Gday new to the forum, 

My bike is making tapping noise, knock, rattle noise, when the revs get to 3000, annoys the hell out of me especially stting on 100klm phr

i have eliminated , engine mounts, followers/lifters. to me the sound is coming from the front rocker box, 

any suggestions. 

i have had a mechanic look at it and change a few parts but even he is puzzled says only thing left is Top end, says "give it a freshn up see if that fixes it". but its all money i really want to try and diagnose it 1st, as i have already spent a bit trying to play the elimination game.

i have owned and riden harleys since a teen and never herd this sound.

anyone have or had this problem that can offer there advice would be great, that way i can suggest these to my mechanic.

Cheers

If it sounds like tapping with a small hammer, it might be pinging.  Have you done any mods to the bike, ie pipes or air cleaner?

it does sound like pinging a bit, the bike has an air cleaner & the housing was modified to let it breath a bit.
i can rule out the exhaust as i have tried that already, standard or not , still taps away at 3000 revs.

Let me see if i can explain it better.

i can power through the tap, it does go away it just does it at that certain Revs.
when im sitting on 100 klms phr, its fine but rolling on the throttle slightly it will start to tap , and then stop untill i hit 115klms perhaps or more.
its weird man.

If it was pinging what can be done to stop it?

It has standard ignition.

Carby or fuel injected ?

Evo 1340, CV carb, K&N filter,

 

Cheers Hilly, i am sort of leaning towards pinging now after reading on the net in various forums.
if i cant get the :pinging to stop" il have to get the rocker boxes off and have a look.

I will post any progress on here

What fuel are you using (95, 98?), if its pinging your lean and lugging the engine, if you haven't already I would try 98 fuel and see if that makes a difference.
This would eliminate any of Hilly's thoughts.

Hilly, would'nt the knocking be through the rpm range but get worse higher up?

Today i filled her with 98, no difference, perhaps worse?.
I was going to fit an ignition any way,
what would the best ignition to buy for an evo Dyna.
My thoughts are its definatley pinging.
I can then play with the settings right?

dont  think your lugging it at 3000rpm evos love 2800to3000 pinging worse on 98???go dyna ignition or crane.what if you frre rev it at 3000 rpm for 30 sec anything then?

you could try some nulon octaine booster in it to see if that stops/reduces the pinging

Maybe your carby needs re jetting. Put the old air filter back on see if it makes a difference ?

G`day All , yeah ozziepride sounds a lot like Ignition timing and Air / Fuel Ratio , Pinging !
Try original Air Filter and Carbi setup maybe ? Cheers , Skin

buy a trumpy

Cheers for all the feedback, what i did yesterday was add that wyns octane boost, and i did get a result but didnt eliminate it, seemed to quiten the ping in the 1st gear ect but its still there, i had my mechanic retard the timing , it sort of eliminated the ping not fully but it did nearly vanish, but the power loss was awfull, i rather here the pinging noise and have the power!, so i had a chat with him and the only thing im left to do is replace the standard ignition with a crane. il have a look for one online today.
Thanks for all the feedback again very helpfull, may have saved me some money as i was just about to take the bike in for a top end rebuild.

Since trying to eliminate that noise i have added a EV-46 Cam, Ezy install Adjustable pushrods, new Lifters, > The bike is going extreemly well
What kind of difference will i notice when adding the CRANE IGNITION.
Also i have to buy a coil aswell ?....can someone list the parts i need to change? so i can hunt for them online.

Cheers

Ozzie, have you still got the original header pipes on it? My 98 FXDL used to make some odd sounds not too different to pinging, but turned out the heat shield of the front header pipe needed a new clamp ($2.50 at Bunnings!). Ands that was at a similar speed (90kph if my memory serves me?). Believe it or not, but only a suggestion. Best of luck!

Anyone had any experience with this type of ignition
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310302826224&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:AU:1123

Yep, the heat shields can make weird rattles and tings at odd times. Wad up some aluminum foil and stuff it between the pipe and shield.
Here is something else. If you have high mileage, the slide in the carburetor can wear enough to rattle at certain speeds. That would make a noise right up near the rocker box. It would likely be most pronounced at steady speeds, not so much under load.