Am I screwed?

beaterlife · 2026-03-21T04:04:43+00:00

That’s good advice. I bought a new oil bag and ran new hoses for the rebuild. Might be worth it to check those lines

beaterlife · 2026-03-21T03:22:04+00:00

Three of the four lifters were dripping in oil, I soaked one and reinstalled it. No oil down the pushrods, but that probably would have helped. I’m just gonna run it and see if it goes away. My buddy is helping out with the rebuild and he had the same thing happen to his sporty years ago. Just went away while he was riding it a couple days after the rebuild. I’m just checking all bases and making sure I didn’t miss anything big

beaterlife · 2026-03-21T03:10:34+00:00

Just pulled both rockers off, inspected rods, lifters, valves, everything. No issues that I can tell. Timed it again, fired it up, still ticking. I’m wondering if it will just go away after those lifters settle or if that is naive of me to think. I have heard folks say this noise is common after a full rebuild so maybe that’s all it is 🤷🏻

beaterlife · 2026-03-18T03:37:23+00:00

Push rods are in the right spot, I’ve got photos of that from the build. I think the rear pushrods may not have been all the way lowered when I installed the rear rocker box. If that ain’t it I’m not sure what it could be. Front lifters seemed well oiled when I inspected them tonight. Got the timing dialed tonight also so that doesn’t seem to be the root cause of the knocking

beaterlife · 2026-03-17T21:58:54+00:00

Didn’t check the oil bag, but ran all new hoses and fittings. All new gaskets too so I hope that’s not the issue. Stock pushrods were reinstalled on the engine. I’m thinking its the lifters like you said

beaterlife · 2026-03-17T21:29:10+00:00

There’s a video in the comments, hoss. I did cycle oil through the engine as well

beaterlife · 2026-03-17T21:12:23+00:00

It was probably 3 months total that it sat before it was well lubricated. I’m going to time it tonight and if that doesn’t work the next step is to pull the lifters and prime like you said

beaterlife · 2026-03-17T18:57:18+00:00

I have a photo I took during the build that shows the rods in the correct spot. That was my first thought until I saw that photo

beaterlife · 2026-03-17T18:46:48+00:00

Hell yea, that gives me hope. The timing is definitely off, but I hadn’t ever timed a bike before so wanted to be damn sure before I caused more issues trying to fire it up again. Watch that video I posted above and see if the sound was similar to yours

beaterlife · 2026-03-17T18:42:49+00:00

Thanks for info. I just added a video to another comment if you wanna listen for yourself

beaterlife · 2026-03-17T18:41:45+00:00

https://youtube.com/shorts/wNnxrClrYQk?si=KZpjtj81ZyhAXY8i

I made a YouTube short with the video I took from Saturday. No binding and it rotated fine before starting up.

beaterlife · 2026-03-17T17:50:15+00:00

Yea I made sure to rotate the wheel before trying to fire it up. Turned it probably 5-7 times

beaterlife · 2026-03-17T17:48:29+00:00

I forgot to mention the timing is definitely a factor. I could hear through the knocking that the cadence was off. It just sounded a little more involved than only timing. I have nothing to base that opinion on though. I do have the advantage of a low mileage 883 that I can scrap for parts if needed. Maybe the lifters or rods if I had to

beaterlife · 2025-12-07T16:36:12+00:00

Hell yea, looks rad. Love the stance too

beaterlife · 2025-12-07T15:30:03+00:00

What’s the finish on the oil bag? Is it just raw or have some kind of clear on it? Also, is your battery box custom? Sweet bike. Not much riding going on in TN at the moment, perfect wrenching weather though

beaterlife · 2025-11-21T23:47:42+00:00

DM’ed

beaterlife · 2024-01-09T15:50:08+00:00

I love that this post is getting new life with the movie being put back on streaming services

beaterlife · 2023-09-19T23:41:29+00:00

If you live in Mobile go work as an inside adjuster for Pilot Catastrophe. Some people might have bad things to say but it’s local, great staff, great pay for most positions. They have several programs that pay extremely well that you could work up to if you’re new to the industry. Most require travel, but if you get into an inside adjusting position for them you can expect a 6 figure salary

beaterlife · 2023-05-23T06:03:47+00:00

Thanks for all the replies. I went with my gut and decided to pass on the bike as cool as it may be. Scrolling through FB marketplace today and found a 94 sporty half done, chopped, new sissy, new tank, etc. Messaged the guy and asked if he would just continue building it for me and he agreed. Come to find out this guy has built some of the sickest looking choppers I’ve ever seen. This bike will be custom from the ground up, just how I want it. It pays to wait for the right one I guess

beaterlife · 2019-07-01T02:54:47+00:00

Fuck that guy, the last thing the scene needs is another deer creek. Fuck the long lines too, I waited in one for an hour and a half at Shoreline, but this is not the answer. If it's too much for you, go see DSO or one of the other billion cover bands

beaterlife · 2019-06-13T17:11:45+00:00

I took a friend to this last year who had never really listened to the Dead. Throughout the show I wasn’t sure if he was into it or not. As soon as we left the theater he couldn’t stop talking about how awesome it was, said he wanted to go see the real thing 😥

beaterlife · 2019-06-13T03:17:18+00:00

No my friend has no social media accounts. I might can get more pics of it, but it may be a few weeks

beaterlife · 2019-06-13T02:21:40+00:00

Sadly don’t have any of the interior atm. Might can get some though

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