I have a 96 Heritage with 4,500 miles on it. I bought it this winter and havent had much time to ride. The last 2 times i rode it I got a loud clatter from the top end. The noise came and then went. When I touch the push rod tubes I think i feel it more in the rear tube. Is it common to lose a lifter like that? That is what i think it is. Anybody come across the same problem?

 

I hear a lot talk about lifter problems with Evos and I've had a "tick" in mine for 75,000 miles (even through a total rebuild and 2 topend jobs new tappet guides and 3 sets of lifters, trying to get rid of it.

But if it's a loud clatter, I'd go with the lifters. And go with stock HD because they're only 130.00 or so, and are as good as you can buy, regardless of the marketing claims made by the "performance" parts companies.

 

Evos are not the most quite machines. That said, if the noise has increased lately there may be a problem. It could be a bad lifter, clogged by sludge accumulated while idle over the winter. If it comes and goes the lifter could just be sticking, it can be cleaned.
Could also be a worn roller pin on the lifter body a bent pushrod hitting on the pr tube or a sticking valve(exhaust valves are most susceptable). No bike responds well to sitting idle for a long period.
Good Luck!

 

This is going to sound really stupid but on my 90 EVO I had a similar noise coming from the top end. I was preping myself for an over haul but, it turned out to be a cable which runs under the fuel tank vibrating.. a few minutes with a slef adhesive soft pad cured the noise.

May be worth a check

 

It only happened twice both times it was after running at a stedy speed at a high RPM (not too high) when i come to a stop you realy hear it then it slowly goes away. The bike does have very low miles 4300.

 

How about the lifter galls screen? Has it been cleaned recently? I'm thinking it could be that at the high speed, hi flow demanded of the oil system, at the time, could be starving the lifters of oil. When you come down to a lower RPM, the restriction would be less apparent.. Just a thought, easy enough to check..

 

Evo's seem to have lifter gremlins, its pretty common to have them go bad. I had to replace mine shortly after I bought the bike. I popped in and Andrews V23 cam while I was at it.
Hope you get your problum fixed soon. Sucks to have a bike go down this time of year.

 

Still chasing mine after 3 years. New big axle lifters, pushrods, new Andrews ev27 cam, new motor mounts, New primary chain, New compensator nut. New exhaust gaskets, new head pipes, new screaming eagle slip ons, Still have the noise....louder at high speed and when under acceleration. Almost like something banging on the primary from the exhaust.

Hope you find yours. when you do, please post

Bubba

 

I noticed with the EV27 cam in mine it's even louder after running it on the highway.&nbsp\\; Sucks...
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Wow.&nbsp\\; What a needle in a haystack.&nbsp\\; I posted an issue I was having with noise I thought was tranny related, but who knows after reading these posts.&nbsp\\; I did just run a half can of Seafoam in the oil for about 75 miles.&nbsp\\; Just drained and refilled with new oil.&nbsp\\; That stuff does a great job in cars, so I thought I would give it a try.&nbsp\\; I'll post if it helps.