that have had major engine damage. I think I will ride her for the summer, and tear her down this winter. I think I will be going with Jim's recommendations for parts. I will keep everyone updated. Thanks again. Paul

 

Here is what I am talking about according to the 2003 Touring Manual page 214 under IGNITION:

"The ignition control unit monitors engine load; in certain transient conditions (as the throttle is opened) the timing changes from normal to fully advanced. At this point, the operator can sometimes hear a noise similar to pre-ignition detonation.

This noise should not be confused with detonation.............This noise doesn't affect engine performance."

Unless your bike has been abused, I wouldn't be too concerned about all the noises.

 

I have a 05 King & have knock as well. Seems like it is coming from the front of the engine. I only have 600 miles on her so I will see after the 1000 mile tune up.