Hi all, I have a 2012 Road King Classic 103.
I have noticed that the tappets are more noisy than my bro's Electra Glide?
I have not had a suitable reply from my dealer, they just say that is how it is?
It sounds like the tappets are going to come thro the top??





Would a thicker oil reduce this or are they right in saying that is how they are?



Cheers Phill.T

 

they are very noisy...redline makes a 20w60 that i am thinking of trying. the moco straight 60 weight should quiet them down...though it is mainly for hot weather and high temperature conditions-not your usual UK weather.
not a fan of loud pipes, but that may help drown out the noise or get a radio and crank it up.
doesn't hurt a thing, and it really is "normal".

 

I had the same issue with Amsoil, Then I switched to Mobil one and it was worse. I switched back to the Moco 20-50 360 and it's a lot quieter.

 

Noise like this is not normal. Oil is like putting a band aid on what will eventually be a bullet wound. Ask your dealer this... 'if I fix my noise on my own, will you reimburse me for parts and labor?' because it can be fixed, but not with the current parts available to the dealer. That's the problem. If they change your lifters, they will be installing the same garbage you already have.

 

I have a lot of clatter in my 2010 RKC. It's been the same since new and I think it's "normal" even if I don't like it. I tried straight 50w non-synthetic a couple of weeks ago and it didn't make much difference. I've read about folks who shimmed the rocker arms to reduce the endplay clearance but some folks say that doesn't fix it either, I don't know. I'd like to get a nice quiet motor if somebody solves this.

 

Mines the same way...its my only issue with the bike.

 

Get the new S&S lifters and a set of their adj pushrods . Add the cam of your choice .........

 

Yeah mine are also loud especially around 2800 rpm it really ticks.
More of a rattle noise at idle ticking at rpm. Using HD 360 conventional 20W50 but thinking of trying the Spectro HD 20W50 Golden semi syn. This Spectro oil runs 1800 ppm ZDDP which is more than most oils. Not that this will help the tappet noise but the high ZDDP is good for the cams and tappets.

 

Yeah me too....too many bikes doing it to be a design problem I expect. Just for the hell of it I took my shield off just to see how much of it is noise deflection and it was an eye opener, more than 75% of the noise was gone. The only noise that didn't go away was the idle tappet noise that really bugged me before but more tolerable. I'll likely ride without the shield unless we are going to tour and then I'll go with earplugs. In the future I hope to learn to experiment with replacing lifter and push-rods, but for now I just want to ride and decompress not have to solve one more GD problem. If the motor grenades, well that's what the ESP is for. Wonder if the 'Fix my Hog' videos cover replacing lifters and adjusting push-rods, seen a youtube video and it didn't look like rocket science?

 

Piece of cake.....I used the video when I did mine and everything worked out well. If you go with the SE pushrods, go 3 full turns and not the 2 1/2 they tell you in the instructions. Lifters, remove tappet blocks, roll pin, pull old lifter, install new lifter with oil hole facing the engine....