| Author | Message | ||
     Riviera |
My 2001 S3T (with Race ECM, Ham can air cleaner with K&N filter and V&H muffler) sure is noisy up top, especially once warm. Sounds like I'm running solid lifter. After reading old posts here, this seems to be the norm, especially with the noted performance upgrades. I've only put 50 miles on the bike since I bought it and just looking for others experience with noise level. I did have the rocker boxes off this past winter to put in the oil pump drive bronze gear. I assembled it all correctly. Also adjusted the primary chain and filled engine and chaincase with Amsoil 20W50 synthetic for cycles. I thought I read that synthetic oil results in more valvetrain noise, no? | ||
| Hootowl |
most of the noise is from the cams. They are gear driven and they tend to chatter on the down slope of the ramp as the spring pressure tries to rotate the cam faster than it is being turned by the drive gear. The noise is transmitted up the pushrods and that's why you hear it at the top. At least, that's the way I understand it. | ||
| Gowindward |
That's not noise...that's music... a pure symphony! | ||
| Riviera |
Right, just seems noticeably noisier than the mid-1990's Sportster I rode a few years back. Maybe be due to higher compression and associated stiffer valve springs, etc? | ||
| Hootowl |
The sportster has different cams, so different lift, ramp profiles etc. I would imagine that a steeper ramp would cause more noise as it effectively gives the spring more leverage to turn the cam. | ||
| Reepicheep |
They also changed the cam fit after 2001 or something... before then, you had color coded cams that had to be matched (by dimension) to the tolerance stack of your particular case machining. After 2001 (starting with the X1 cams I think) they had a new cam gear with a looser fit with a different cut. More noise, but cams can now interchange. This was carried through to the XB. | ||
| Hootowl |
That's right Bill, I had forgotten about the hand matching they used to do. | ||
| Blks1l |
The Sportster probably had a louder exhaust which would hide some of that sound. | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
So I can replace cams in a 2002 no problem.. But to replace them in a 2000 I would need to replace the bushings at the same time? | ||
| Reepicheep |
Close, on the 2000 you have to replace any bad cams with ones with the right color code. Or replace all 4 as a set with the new type. Aaron explained it all to me when I was trying to replace a bad cam on my 2000 M2... There was also a difference in one of the gears on the back of the cam between 2000 and 2001... I forget the details. | ||
| Sportyeric |
The Sportster cams had colour coding for sizing. That would include the M2 cams. The "Screamin' Eagle" cams (S1, X1, S3) were 'one-size-fits-all.' Presumably fitted loose, therefore noisy. The change in 2000 or 2001 one was to a different pitch, which requires changing the pinion gear if you change the cams to or from the older style. There's never a need to change bushings. |
