sporty evo roller/rocker clatter needs to stop!!

ok so had the cam cover off and my cams fell out..ok so remove rocker covers release pressure set engine to TDC and replace cams..bike runs and all but now theres a horrible horrible clatter!!
so what have i dont wrong??what needs fixed and how???!finally got this thing going and am ready to ride but ill slit my wrist if i have to hear that clatter anymore!!thanks guys!!

all sportsters sound like a sewing machine. mine's noisy as hell. i just put on my helmet. that blocks out most of it.

One time I heard a noise similar to what you're describing as I was leaving my home for a ride. As I accelerated the noise got louder, and as I decell'd, it got quieter. As the ride progressed, the noise got increasingly LOUDER! I said fuck it, if it blows, it blows and pressed on. I would have bet ANY amount of money it was valve train noise, I was convinced that I'd be doing a tear down in the very near future.

I made it home and started inspecting the bike, then it hit me. About a week prior I had the tank off.....it was the rear tank mount. Yep, all that noise and clatter was from a loose tank mount.

is the clatter at certain rpms? like say getting on the. throttle from a stop, anx then smooths out at a steady highway speed. if so you are hearing engine ping. if that's the case, ,, retard the timeing a bit and try it again.

ill pick up some rubber washers or the like today to see if thats the problem..i had actually planned to use skateboard truck bushings but i think it will sit entirely to high!
but it seems to do the sound all the time..the guy helping me thought that maybe my rollers maybe had gone bad..i think thats what he thought..anyways he said its a hydraulic system and theought maybe they needed reprimed??any way ill be heading back out today to try and fix that problem i hope and if i dont get any where ill try and do a video with sound ofcourse so ya guys and hear it and maybe help diagnose the problem..thanks for the ideas thus far for me to check!

Is your oil circulating? The lifters should pump up pretty quickly. Is the noise coming from the top end or the bottom?

yea im confident my oil is circulating..i let it run for a lil while (havent rode it yet)but i thought by now they would have reprimed themselves..i think its top end though...ill do some more investigating here shortly

Not that it's your problem, but it's weird that Johnnywolf mentioned the gas tank being loose thing. I bought a used 91 and took off on the maiden voyage after fixing a bunch of stuff and there was the exact same noise and it turned out to be the tank slapping on the backbone. Weird. Something to check, like he said.

yep just went and picked up some rubber washers and some lock tight that will be the first and easiest thing i check..god i hope its that simple!!

I certainly hope it's something that simple. My tank noise was fucking loud and scary, especially when you're a few miles from safety. The tank was almost empty and the noise was like a rattle and a knock combined.

Got my fingers crossed for you.

What year is it? It could have adjustable pushrods. If it doesn't u could have them in the wrong order. Or if they r adjustable they might need to be adjusted. Or the oil pump Take it all apart and take everyones suggestions. If not u could wind up having to rebuild the whole engine and spend a lot of $!!!!

its a 2000 and arent adjustable..i believe the oil pump is fine...i think at this point it has to do with VOES and all the timing ignition yadda yadda..my carb seems to be fuct and needs cleaned,i tried "confusing"the voes system and my tank leaks..yea its been a great day!so here we go again eliminating problems..but,atleast it runs..even though shitty

sorry,now that i re read everything i just posted it seems very confusing..those are all problems i have and arent directly related except the fact that my dumbass did all the problems!