I started up the bike the other day (low 50's) and to my horror there was an audible knock from the front cylinder. Oil light was off with the bike running and there was plenty of oil in the tank. Warmed it up a few minutes and rode it gently for a mile or two, and got it back home. Sound was gone and the bike was running great, the oil temp was only up to 100* when I got it back, but it made a difference. I'm running 20w50 dino oil as of now, I'm planning on putting in Mobil 1 20w50 V-twin but they were out when I went to get some The bike has 9,xxx miles on it and hasn't been beaten, just a few hard runs here and there followed by normal riding. I'm venturing to guess its a combination of cheap oil (the HD stuff), low temperatures and some piston slap.

 

I dought it's piston slap with only 9000 miles on the ticker, I would bet you have a little oil contamination problem/sludge from lack of use, 13 year old bike 9000 miles is only 700 a year.
After you change the oil to that good 20-50 I bet the cleaning agents in the oil get rid of the problem, may take a while but I think it's just what the doctor ordered for your problem.

 

I started it up before changing the oil tonight, it was totally quiet like nothing ever happened. Must have been a weird one time deal. The old oil was fairly dirty so it was due to be changed.

 

You do know that the oil should be changed every year, regardless of mileage, right?
And it should be changed before winter storage.

 

Yes, I bought the bike at the end of June this year and have put around 2,000 miles on it since then, the dealer having changed the fluids prior to me buying it. The season is winding down here and I want the bike to have clean synthetic oil in it before parking it. New plugs will go in when the battery tender goes on until spring.

 

Phew! Glad I found this thread, some Smart@$$ @ the store the other day said i had a "rod knockin'", but it's a 2000 1200 Evo w/ only 8500 miles (bought it w/ only 6500 3 months ago) and just changed oil today & "rod knock" has mysteriously disappeared & I did use mobil-1.....good to know me riding it and giving it proper care will pay off!

cheers,
J