tick

[94sporty]

 i've posted about this before on here but im just not sure. i just put a supertrapp exhaust on with 12 discs in it. it is very quiet and now you can really here the ticking over the exhaust. the whole top end of the bike has been rebuilt. it sounds like its coming from both cylinders. please help me thanks.

[andyxlh]

hello mate,
I'm sure that everyone will tell you how noisy the sportster engine is always. The valve train in particular, someone told me the other day it is the only underhead quad cam engine in the world!
The ticking could be many things, contact of the pushrods on the rockers would be quite likely, as is wear in the rockers or gear mesh noises in the cam case. It depends if you replaced these during the rebuild or if the pushrods a re the correct length. If you have aftermarket cams you generally get more noise as they are a general size rather than matched to the case. A loud intermittent rapping can be a lifter going bad (that's what mine did). Have a listen by putting a large screwdriver or similar on each of the pushrods and listen to the end of it - it works! you will hear all sorts of scary noises this way, that's OK, remember sound travels much better thro' solids than air. What you are looking for is a different, odd or much louder sound from one of the rods or rockers. Of there is not a much louder one then my guess is you should be OK.
Another thing is to think of the mileage - my lifters were bad at about 80,000 miles, and I have the BT Evo lifters in my model. The 5 speeds have smaller ones, but I have no idea how long they last, especially as they are smaller. perhaps someone on HTT can tell us?
The cams need to be spaced east/west with cam shims to a very fine tolerance. If this is a bit out and the gap is too big you would get more rattle which should not cause any real issues. If the teeth are too tight they whine and that is bad - but does not sound like what u have.
My guess from down here is you have a quieter exhaust which allows you to hear the engine noises that were always there....
cheers
Andy

[Bigs]

I have to agree with Andyxlh about Sportster noise. My '05 1200 had a noisy top end ever since new. Changed to SE performance cams and Crane adjustable push rods with new Crane HD lifters - no difference in top end noise. Runs great but still a noisy top end.
   Bigs

[Panzer]

Have an 07' 1200c, same noise with mine from new.
Sounds like my mothers old sewing machine doing 80.
Mine is all stock and the clatter goes with the territory.
It's normal noise.
You could take out a few baffles in the mufflers till the exhaust cancels the engine clatter.
Just saying.

[mayor]

Sounds like my mothers old sewing machine doing 80.
Mine is all stock and the clatter goes with the territory.
It's normal noise.
You could take out a few baffles in the mufflers till the exhaust cancels the engine clatter.
Just saying.

yep.  Mine sounds like a "Singer" on steriods.  My wife hadn't ridden my sporty in a couple of yours, she had it out last year and stopped in the middle of a short ride to switch me bikes because she thought something was coming loose.    That's when she learned there's a big difference between the top end sound of a sporty and the valve trane noise of a TC.   

[94sporty]

had someone look at it and they said sounded like the rocker arm was hitting the top of the rocker box because of the big cams or the adj. push rods needed to be re adj. do you know what to adj. andrew push rods.it says to get them tight and turn 3 to 4 more full turns but if i adj. them more if it will hurt them. thanks

[mayor]

I'm running the same cams as you in my sporty (n8's).  They're not exactly a quiet cam.     although, they're not a high lift cam either.  I think the issue is more in how Andrews ground the ramps in the lobes. You can pull the rocker box tops off to see if the rockers are rubbing, but my guess is they are not.   

re: pushrods- determine how many turns per inch the threads are, then adjust the pushrods just to the point of being tight against the lifter (pushrod can no longer turn) while the lifter is on the flat of the cam, then turn the pushrod stud out (to lengthen) 1/10 the number of threads per inch (i.e.- 24 tpi is 2.4 turns, 32 tpi is 3.2 turns).  This yields .100" of pre-load.