Just wanted to float this experience out there and see if someone has experienced the same issue. Bought my Road Star in late 2007 and loved it. Big step up from the Boulevard I was riding. Faithfully brought it in for it's 600 mile first service. At that point the bike had your typical big v twin engine noises. No problem there. Things slowly went down hill however. The bike has developed a chatter when maintaining speed in any gear. It sounds like the valvetrain but it is not constant. No chatter at idle and no chatter under load. Only when maintaining speed. Hit the gas and it goes away. I've tried the headlight fix, the tank rattle fix and the ring free treatment. Not any better. Tried different oils and fuel and that didn't lessen the chatter either. I'd swear it was the valve train. This bike will not do this until it warms up. I have been to 3 dealers and 2 have said it is normal. If so, why has it gotten progressively louder with (now 2900 miles) on it? The third dealer has said they do hear the noise also but don't know what to do. They had the bike a week and said if I want them to tear it completely down I will have to pay out of pocket even though I have 2 months remaining on my warranty. Any advice? Thanks!

This is one of those times that if offered an extension on the warranty I think I'd pay for it.

Keep all your documentation for the trips to the dealer to try and isolate and fix this problem. Hopefully they've noted on the repair sheet what the problem is and what they've done (or not done) to fix it. If there's some way to document the suspicious sound (video or something) I'd for sure be doing that too.

It could be nothing or it could be something. I'm not enough of an expert to say. I am, howerver, enough of a careful person to cover my rear on something that could turn into a costly repair.

M7

hmmmmm some noise IS normal and switching to synthetic oil quiets it down a lot. The dealer MAY have adjusted the valves wrong It's pretty easy to do yourself if you take your time. Do a search about how to do it or at least check it.
If I were you I would change the oil to synthetic oil like Amsoil or Mobil 1 vtwin 4 qts and no more with a filter change. First

Then see how it runs if the noise is still there then check the valves.

IMHO
Steven

Had a chatter that changed with engine vibration, turned out that the bolt that holds my chain guard on had fallen out.
Papa Bear

I've had a noisy engine on my 2007 Midnight Silverado since I rode it off of the showroom floor last March. I took it to a different dealer and asked them to ride it to see if the noise was "normal". The mechanic said it was more than normal and they got Yamaha to approve the teardown under warranty. I spoke with them this morning and they say they think the rod bearings are out of spec. They said there are no numbers on the rods so they have ordered four sets of replacement bearings w/different specs. I'll post again when I have the final results but I am encouraged that Yamaha approved the work and the dealer thinks they have identified the problem. My bike sounded like a diesel pickup under load at any RPM.