Just thought I would let those that responded to my post know what came of the engine noise and follow-up, the entire top end is being replaced because of excessive clearance, that's the piston - cylinder was past tolerance so was the valve guides and rocker arm bushings there was issue with the valve seats as well. So HD authorized new top end so I decided to go with stage 3 at a substantial reduced price, they are installing the latest oil pump as well. So there you have it 42000 kms and it was worn out. I knew that noise wasn't normal.

 

Hey Twig, good to hear that HD/dealer did the right thing by you. Would you be able to post the URL to your original thread? I would like to read and find out what sort of noise you had.

 

Glad things worked out for you.

 

I never did say the kind of noise it was making it would be to hard to describe, the noise at cold start sometimes was nasty I would look around to make sure no one else could hear it as it was somewhat embarrassing, the noise when it was hot was very loud valve train noise. I posted the recording of the noise on Facebook and a lot of people had the same.

 

Holy smokes Batman! 'A lot of people had the same' noise at start-up? That is not good. I know what you mean about engine noise being annoying. A mate bought an Indian around 2016 and it was plagued with piston slapping (known amongst Indian riders as 'clacking'). Indian Motorcycle and his dealer told him, 'that's normal, they all do that.'

I don't use facebook (I just can't support companies like that). As they say, if you don't pay for a service, you are the product (facebook selling our private info). Any way, if you happen to upload your video to youtube, please post a link here. No stress, if you don't have the original video to upload. Just glad you got your bike fixed.

 

I posted it on YouTube search for M8 engine noise cold start.

 

Is this your video?


If so, wow! Initially, I thought your horn or something was loose and rattling, but it was the engine. Man, that sucks! And a lot of other owners are living with this issue?

Can you tell me if it was an uphill battle with Harley to get your engine fixed? Or was it straightforward (ie. You took it to your dealer. They told you something is not right. Lodged a claim with MoCo and the fix was authorised)? Just wanting to understand if others with this noise is not getting their bikes fixed OR they just didn't realised that something is not right.

 

The bike in the video sound like it has no oil.. This speaks volumes for Harley's quality control IMHO.. With the competition in the industry today, Harley had better fix their quality issues..

 

Subscribed

 

I took it to the dealership in July with that recording and showed it to the teck who said that’s not normal and don’t ride it, not far anyway. They replaced the lifters which did help a bit but not entirely, this noise was Sporadic and not always that loud. I stopped in a few months later and mentioned that noise was still there and they made a note of that then in October I had it in for something else and ask the teck to have a listen when he starts it well made a lot of noise so he took pics of the cylinders and top of pistons and did a leak down test that failed miserably on the rear cylinder so he got the ok to tear it down and after doing all the required test it was determined that the whole top end would be replaced. I have a great dealer and Teck who care and don’t say that’s normal or they all do that. I’m getting a stage 3 for a whopping $1600 Canadian and that’s with the 2020 oil pump that’s parts and labor.