| Author | Message | ||
     Yktinwi |
I'm new to Buell, old to motorcycling in general with 47 years riding experience. My '05 XB9SX starts immediately, runs well, but after a couple mile ride it is noisier, specifically on the right side of the engine, than I think is right--though it is tough to call because I have NO experience with the Buell 984. Back in the 70's I was an auto mechanic and I'd say what I'm hearing is a slightly collapsed lifter. Is there any history of collapsed lifters in the Buell 984? If not a lifter what might the ticking I'm hearing be? | ||
| Blake |
Welcome YK. I don't know of a history of collapsed lifters in Buells or Harleys. The noise you are hearing is likely the slop in the gearing that is driving the cams, especially the front exhaust cam which is two gears removed from the pinion gear. The cam gearcase backlash can be significant and at low engine speeds the valvesprings can backdrive the cam gears causing that backlash to manifest in a noticeable clicking noise. As long as the engine has oil, and the gears are within wear specifications, it is not an issue. Keep in mind that the "lifter" noise is right there darn near in the open along with some nice resonating cooling fins, not burried in the guts of a big liquid cooled V-8. The valvetrain noise always increases with engine warm up. How's the performance? If it's running well, it's probably okay. If performance seems lackluster, you may be on to something. What oil are you running? | ||
| Bitbear |
A few years ago, when I was new to Buells, I nearly went crazy wondering what was making all the noise. I'm on my second now, and have ridden others. That experience along with the following quote from a reviewer at motorcycle.com have finally put me at ease... "We usually wear earplugs to muffle wind and exhaust noise, but with the Buell, we use them to squelch the odd sounds akin to churning broken glass and marbles coming from below. Seriously, the engine sounds like a Briggs and Stratton lawnmower with a dozen bolts loose..." …MO Staff, Oct. 17, 2003; Motorcycle.com  Your bike is probably just fine. (Message edited by bitbear on March 29, 2009) | ||
| Blake |
It's kind of interesting. Similar to why the primary chain needs to be a tad bit slack when the engine is cold on account of when the engine heats up the aluminum case expands more so than the steel chain. Likewise the cam gears' gear to gear clearance increases as the aluminum gearcase expands with heat; that and the reduced viscosity of the hot oil combine to make for a racket in some cases. | ||
| Blake |
Pun intended? ![: ]](http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/proud.gif) | ||
| Yktinwi |
Thanks for the info guys. Lack of experience & knowledge seems to makes nonissues, potential issues for me. The CityX really does run fine. I'm going to do an oil change and run 10w/40 until it warms up in WI then switch to 20w/50 and see how that works. Speaking of WI we just got wacked with 8 in of white water--the heaviest snow I've ever had to move. S--t! | ||
| Sparky |
FWIW, my '03 9R seemed to always have loud lifter noise that I would characterize as a ticking sound even when new. This could be heard over the clicking racket of the cam gear backlash as noted above. The ticking noise, which seemed like one lifter, stayed pretty constant for approx 20k miles when it started to gradually get louder. Around this time was when I had installed the race kit and probably started riding the bike a little harder.  Then at the 30k service it was obviously loud and the dealer recommended replacing the lifters which, from that point on, made the engine quieter, the race pipe sound better and made me a happy camper. | ||
| Thumper74 |
I have an 05 XB12ScG with around 17k, I think (I only use the trip meter for gas...). I sounds like it's full of marbles from the cam cover when it's warm. I've been doing oil change consistently and there's no metal, so I'm not worried. If it bothers you, get a Drummer! |
