2001 883 you can hear the lifters with your helmet on. I read alot of these posts but nobody has said why they are so loud. They are not solid lifters are they?

 

Here is some interesting information dealing with lifters;

"From 1999 - 2001, Johnson-Hylift supplied lifters to Harley-Davidson...
Johnson-Hylift designed and produced a special piston and valve body
to work across the temp ranges and varying oil psi typically encountered
on an air-cooled engine such as the Harley. Since late 2001, HD has used
Delphi brand hydraulic lifters. That's why there was a Harley p/n change
from 18538-99 to 18538-99A and now 18538-99B. However, Delphi did not
use a 0.655" hi-volume / hi-pressure plunger piston and valve body
specifically designed for Harley as found in the Johnson-Hylift lifters.
Instead, Delphi essentially used a small block Chevy lifter. The main
difference is the Delphi lifter tries to boost the hydraulic psi by decreasing
the piston diameter, but this leads to a smaller high pressure oil reservoir.
The volume is too small and allows the lifter to clatter. That may be why
so many of the late model Twin-Cam bikes are noisy. After doing some
research AMS learned these Delphi version 18538-99B lifters are made too
small to stand up to Harley's heavy valve spring pressure. The oil reservoir
inside the lifter is too small. It doesn't hold enough oil to let the lifter bleed
off under normal use and still have a cushion of compressed oil to take up
valve train slack. Note: ALL lifters bleed off during operation and even
more-so when the bikes sits, engine off. "

 

WOW, old fender guy had a great answer for you.I'm gonna throw in my 2 cents worth.As a retired small block chevy engine mechanic, I have expermented with bleed down or varable timeing lifters in chevy engines. Now while you dont need that in a harley, the lifters had an oversized oil reservoir and I remember them being quieter then the harley lifters.I can't help wonder if anybody has tryed them. Back in the day we allso use to coat the insides of the valve covers with spray on sound proofing. My 05-XL-1200 rattles away to.When it gets some miles on it I may at some time play around with it. I'll get it quiet.

 

I was wondering what that rattling was! I could not seem to tell where it was coming from. I heard it on both sides of the bike. And yet, not all the time. Maybe its my lifters rattling.

Darren

2004 XL1200C