Well, here we go. Sorry in advance for the long story.
I was just about home on my ride from work yesterday. Stopped at my mailbox and noticed that the bike sounded a little strange. I ride with earplugs and stereo on most of the time. As soon as I removed the earplugs and turned down the stereo, I realized that it was not a little strange but a LOTTA strange. Believe me, I’m used the typical HD valve train noise and have been listening to that sweet music for the last year and 9,000 miles since I bought the 09. This is that same exact noise only WAY, WAY louder. It also seemed to shake a lot more than normal at idle. My first thought was to look at the OP gauge and I had pressure. So I shut it down and pushed it up my road into the garage. Checked engine and tranny fluid and they were both topped off and normal. I didn’t pull the derby cover. Any ideas??
To continue, I call the service dept at the dealer to tell them my story and set up an appointment. I have a big trip planned and am leaving next Friday morning for 4 days and a couple thousand miles. So I am stressing but have already made up my mind that I am going to remain calm, confident and professional when I call the dealer. After I describe the symptoms and tell them that the engine and tranny fluid levesl all check out, this is how the conversation goes:
Service Person: “Are you using synthetic oil?”
Clint: “ Yes, the same exact Amsoil that you guys sell.”
Service Person: “Well that’s probably your problem, these bikes are noisier with synthetics like Amsoil.”
Clint: “This is not the oil and the noise is brand new and definitely NOT normal.”
Service Person “Do you have a stage 1?”
Clint: “Yes, I have the same exact Power Commander , SEAC and Bub 7’s that you sell.”
Service Person “Is the bike tuned properly?”
Clint: “It seemed to run great until this event and It should be in tune because you guys tuned it on your Dynojet Dynomometer ”.
Service Person: “When was the bike last serviced?”
Clint: “The last scheduled service was the 5K and you guys did it. I changed the oil and tranny fluids at 7,500 and the next scheduled maintenance is the 10K”
Service Person: “OK, bring it in and we’ll take a look at it”

So anyway, that’s where I am. Hope all of this works out. BTW. Anybody know if my HOG / Road America plan will haul from my house to the dealer, or do I have to push it back out into the road and call from there.

 

Hell id prolly ride it.. Its is still running

 

My dealer will come pick my bike up.

 

Its the ear plugs.

When you first remove them EVERYTHING is louder and the high pitch of the valvetrain really stands out.

DONT remove the plugs until you stop the motor. Wait a couple hours and go ride it without the plugs and see if everything sounds normal then!

 

Ditto... It has to do with allowing the ears to rest.... I had similar feelings until I did a short ride without the ear plugs.. Everything all normal...

 

Good luck. Hopefully they'll do the right thing and fix it on up without a bunch of BS.

 

Do the ear plugs have to be dyno tuned too? <g>
By the way, you were kidding, right?

 

Whenever I ride without ear plugs, I get freaked out at the "new" noises I hear. Ear plugs and a good set of speakers makes all the difference in the world.

 

Hey, thanks for the reponses. Even the cocky ones!!! That's what I love about you guys. If I can't take it then I don't get to dish it out!!!

I just went out and fired it up and the "noise" is NOT the "normal" noise. Wife agrees with me. Also, DEFINITELY more shake at idle then ever before and more difficult to find neutral.

And to to top that off, my ABS light is flashing and my rear fender tail lamps are out.

Anyway, it is what it is, so I'll just have to keep a positive attitude and deal with it.

 

I am curious if you are having an electrical problem causing the timing to be off? Maybe worth a try to reset the ecm. Are you talking with legends in Wenatchee? Mark the service manager there seems to be a pretty straight up guy. Good luck