Engine Tapping getting worse

[Troll]

You may have something blocking the oil passage to one of the hydraulic units. When I got my 1500, the top end was so noisy I could hear it over the V&H longshots that were on it. I put 3 oz of SeaFoam in a fresh oil change and the noises disappeared within 15 miles.....Just a thought....

[pcarrell]

Well, you've got my 2 suggestions covered!

[Bucko]

Hello PC:

I've got about 70k Kilometres on the bike so not really high mileage.  In any case, I put the tensioner extenders in at about 20k Kms as a preemptive measure.  As I recall the cap comes of the back of the tensioner and a punch can be inserted to push the plunger ahead manually (if the spring pressure isn't putting enough force on the plunger to move it forward).

I just changed the oil last week so that's not it.

[pcarrell]

How many miles do you have on that engine?  Could it be the cam chains hitting on the push rod tubes?  You usually see this on higher mileage motors.  http://www.gadgetjq.com/cc_tensioner.htm

Also, when was your last oil change?  I know mine gets noticeably louder as I near oil change time.

[Bucko]

I'm getting a lot of tapping noise these days.  The tapping sounds like a noisy lifter if you can imagine what that sounds like  - I think the 1500's are notorious for noisy lifters.  In any case, whatever is causing it, it's related to RPM - the fast the engine revs, the faster the tapping.

The old 1500 has always been a bit of a tapper, even when new.  I used to find though that as the engine warmed up, on a warm day, the ticking would mostly disappear.  Now I hear the tapping all the time, hot or cold!  It's so loud that on the highway, at 60 MPH, I can barely hear the motor because of the wind noise but the tapping comes through loud and clear.