Start up noise
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 156
Likes: 1
From: Pennsylvania
Start up noise
Ok.... Today I started my 13 Classic, less than 300 miles... Engine made a very loud metallic noise... Almost as if it was lacking oil.....??? Wtf? Lasted about 1-2 seconds then normal... I tried several other times starting the bike to see if it would do it again and it never did.
I thought the noise came from the top end, but it caught me off guard, and was gone almost immediately. I did notice that if the bike is warm, and you burp the throttle, it makes a metallic noise also similar to the sound of over tightening a bolt....??? Any input?
I thought the noise came from the top end, but it caught me off guard, and was gone almost immediately. I did notice that if the bike is warm, and you burp the throttle, it makes a metallic noise also similar to the sound of over tightening a bolt....??? Any input?
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,928
Likes: 69
From: Near Myrtle Beach, SC
Could be lifters at start-up you are hearing. Takes a couple of seconds for them their hydraulics to pump-up if the bike has been sitting for a while. The similar sound you are hearing when you "blip" the throttle is more of a mystery. You need to provide more info. Are you sitting in the garage blipping the throttle and hear it...or are you moving?
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 4,456
Likes: 2,858
From: Oklahoma
Re the noise with the throttle blip, there is a link between the engine and the frame mounted on the front, top of the engine. Check the bolts in both ends for tightness, One was barely loose in my son's 11 machine and he had an intermittent metallic noise also until it was tightened.
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 156
Likes: 1
From: Pennsylvania
Re the noise with the throttle blip, there is a link between the engine and the frame mounted on the front, top of the engine. Check the bolts in both ends for tightness, One was barely loose in my son's 11 machine and he had an intermittent metallic noise also until it was tightened.
That is exactly where I believed it was coming from...I will check the bolts and ensure they are secure...
The sound on start up, I thought was more than noisy lifters...almost a rapping sound but lasted a second or two...I'm not a mechanic, but very possible the lifters. I will see if it does it again tomorrow.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,504
Likes: 12
From: DOWN SOUTH
My 2011 Limited with 8,000 miles does the same exact thing. I think it is because I do not run premium fuel constantly (cheap like that,lol) like pre-detonation or something. Bike runs great besides that but it bugs the **** out of me and it does not do it all the time. This is my theory, anyone else think the same?
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Road Warrior
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,825
Likes: 15
You should run premium gas all the time, Harley motors hate regular. Only time i would run regular is if i had no choice then put premium as soon as i could. I have even been putting some Startron from time to time for that ethanol BS. The noise on start up I believe is the lifters on the 103s. Harley says dont hurt anything.They probably bleed down the oil.
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,504
Likes: 12
From: DOWN SOUTH
Wont be runnin regular in it when I wake her up from hibernation (i am in Afghanistan till Sept) Cant wait. Right now she is on the tender asleep and just had her second dose of stabil since last Nov. (had my wife add, shake some and run her for 15 mins) Since I have been here I have aquired a catless headpipe from fleabay, tlph7 led set, flied's, big sucker and a few more things. I am hoping that will cool her down, make her a bit louder. I am hoping that along with regular doses of premium gas stops the metallic sound it makes sometimes. Take the 6 off of my username, search and you can see my bike. Had to change usernames since I dont memeber password from old account, cant get an email reminder, that iraq email dont exist anymore, so I created this name. Anyway, I have rambled enough, I still think the metallic noise the OP described is from 87 octane gas (bike needs premium) because he states that it happened again after bike is started and warmed up blipping the throttle, so that leads me to believe it is not bled down lifters. Mine does it also when its hot and you blip the throttle at a redlight or start out in 1st sometimes. It did it bad during the motorcycle refresher training we had to do after last deployment (2 hour class Army Soldiers have to do BEFORE we can ride our bikes after 6 months of beint deployed) I will get off my soapbox now, sorry for the rant,lol.
