How noisy is your 883 anyway

[jvswest]

First sportster ever, it's an 883 C 10Kmiles. I've noticed a few noisy valves/cams or something developing after 10K. I bought it at 6K, and ride I a bit hard but not over 80. no smoke, no oil consumption, nothing leaking. Anyone else?

[superwarden]

Worry when it quits making noises. I can hear my 03 and my 68 quite a bit. As long as she runs good, you are probably all right.

My layer says I have to say probably....:smoke

[TheExecutioner]

Yea mine is pretty noisy.

After a few thousand miles...you'll notice more noises and new ones too.

When I bent a valve...I started noticing the noise a little bit...then it got way worse. You should be able to hear when things start to go wrong. Especially if you run it hard.

But again..like the ones before me say...as long as she is runnin' good...probably nothin' to worry about.

[dabronco]

Ride an Ironhead for a week and your Evo will be a BUNCH quieter!

[Ameri-Deutsch]

Germany won't let me have a noisey 883 *sob*

[TheExecutioner]

A-D....You mean you have to leave the stock pipes on?

[Ameri-Deutsch]

Pretty !!!!in much. You can get different pipes but then you gotta go straight to inspection (legally required after every performance modification) and if the decible Rating (sorry bad speller) is to high then they smile and ask if you kept the stocks. Crazy Germans.

[SportyJoe]

Maybe Kev should move to Germany... no loud pipes there!

[Folkie]

It's just got run in, that's all. Like others have said, if it's running well, don't worry about it.

Hey, it's your first post; welcome to the Forum!

:welcome

[DudleyDoRight]

Ride an Ironhead for a week and your Evo will be a BUNCH quieter!
Drag pipes don't do much to cover the engine noise my '83 makes. :tour

[dabronco]

Drag pipes don't do much to cover the engine noise my '83 makes. :tour

If I listen REALLY close, I can almost hear my drag pipes!

[PaulDM]

Mine’s an 07 XL 883 with 2600 miles and I get lots of valve clatter, particularly after hours of canyon running and then riding @ 75 mph on the freeway. Aside from that some transmission whine and of course the clunks of gear changing (mostly first) reminding me of my 1960 BMW R 500 that I bought and sold immediately for a small profit.

When winding out in lower gears I get tinny, busy, valve noise when it hits the cam and it sounds a bit like there’s something loose somewhere, there’s just so much metal around. Yet everything is tight, it’s a new bike well broken in, an all weather daily driver, so, I shrug it off and continue on.

When it sounds quietest and best, is when it’s been run hard and then had a rest and restarted, then it’s actually pleasant.

Next week I am going to try AMSOIL, for the engine and tranny. it should quiet the lifters somewhat and also reduce a bit of the clunking and smooth out the shift mechanism, a least I expect it should as that how synthetics are supposed to work. I'll let you know.

Incidentially I tried to get some Dynacycle oil (made for Harleys) as they advertise that their blend quiets noisy lifters but no-one I reached from their website stocked the stuff, and Dynacycle records your phone calls and returns them sometimes days later? AMSOIL is at least easy to obtain locally.

[warpig]

Mine is a 91 and it is noisy. After I fixed the gas cap rattle and got rid of the drag pipes I can hear the engine again. I just jingle and rattle right on by them big twins:)

[Cindy Dietz]

I didn't realize how noisey mine was until I rode a Nightser at the HD Demo rides last week. Mine has all kinds of rattles that the Nightster didn't have.

[tooracer]

With mine from day 1 I was talking to the service manager . Being used to Jap bikes I couldn't believe how noisy this engine was . They told me that the 4 cams were very noisy and they are . The top end sound nice , sewing machine like . I just keep it maintained and drive it . The SE II's I installed help.

Bert 2004 xl 883 standard

[Teut]

I like the engine noise.A factory of torq and fun makes noise.With stock exhaust it is a whole orcestra.

[ReddTigger]

Sportsters make noise !!!

They'll never be quiet, even with stock pipes.

Thats what makes em so much fun..

I too have the gas cap rattle, but It's not bad enough to warrent 35bucks for a new one.

[emzdogz]

my bike is a 1200 but has plenty of the top end clatter.
I use foam earplugs and its really nice, as it masks the clatter nuts-in-a-can kind of noise, and some windnoise, but lets me hear my exhaust and other sounds, road noises - even people talking.

My old 89, I could only hear the top end noise when I had a windshield on it. It had louder pipes, too.

[GWHuntter]

That is what brought me to this forum in the first place, to find out if what the stealer was telling me was true.
I just concider the noise the H/D run indicator. If your sporty stops making noise one of two things have happend #1 your out of gas #2 your out of luck your bike just died and my require major work so it can make noise once again.
I have an 04 and the larger cooling fins seem to act as tuning forks and amp. the eng. sounds

[paul883r]

My 2002 883R has 11000 km and I noticed some valve train noise. I agree with Folkie this is just a sign that the engine has loosend up due to normal break in. Its fine you will know when something is wrong.

[paul883r]

Mine’s an 07 XL 883 with 2600 miles and I get lots of valve clatter, particularly after hours of canyon running and then riding @ 75 mph on the freeway. Aside from that some transmission whine and of course the clunks of gear changing (mostly first) reminding me of my 1960 BMW R 500 that I bought and sold immediately for a small profit.

When winding out in lower gears I get tinny, busy, valve noise when it hits the cam and it sounds a bit like there’s something loose somewhere, there’s just so much metal around. Yet everything is tight, it’s a new bike well broken in, an all weather daily driver, so, I shrug it off and continue on.

When it sounds quietest and best, is when it’s been run hard and then had a rest and restarted, then it’s actually pleasant.

Next week I am going to try AMSOIL, for the engine and tranny. it should quiet the lifters somewhat and also reduce a bit of the clunking and smooth out the shift mechanism, a least I expect it should as that how synthetics are supposed to work. I'll let you know.

Incidentially I tried to get some Dynacycle oil (made for Harleys) as they advertise that their blend quiets noisy lifters but no-one I reached from their website stocked the stuff, and Dynacycle records your phone calls and returns them sometimes days later? AMSOIL is at least easy to obtain locally.
Paul DM
You should notice a difference if you switch to AMSOIL synthetic its viscosity index is more stable accross the engine temperature range. See AMSOIL Website for details.