My experience with Amsoil.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...xperience.html

And why I didn't buy a 103" when they came out. I didn't like the first two items on this list. Notice they have no bushings in the rods and relate that to your issue with the top end rods egg shaped, coincidence? Not everything Harley does each year is an improvement.

 

I am new to HD but I thought the 103 engine used to be the Screamin Eagle engine. I was not aware this was a new engine.

Interesting about the Amsoil. I am not so sure that it is possible the syn oil lost vicosity, since it is a chemical compound, not petroleum oil. At work we use synthtic oil in turbine engines and they get way hotter than any of these engines can create.
I kept the oil that came out of the bike for later disposal and went back after they found all this trouble and looked closely at the oil to try to determine if it was the proper weight. The dealer was wondering if maybe one of their mechanics might have put the wrong oil in the engine at the 1000 mile serives. Of course it was at room temperature, but it is definitely 20-50 wt oil I removed at the 5000 mile service. I do not think the oil had a thing to do with the desicion by HD to replace then engine, I think it was primarily due to the egg shaped rod ends.
From the past racing experience in motorcross, I have seen some remarkable things as a result of synthetic oil. One of the kids changed the oil in his bike, while his girl friend was there, she was a looker and distracted him during this task. He forgot to refill it with fresh oil. He went to the starting line and raced hard about 5 laps with no oil at all in the engine or tranny, untill it started making a noise. He pulled into the pits and shut it down. I repaired it for him by replacing the jug, piston and rigs due to the rings galding on the cyclinder. Inspected cams, crank, tranny and all were well inside normal tolerances. This was unbelievable to me.
I am sold on it for sure.
Sorry you had bad luck with the syn oil but glad you did not have a bunch of damage.

 

Dealer called me yesterday around 08:30 to tell me my bike is ready to pick up. YEAHHHHHHHHH. The do not open till 10 AM. They said the new engine is installed and they have put about 100 miles on it to check it out. All is good and it is ready to go. They SAY...it is smooth and quite running.

The Dealer has, so far did a great job getting it ready so quick. I rode it to the dealership 10/20. So it took them only 8 days to tear it down find out what was wrong, get the engine from the factory, install it and test ride it. I figure they finished it up the 28th if they called me before they opened the 29th. They offered to deliver it, but I want to talk to them face to face and look the bike over before it leaves the shop, just to make sure there is no scratches or odd stuff going on.

I am out of town working and will not be back in the area till Wednesday or Thursday to pick it up. Bummer.
I will keep you updated on how it does, valve noise wise with the new engine installed.

 

I have a 2013 Ultra Limited with around 2500 miles on it.. When it is cold and under load, NOT idling, I get what appears to be valve noise at around 2500 rpm. After it gets hot , the noise is gone until the next time it cools down.. It is quiet at idle and makes NO valve noise when revved up but is only making the noise going down the road.. There appears to be no loss of power and the dealer says not to worry.. Oil appears nomal color.. Any ideas ??????

 

i had this same noise on my 2013 tri-glide 103. h d change everything that they could think of and i still had the constant rattling noise that you get when you first crank a cold engine. after riding 200 miles and shutting it down for 1 hr and then cranking back up had the noise. took to hd and they found out the flywheel assembly had gone bad. i ask for a new engine and beleive it or not they are putting it in today. new crated motor. its a 2014 103cc going on a 2012 frame.

 

I think the 2014 103" are supposed to be a little more peppy make a few more ft/# torque and a little more hp.

 

My friend has a 2010 (96c.i.) that was totally trashed at about 10,000 miles.

The dealer (under warranty) replaced the upper end and he paid the difference for the "103" upgrade.

He complained about "heat" from day one and I believe that it was the catalytic converter that ruined his engine.
He's got about 15,000 on that rebuild (cat removed) and he's a happy camper.

I, however, have a '13 CVO with the "110", cats removed with true duals and a dyno tune and I also have the "clicking" tappets, but I can live with that with my Rineharts and my tunes

I have complained about a light "knock" at 2800 RPM's but the dealership says not to worry and if I want it to go away, skip the SYN3 and go for dino oil.
I like the SYN3, the bikes under warranty so they can worry about it.
Once the bike is really warm, I keep the RPM's above 2,000 and that seems to eliminate any ugly sounds.

I did put the Wards Parts Werks fan kit on it and I have the dipstick thermometer. At freeway speeds (fans turned off), I check it as soon as I stop for fuel and the oil temp seems to run between 230-240.
With the fans turned on, around town and on two lane roads, the temp runs about 10 degrees or so lower.

 

egg shape rod ends seem to be pretty common since they are not using a bushing in there anymore.

 

Old "I gotta noise" threads never die.

 

ain't that the truth! if i worried about every noise this crazy machine made i wouldn't get any sleep.