Hydraulic push rods mean that your valves will not be out of adjustment (unless engine has been modified from factory specs) so I think you may need to increase the viscosity of the oil, run straight 50 oil as recommended by H-D if your in a climate that remains over 60 degrees, good luck.
Hi, I believe you are running the engine too slow for that gear. That is called lugging the engine. You can do some damage to engine and transmission. Use a lower gear to start out and for climbing a hill and higher gears for running on flat roads(highway).
On the 2008 fxd 3rd gear is to high at 30 mph the gearing in that bike is higher than previous years. It doesn't allow enough oil pressure to keep the lifters full and this giving you an out of adjustment sound. Also in the summer time heat you might want to run a heavier oil as Harley recommends this.
Your Harely is an older design pushrod type engine that is equipped with rocker arms to operate the valves. This sound that you are hearing is typical of such an engine. The later designed over head cam engine does not have the rocker arms and therefore a quieter engine. Most of the motorcycles on the road today are the overhead cam design even the Harley V-Rod, but not the other Harleys. This engine design is one of the reasons so many people like the Harley-Davidson motorcycles. It's part of the "traditional motorcycle look" that Harleys offer. That's why Harley sells as many bikes as they can produce. I'm an old school biker and I'd NEVER own a motorcycle that has a radiator on it. It just ain't right, in my opinion. BG
Good Luck
Steve
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