My noise hasn't changed between 6 and 16,000 miles or std dino, syn 3, mobile 1 (car) and mobile 1 v-twin... I spend most of my riding time above 2700 RPM so if it's serious, it'll manifest itself soon enuff and the MOCO can replace the engine.

adding the louder pipes helped quiet a bit [sm=exactly.gif]

 

I notice a noise bout a year later when I bought mine. Of course the warranty was up. So I did some fishing with my mechanic scope (which for a harley its great). Well it was coming out of my primary. A rattle knock kind of sound. Open the inspection cover and found the time chain was loose. Go figure. Adjusted the chain and the noise never came back. If this help cool. Ed

 

My bike is finally heading to the private harley mechanic tonight,been to three stealers,none of them would even look at it,"normal" sure they'd test drive it ,tell me they heard lower end noise,could be timing chain,tensioner,or a bad wrist pin,"but a waste of harleys money tearing into the motor with only 8600 miles on the bike" My warrentee runs out 1/23/06 so the money can come out of my pocket,i hope this guy finds the problem and puts it to rest,the noise is driving me insane,lol

 

Mike,
The problem you describe on your 2004 FLHTPI sounds similar to my 2005 FLHTCI, right down to your description of the noise response to throttle change. (ref you message in the engine forum). Several people have commented in this fourm on the general noise of TCs, which I agree with, but you're the only one who has put their finger right on the specific problem I am experiencing.

I am continuing to seek a remedy with my dealer. He is sympathetic to the issue but so far, not much more. He had split the case on this bike at 1000 miles (before the noise was apparent) to install an o-ring the factory had forgotten, then later (at 2000 miles) pulled the cylinders, replaced the wrist pins and generally looked for the source of the noise. The source was not evident in either of these sessions, hence his reluctance to go back in, preferring to call it "normal" instead.

I don't want the bike. Not sure where this is going. Let me know if you learn anything and I'll do the same.

 

My 05 FLHTI seemed a little noisy...nothing that scream'n eagle slips couldn't cover up!

 

My 2001 Road King sounded great at first but by 2k miles it was rattling down the road. Lots of valve train noise (former auto mechanic). Three dealers said it was normal. My first year of experience with a H-D was misery. H-D help desk lady said it was impossible there could be anything wrong with my Harley! Imagine that? Well. I changed the lifters and pushrods on the back cylinder to no avial but did see strange wear pattern on one roller. Now here is how to get H-D's attention: Find web site where the Lemon Law paper work is provided and send in the first letter telling them you are very unstatisfied and that you feel you could not possibly sell your bike now for what it should be worth. I did so and they replaced my engine with a new one. Unfortunatly, I didn't know then that all the TC-88s suffer from noisy valves due primarily to bad cams and the new engine has gone the same way. Now I use Mobil 1 Syn V-Twin motorcycle oil and K&N oil filter. It sounds and runs better but will need new cams to fix.
By the way, the H-D factory tech they sent disagreed with the help desk lady. One of the rear cam lobes on the first engine was completely worn out at only 10k miles. This H-D cam problem has been investigated and reported on in other media. A machinest suggested they hurried the machine process to much resulting in a bad grind and others have suggested they missed the hardening process (H-D factory rep). At any rate, the cam lobe wears quickly to an odd profile which then "flicks" the lifter up the bore instead of in a controlled manner. I suspect heavy wear on my new engine which will be converted to gear cams by another manufacturer at 40k miles.

Oh, if you do the Lemon Law thing like I did and get to visit with a factory tech, there is one important thing to remember; put aside your harley attitude for a while, don't get all in his face but instead show him you appreciate his time and effort. Be steadfast but be kind at the same time. The guy I met with was very professional and willing to help. He could see I was about to become a rice burner owner and he didn't want that. He didn't even flinch when I showed him the old lifters and pushrods I had already replaced.

Square Dude

 

Well heres what the out come of my visit to the private harley mechanic,

I showed up at his house tuesday night,he was having dinner so he opened the shop up for me to check out his bikes,right away I could see this guy was **** about how everything was kept ,right down to his bikes being spotless,I mean this guy had every thing on his shelfs all put just so,very orginized shop,and spotless.

He came out ,asked about the bike and took it for a short ride,upon returning .... he said i have a slight whinny noise on the primary side,and the cam chain side of the motor is "normal sounds" BUT.... alot louder than it should be,which he said needs some attention. he put my bike up on the lift table,and took off the inspection cover to check the primary chain tension,put his finger inside felt around,while he wiped his finger off from the oil he just shook his head,and mumbled. the primary is a dirty mess and needs to be stripped down ,totally cleaned ,inspected and repaired ,reassembled with fresh clean oil,he said the chain adjuster is all grooved up bad,and by the looks of things it has never been serviced ever!
thinking to myself,the dealer told me they did all the service work on this police bike,and gave it a total servicing before i bought it,mmm I've been porked hard ! i thought to myself.

well his final thoughts ....... the bike has been maintained poorly at best,,needs primary work,cam chain tensioners have gone south, and he recommends tearing the cam side down,to inspect for any wear,bearings,cam lobes and both innner and outer cam chains,from what he has seen on the primary side,the cam side will probally be much the same thing when he opens it up, nothing to major,but in need of some seroius TLC,said he can have the cam side stripped down in about 1 hour,if he bolt cuts the push rods and installs new adjustable S&S ones ,when it goes back together,I'm thinking with this tear down to inpect for wear,and he'll have the cam plate out already,might be a good time to look into gear driven cams,and do away with the cam chains all together,he's recommended if im going to keep it for any time,that it's a good upgrade to do. pleased with this mechanic,straight shooter ,charged me nothing for the time he spent looking over the bike,and will put together a couple estimates for me ,for what he thinks the bike requires done to it.
sad thing about it all.... it's a year old,bought it with 6300 miles on it from the dealer,now has 8500 miles on it,and needs to have some serious TLC that wasnt done by the dealer as stated
The bike is stock,would like to stage 1 air cleaner it,and remap,maybe exhaust down the road ,any one give me some thoughts on up grading to gear drive cams?? this mechanic is a S&S guy,he says there products are tops in harleys ,second to none! i'm probally looking at some replacement of cam chains /gears,bearings any way,might just be cheaper to switch it all to gear drive now,while it's opened up,

thanks,mike

 

What was the final outcome and price?

 

I just noticed a rattle on mine. It was a loose air cleaner cover. Press it with your knee and see if the noise goes away. Thats about as technical as I can get.

Just noticed the bad news, sorry.

 

I have an 03 flhti bought new and everything sounded good until the 1000 mile service. Things started getting noisey then also. Dealer said all was good and typical of the twin cam 88. At 3k I decided to install the HB125 hydraulic primary chain tensioner, all the noise went away and the private mechanic that did the work showed me a nearly destroyed stock chain tensioner shoe. Since the HB125 upgrade I now have 11,300 trouble free miles. Well other than the 4-5000 mile tread life of the stock Dunlop 402 tires. Switching to metzler 880's will hopefully cure that problem.


Gunner