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[T-Roy]

Well it looks like I was correct for worrying about the lifters in my 2013 SERK. I knew they were not sounding good. Steve with GMR got the engine torn down today and the lifters had not failed but had been hammering like crazy on the cam lobes and he said there was definitely metal being transferred. The bike had between 26 and 27 thousand miles on the clock. Chime in Steve I am sure you can explain it better than me.

[M Bon]

Just had motor work done on my 2012 with 11k on it and one of the lifters was close to failing.

[grc]

Just had motor work done on my 2012 with 11k on it and one of the lifters was close to failing.

2011 and 2012 seem to be the years with the biggest problem.  It will be interesting to see what the issue was with the 2013 lifter in T-Roy's engine, since that is the year when Harley "upgraded" the lifters to the current SE part.

Jerry

[HILLSIDECYCLE.COM]

What was the cause of the "lifters hammering"?
Pushrods not long enough?
Scott

[FLH91]

 

[grc]

What was the cause of the "lifters hammering"?
Pushrods not long enough?
Scott

Yes, "hammering" tends to lead one to believe there was something other than a roller not rolling.  Hopefully Steve will clarify the situation when he gets a chance.

Jerry

[T-Roy]

I am not positive but it seems to me that they were leaking down because they were louder on cold starts lately.

[mslcpa]

Lifters first went south on my 2010 FLHXSE at 24K miles. Replaced under ESP with stock lifters. Not sure if they were "upgraded" parts. Never really comfortable with the continued click and clack for 5-10 seconds at start up and always felt that the valve train noise was excessive, especially when listening to a 96" or 103". One year left on ESP, but a believer in preventative maintenance, so recently installed S&S premium lifters and adjustable pushrods. No more cold-start noise and motor overall much quieter. 

It's a shame that we need to upgrade lifters with after-market parts on $30K-$40K bikes just to get a little peace of mind. 

[Ridgerunr]

We could make better decisions if we knew who made the supposed upgraded lifters for CVO's. For example if Jims makes them or the same manufacturer/factory as the C's then I'd change mine out. I did change them to S&S Premiums on my 2014 CVO because I didn't know they were supposedly upgraded. If they are indeed better I'll use them in my 2015 103" to replace the C's, or replace the C's with S&S as well.

[T-Roy]

We could make better decisions if we knew who made the supposed upgraded lifters for CVO's. For example if Jims makes them or the same manufacturer/factory as the C's then I'd change mine out. I did change them to S&S Premiums on my 2014 CVO because I didn't know they were supposedly upgraded. If they are indeed better I'll use them in my 2015 103" to replace the C's, or replace the C's with S&S as well.

In my humble opinion if anyone is going to replace lifters I would not go with ANYTHING from the MOCO, supposedly upgraded or not. I would recommend the GMR lifters like I am going to or S&S premium.

[Snakebyte]

Nice to read you caught it just in time.

[HILLSIDECYCLE.COM]

Makes a fugly mess if you DON'T catch them in time.
Scott

[grc]

There are two different issues involved, and I think some people are confusing the two.  The part of the lifter that was supposedly "upgraded" on the new SE lifter in 2013 and later CVO's was the roller bearing.  That has nothing to do with the crappy internals that would contribute to the startup noise and other leakdown issues.  What I'm interested in seeing is if the new roller bearing is actually fixing the problem with the rollers failing, or just delaying the failure a little longer.  That's why I'm hoping Steve at GMR will be able to tell what really happened in this particular case.

Jerry

[Ridgerunr]

The roller seized up on my SE lifters a few years ago, so that's my concern as well regarding an "upgrade". As for noise at startup, several brands can do that including the Harley "B", Woods, Gatermans, travel limiters would help with that. 

[grc]

The roller seized up on my SE lifters a few years ago, so that's my concern as well regarding an "upgrade". As for noise at startup, several brands can do that including the Harley "B", Woods, Gatermans, travel limiters would help with that.

Don't need travel limiters if the internal parts of the lifter are any good, and travel limiters don't make up for a poorly designed or manufactured lifter.  A little lifter noise on startup might be normal after the bike sits for weeks or months, but if they leak down every time you shut the bike down, or overnight, you need a better quality lifter.  As for this being a problem with more than just one brand, that's absolutely correct.  Many brands, btw, aren't made by the folks selling them.  For instance, Bob Wood doesn't manufacture lifters, he buys them from someone else who puts his name on them.  Same for several other brand names. 

Jerry