If you twist the throttle enough, you can't hear anything but sweetness out of the pipes!!

 

Anyone asks me about ticking, I have to ask if they have recently let any Syrian refugees work on their engine!:devil

 

Ticking used to bother me until I removed the windshield on my Road King.......Smooth as silk. :wink

 

FI will tick and some mistake that for trouble.

 

Maybe they're used to metric motors and get alarmed when they finally get something that has a soul.
Same thing with the "clunk". Ride the damned thing and stop trying to diagnose every little noise.

 

Maybe they're used to metric motors and get alarmed when they finally get something that has a soul.
Same thing with the "clunk". Ride the damned thing and stop trying to diagnose every little noise.

That's the whole problem. They spend $25k on a motorcycle, because they have too much money, having a mid-life crisis or want to be cool and they know absolutely NOTHING about their purchase. They also believe everything the dealer says. Then go on a forum and call everyone trying to help they're stupid and don't know shit. And don't know what kind of oil or gas to put in it......:grin

 

What oil should I use ???????????? I've tried virgin Olive oil, but she objects to the being squeezed . :dunno

 

Baby seal oil...

 

I learnt from the VROD forum that tiki oil makes the most horsepower.

 

I thought the burn was too long on tiki ... Learn something new everyday.

 

Hmmm, I didn't think I was really that stupid. I guess I was wrong. I did not experience a mid-life crisis, spend 25K, or try to be cool. I just wanted to get back to riding a motorcycle, especially a Harley Davidson. So I bought some books, a shop manual, and started to learn all that I could. Yes, there was a learning curve all right; I didn't know sh*t. But I figured I had to start some place, just like everything else I have learned in this life. Unfortunately, I am not as learned, but I am trying to catch up.

 

Hmmm, I didn't think I was really that stupid. I guess I was wrong. I did not experience a mid-life crisis, spend 25K, or try to be cool. I just wanted to get back to riding a motorcycle, especially a Harley Davidson. So I bought some books, a shop manual, and started to learn all that I could. Yes, there was a learning curve all right; I didn't know sh*t. But I figured I had to start some place, just like everything else I have learned in this life. Unfortunately, I am not as learned, but I am trying to catch up.

You missed out............... sorry . :nerd

 

Every one knows the real problem is when it stops ticking :devil

 

It's funny but, having been on metrics since I started riding waaaaay back when, I had to ask a trusted dude at the dealer about the ticking. And frankly, a great deal of my loyalty to the dealership is that after he spent about 30 minutes schooling me on the basics, and making sure I had the right books and resources, we had a good laugh. We laughed because, in the end, it was funny that I was still worried about the all the mechanical nightmares I heard about Harleys. It was funny because, when I test rode it, whatever logical reasons to not buy one, and all of the rumors about reliability when straight out of the window when I squeezed the throttle and got on down the road, and even with whatever doubts I may have had, well, were washed away when that machine sang to me as none other ever has....

Takes a licking, and keeps in ticking.... (chose not to resist that one!) :rofl:

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

sorry fella's, guess I contributed to it by asking the question.....while it's not my first Harley, my '12 is my newest and first with the "ticking". None of my other's had it. I don't like gremlins and want MY stuff to be right. I do all my own work and work on several buddies bikes, never taken on to a stealership for work. With having worked on just about everything in the form of a combustion engine out there, what I was hearing wasn't normal. Didn't spend 25k on in but because I ride every day, I do want to ensure the 13k I did spend isn't wasted, I did my research, asked some questions, pulled the engine apart and fixed the "ticking" that wasn't a problem for others. While being a newbie to this site, I'm not a newbie on Harley's or working on 'em. Sorry for the intrusion on your fun, I'll go back to my regular scheduled program.....later.

 

Don't go away mad. For some of us, our "fun" is learning everything we can about what makes these great bikes "tick", so to speak (yes, pun intended). So did you get your problem fixed? What fixed it -- the Rocker Lockers or the lifters?

Harleys are not stealthy beasts. Their set of inherent "normal" noises are part of what endears them to most of us. There are other makes for those that want a silent machine. But you better believe that you need to be able to identify an abnormal noise and get it properly diagnosed and repaired ASAP. So that's why these discussions are a good thing. And any discussion with this bunch of characters is gonna include some cracks. That's part of the deal most of us enjoy too.

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Go on a group ride then pull into the parking lot for a rest stop. Listen to all of the motorcycles in a line ticking as they cool. It struck me funny the first time I heard 12 bikes all making the same noise at the same time.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yMa45L17z4

 

Hum, being taken to the wood shed for a simple question.:dunno

 

But what if it goes tick tock ?

Had to say it sorry.

 

Not to pour fuel into the fire BUT ... If the V-Rod doesn't tick the tappets need to be re-shimmed, just saying.
Overhead cam engine !
Also if hydraulic lifters with adjustable pushrods are adjusted to tight they'll tick.

 

not going away or mad at all but figured I could find others with knowledge about the problem but alas, did the research and found others that pointed to what I was hearing and why......

swapped out the rocker shafts and installed rocker lockers. bought S & S forged rockers and adjustable pushrods because of occasions where I had read about the shafts movement causing the pushrods end to wear egg shaped and the cup on the rocker but mine didn't have any of that yet. there was quite a bit of scoring on the end of the rocker shaft that shouldn't move at all.....

all quiet now and running great, I do hear lifter noise and injector ticking.....and that's normal

you can see in the pics, the scoring on the ends of the shafts where they were rotating....and shouldn't. you can also see on the one bolt, the wear from the rocker shaft hitting it and the last pic of the rocker lockers I installed.

Good luck fellas, hope yours are running as great as mine. Just a bit of it's history on mine that I bought a month ago and was stock and quiet so the ticking was pretty noticeable. It's a '12 Ultra Classic that I bought used from a wholesaler, was a repo that probably had little to no maintenance done. It only has 11k miles on it. In that month, I removed the baffles. Removed the catalytic converter (with a 16" paddle bit) not the cut and weld method. Installed a set of Xied's and a VH naked VO2 air cleaner so everything looks stock. Lowered it 2" and now did the work to get rid of the ticking. So I'm extremely happy with the way it runs and sounds now and by doing everything myself, I spent a whopping $220. You don't have to spend a mint or go to a mechanic to have it run and sound good....:grin gonna go drive it like I stole it now

 

That's a great report with good info. Well done!

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Thanks for the update and the pics. Glad you didn't take the sarcasm the wrong way. Will keep the lockers in mind if I ever have to dig into the motor..

 

My Father was a Chevy Mechanic for over 45 years and rode Harley's all that time. He always said if you can hear the valves ticking a bit, they are good. If you don't hear them ticking they are too tight and will burn and you will be in for a valve job. If you have adjustable push-rods there is a great site that shows how to install them and adjust them and then when you adjust up to where the adjustment just stops you then back it off a bit. That means they will tick a bit. So, what I'm saying is adjust them so you don't hear them and wait a couple thousand miles and do a valve job. It is your money.

 

I'm fine with some ticking from the motor but what my 110 is currently doing is beyond ticking. It currently has more rattling than my Cummins.

To each their own...

Jim


Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk

 

re-read it please, bought but didn't install adjustable's....weren't needed as stated. grew up building Chevy race engines with my dad so I'm very familiar with the thought process.

 

Tick is ok rattle or knocking not ok. The first time I got the ticking out of a sbc I wiped out the cam lol young and dumb.

 

Mechanical music.

 

Yes. And together with gas and exhaust smells...heaven!

 

I couldn't wait to hear the ticking. You shoulda seen my face the first time I felt and heard the 1st gear clunk.