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[Texas 103]

Noticed that I had a little more noise in the front cyl. than I had on the back cyl. Installed Woods lifters a while back and that quieted it down, but still had the rattle on the front cyl. Wanted to play a little ..so I thought, let's see what we can see. Got the stethoscope out. lifters nice and quiet, then  found the rattle in the front rocker box. This motor has 59 K on it. 

 Did a little research about rocker arm side play causing noise and shimming them up nice and tight. Figured for less than $25.00 ,what the hell, let's give it a shot.  Pulled the rocker box cover, grabbed the rockers   and could move them  back and forth,knew they were loose, didn't know how much.  Stuck a feeler gauge in there and had .016 on the  Exhaust  & .014 on the Intake rocker. with it still bolted up to the rocker box and checked them again after I pulled off the supports on the bench, no difference. Side clearance should be .003  Harley says they are out of spec @ .025 of side play . Can only imagine what they sound like there.

 Pulled out the rocker supports, measured everything, Rocker Shafts, Rocker Bushing I.D. and Rocker support. They we all in spec .<002 . Saw a little uneven wear on both the rocker end and support. looked like the rocker had a  couple little high spots on it as well as the support.. Got some crocus cloth, laid it on a piece of glass and  dressed the  end of the rockers. Same with the supports just lightly ran a file across to true up. Didn't have any issues of the rocker hitting the support or the rocker boxes themselves causing any noise.     


 Bought some shims from McMaster Carr  http://www.mcmaster.com/#round-shims/=w7bl4z

98126A456 .010 18-2 Stainless
98126A497 .012

Slipped the. 012 in the exhaust rocker on the NON Thrust Side, of the rocker which is the Pushrod Side for Exhaust and the valve side for the Intake on the front cyl.   Now we are talking... nice and snug .004 on the front and .003 on the back. Didn't know if it would make that much of a difference, fired it up...really quieted it down. Rode up to  see Lee @ Maverick Harley and had him listen to it...he smiled and said it was one of the quietest 110's he's ever heard.. Made me feel pretty damn good!! I learned a lot about HD valve train, had fun while it was snowing here!.

Have read several posts on HTT and other sites about this and got some great information. Some saying it quieted their bike down, some not. Worked well on mine and would highly recommend it it... Hell it's a 110..they are supposed to rattle a little..  Like our site here, lot of smart guys that have been there, done that... Greg           

[mark]

Good post.  Thanks for the info.

[GMR-PERFORMANCE]

Keep an eye on that , the shim you are using is thin and I have seen them crack.. The best way is to machine it down further and run a 25-30 shim so it will not break.  What I feel happens is as the parts grow with heat you have dissimilar metals and the expansion rate of the aluminum is greater than that of the rocker. So it may go negative once heat is induced and wear in or if the surface is not 100 true the hardened shim will crack .
  Much of the noise is due to the stock valve spring that is in use. If you decide to swap springs I have the NUB tool I can load you and you can do it on the bike..  You would be shocked once you change the springs. They sound like a sewing machine.

You are just up the road , let me know.

[Texas 103]

Keep an eye on that , the shim you are using is thin and I have seen them crack.. The best way is to machine it down further and run a 25-30 shim so it will not break.  What I feel happens is as the parts grow with heat you have dissimilar metals and the expansion rate of the aluminum is greater than that of the rocker. So it may go negative once heat is induced and wear in or if the surface is not 100 true the hardened shim will crack .
  Much of the noise is due to the stock valve spring that is in use. If you decide to swap springs I have the NUB tool I can load you and you can do it on the bike..  You would be shocked once you change the springs. They sound like a sewing machine.

You are just up the road , let me know.

Thanks Steve, I will call you on Monday, Looked at that Nub tool..Yes, I would like to borrow it and we'll discuss springs..The Compensaver works like a charm!!   

[Snakebyte]

Nice!
Just to be clear you put the shim on the pushrod side exhaust and valve spring side intake?
Why not the pushrod side on the intake?

[Texas 103]

Nice!
Just to be clear you put the shim on the pushrod side exhaust and valve spring side intake?
Why not the pushrod side on the intake?

 Because of pushrod angles.You have to put it on " non thrust " side of the rocker. Kneel down in front of your bike and look at pushrods.The exhaust is angled to the right and the intake is angled to the left The way the pushrods are angled they push  rocker one way or another and you don't want the shim  on the" thrust side" of the rocker that's taking the most "push" or lateral movement.

 I hope I explained  that clear as mud to you..There may be other reasons but that is the one I kept seeing in my research. Maybe Steve, Scott  or someone else that's really up on this can chime in.