Yeah gidday tried starting my 1200 xlh sporty after 4 weeks of it sitting in the shed and it just makes a loud clicking noise but the battery is only 6 months old my harley is a 1998 xlh

If you're having that much valve noise, you have probably lost oil pressure for some reason. Take your oil filter off the engine and take the spark plugs out. Spin the engine with the starter and watch for oil to pump out of the fitting for the oil filter.

Now, you didn't mention how loud the valve noise was. If you have indeed lost oil pressure to your tappets, the noise will be quite noticable, not just a slight rattling. Your bike will sound like a pea thrasher.

The late model Sportster oil pumps are not like the older models that were so bad about shearing the drive pins. The late model doesn't have the pins. They have flat drive angles on the oil pump shaft. About the only thing that I can think of that would cause a loss of oil pressure on a Sporty is a piece of trash got into the tank and is blocking the inlet to the pump or the pump is air locked for some reason. Unscrew the oil pressure sending unit and spin the engine over long enough to pump out a few ounces of oil.

I've only seen one Evo Sporty lose oil pressure. Someone had tried to stop an oil leak in the oil tank by Creme coating the tank. Creme is designed for a fuel tank, not an oil tank. The coating cannot take the heat of the hot oil, becomes brittle and starts flaking off.

Good Luck
Steve

The oil is "gooey". Hmm. Cold 20W50 oil is gooey. There is nothing else in the engine to change the consistancy of the oil. Now, your oil tank is accessible without any tools. Possiblility someone could have put something in your oil. A good sniff of the oil should tell the story on that. If it smells like sugar or syrup, that's a good clue.

Now, If the bike wre a big twin, I'd guess you lost a roller on a tappet. Big Twins are notorious for this but the header says your bike is Sporty. I've never seen a Sporty lose a roller tappet. The Sportster has a much better valve train geometry than a Big Twin.

Have you checked for a blown head gasket? Evo Sportsters are known to be more vulnerable to that than the big twins. The easy way to find that is wait until it gets dark, start the engine, and rev it up a few times. Watch for a sharp flame to pop out betweent he head and the cylinder. It's easily seen in the dark.

Other than that, anything I could tell you would be a guess at best. Take a long screwdriver and put on bone in your head just in front of your ear. With the engine running, touch the engine in various places and try to determine where the noise is coming from. Sometimes this isn't easy as the noise will have a tendency to "travel through the engine". Otherwise the only thing you can do is a compression test or a leakdown test.

Good Luck
Steve

Are you sure it is a 1340 and not a 1200? Most Sporties that have the displacement bumped up started life as a 883 and were bumped to a 1200. That involved new pistons and cylinders, and related gaskets and tuning, that's about it.

The link below is a GREAT place to answer this (and other) questions about your Sportie.
http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/showthread.php?t=563945

But you might have better luck (and a better time) at:

http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/view+classifieds/id/1600762/INSTANT+DOWNLOAD+Harley+Davidson+XL+/+XLH+883+1100+1200+Sportster+Service+Repair+Manual+WIRING+DIAGRAMS+TROUBLESHOOTING+ENGINE+OVERHAUL+1986+2003

I know it's a long link, but just highlight it, copy it and paste it into your browser. It's worth it.

I've owned, built, worked on, raced, did endurance trials, plus on Sporties from 883 to 100 to 1200, so let me know if this helped.

The battery is either dead, or there is a bad connection. Try to jump start it with a car. Positive to positive, Negative to ground and see if it starts. If it starts then, its probably the battery. Remove it and have it tested.

1 1/4 turn

There are many reason why your car wont start.
Check Your Fuses
Battery Issue
Bad Igntion Switch
Bad Starter Connection
Test your ignition coil
Just go through these two link
http://www.ehow.com/video_112584_troubleshoot-car-wont.html
http://autorepair.about.com/od/troubleshooting/a/ts_no-start.htm
Hope these links will help
Let me know
Thanks
Kindly rate the answer
Smith

It sounds electrical and as it's a Sporty, I suggest a temperature-related dry joint opening up in the wiring. One popular candidate would be the earthing strap. It's worth checking continuity with a VOM when engine is hot. It may have a vibration crack. 66C is quite cool for a sportster oil temperature, so I guess you have this problem on every long ride? Good Luck.