my s&s was getting tired and last week when i went to pick up some oil at the shop, lo and behold they had a fresh rebuilt setting on the floor. a stock 80" from a builder they have used forever. $1000 and my s&s, i went for it ( who needs all that xtra giddy-up anyway!). put it in and have a loud clatter coming from the exhaust side of the front rocker box. shop called builder and he said no problem, bring her back. 2 plus hours away and having to load that heavy bike in the truck is a hassle. it has new rocker boxes, and i've read where this is not too uncommon, pushrods hitting the tubes, sometimes springs rubbing on poor castings and such. the push rod (adjustable) does not feel at all loose, so i would guess the lifters (not new) are ok. i'm thinking of just pulling the covers and taking a look. anyone run into this type of thing before, and, other than what was mentioned above, what should i look for? thanks!

 

If it was built with new lifters or they have compressed then it will clatter for up to 5 miles before they pump up again.

On a stock motor it should all work with nothing hitting anything. Flip the pushrod tower keeper and take a look for misaligned stuff but do the 5 miles before touching anything.

 

Is it possible the exhaust valve is sticking a little in the guide and the clatter is the valve lash when it un sticks? I did a no-lead conversion on my old shovel and in the first trip around the block, 4 miles, i stuck a valve and limped home on 1 cylinder.

take it to the builder or if you feel lucky, take the 5 mile trip.

 

I wouldn't open it up. If you do you may void the "warranty" and have to eat the repairs yourself.
John

 

well, i could not keep my hands off of it. the front intake had about 3/8" of clearance! i went a head and pulled the box and the lifters, everything looked good so i just adjusted the pushrod and no noise. maybe he just forgot to adjust that one? i know i make plenty of mistakes. one question, though. i just got done with my first 50 miles and changed the oil and filter, lots of silver in the oil! is that (i hope) normal for the first oil change? thanks

 

Well......it depends on how much "lots" is.....shouldn't be heaps and I would be flushing now and then inspecting again at 500 miles or whatever your guarrantee runs out at.

 

No, lots of silver is not normal....unless your builder used never-seize somewhere for build lube. The graphite would look silver.

 

............

 

After a fresh rebuild recently, I drained the oil at 200 miles, and I COULD see a "trail" of slight metalic shine as you rolled the pan side to side, kind of like a gold panner would do, but not lots of silver. Have not seen it since.

 

If those particlules are aluminum, you best take that motor right back where you got it!!!!