I have an 2002 FLHR and just took it in for a loud whinnig noise coming from the cam case. The dealership says one of the camchain tensioners is gone and the chain is riding on metal. Bike has 22,000 miles on it and they want $2000 for the repair!
Does it still have the stock cams? Just trying to figure out if there's a connection between non-standard cams and shorter shoe life.
My stock ones are still fine at 47,000 miles; less than half worn.
As far as the repairs are concerned, it depends on how much unexpected material ended up inside your engine. I don't know if they showed you the worn out shoe, but if there is metal missing, then that's inside your motor somewhere, and flushing the oil lines isn't going to remove it. Are they planning to remove the oil pan, and clean that out as well?
My
guess is that if it only just reached the metal, and there's next to nothing worn from the shoe support, then that's all the metal that's in your system, plus some wear on the silent chain. It should be fine particles only, some of which will be in the filter, as fine particles are designed to be carried in the oil, and filtered out. There's a magnetic plug on the oil pan, I think. Was that heavily contaminated with swarf?
If not, you might be OK.
Cutting open the oil filter and seeing what's in there might give you some more clues.
Very dispersed and fine metal particles might not do too much damage, as the lubrication system is designed to deal with them. Big lumps like a bearing failure are another matter, but I suspect in this case, you might just be OK, especially if you got it to the shop very soon after the shoe material ran out of luck.
If it was me, I'd be tempted to do the cheap repair, keep the stock cam plate, and replace the shoes, and then sell it (but not to your best buddy).
If you like the bike, same applies, but change the oil at 500 miles, and if there are loads of iron filings in there, sell it, quick.
I assume the bike's in bits at the dealer, so your options of trying somewhere else are limited...?