get your $$$ back for cam chain tensioners

[Meateater]

I had my evo 883 first then a 79 FXS at both times. I liked my shovel more so I waited and waited to get a big twin evo. Well I have a 2004 88b twin cam. And the chain tensioners wore out and took out my oil pump, that took out my inner barrings and thus I now need to replace my engine. Most bike shop said just buy a reman engine. Why would I do this just buy junk again? If I make a mistake I fix it, Say Sorry. Well the fact that this is not some isolated case. It is not ,Talk about HD giving people who ride a black eye So to you Harley Davidson You Suck when it comes to the chain tensioner Issue.

[Danglide]

update on mine,heard a hissing from the cam cover,so I opened it,and the outer shoe was just down to the metal,barely touching.85,000,replaced em both,np,glad I caught it in time!
but yeah,that should have been done differently.

[Slider McGee]

Originally Posted by aharp

Jesus Christ! You God damn people complain about EVERYTHING don't you? Like Larry the Cable Guy said, "I'm going to sue Hustler Magazine for giving my wrist carpal tunnel". If manufacturer's had a nickel for every dumb ass that was going to sue them for something that was "not engineered correctly" then they would be able to quit making vehicles they'd be so rich. Let's sue GM cause the cup holders in the pickup trucks don't hold a 64oz Big Buddy, that's poor engineering if I've ever seen it So you've been riding for 30 years? I have no idea how you made it through the shovel head years dude...Why don't you sue them for needing a top end job every 30k miles? Quit your bitchin', sack up and fix the bike and go put on your 300 miles a year like all the other cry baby RUBS.

Ouch! I felt that from way over here

[billslink]

On 07 and above TC models, I understand HD changed the shoes to a white Teflon type material (looks like the same material that's used for the shoe in the primary). They also got rid of the springs and switched to hydraulic automatic tensioners . They also went to a different type of cam chain to help reduce how much wear it causes. A friend of mine that has an 07 Road Glide was told by an HD dealer that the new and improved setup is supposed to be good for 85k. Sounds like they finally got that cam chain problem pretty well straightened it out without the need to go into the cam chest every 25 or 30k. Even with the upgrade, I believe I would still put in gear drives if I had one of those and was changing to hotter cams, anyway.

[Clayvis]

Originally Posted by billslink

On 07 and above TC models, I understand HD changed the shoes to a white Teflon type material (looks like the same material that's used for the shoe in the primary). They also got rid of the springs and switched to hydraulic automatic tensioners . They also went to a different type of cam chain to help reduce how much wear it causes. A friend of mine that has an 07 Road Glide was told by an HD dealer that the new and improved setup is supposed to be good for 85k. Sounds like they finally got that cam chain problem pretty well straightened it out without the need to go into the cam chest every 25 or 30k. Even with the upgrade, I believe I would still put in gear drives if I had one of those and was changing to hotter cams, anyway.

The problem with gear drives for the 07 and up models is the crankshaft runout. Many of the 07's have too much wobble in the crankshaft to run gear dries.

[jammerx]

Gear drive good!

[HDWRENCH]

I wonder why my shop insurance rates are so high.. I had a guy blow a tire and want to sue Metzler... **** happens.....


Hell my tahoe slung a rod out the side at 55,000 miles guess what I dropped in a ls2 with a stroker kit... Had the tahoe since new oil change every 5k, full serviced the entire time... Oh well not much I can do fix it and get over it... Wonder if the gas pedal stuck and it over revved it they would fix it outside of warranty??

[python33]

My 2¢. This is a quality control issue with the chains themselves. Some are pretty rough on the outside which wears out the tensioners quicker. That's why some go 20K and some go 80K+. You can replace the spring tensioners, polish the chains and probably have good life out of em, if you're a gambler anyway.

Still Harley's fault of course, worth suing about? Not my call, but I'm at 60K on 02 RK, outer was ok, less than 50%, inner was near failure. I got .0025" crank runout and goin with the gear drive. I like the reliability and free couple of ponies. Fit correctly they are plenty quiet from what I'm told.

[gb1500]

why didnt they put a g-dammmm inspection cover there?

[nowafatty]

Scooter poor. Chains polished. Replace the spring tensioners,and inspect them every 20k

[Nitram_b4]

in general I am not a fan of class action law suits
More often than not some lawyer is fanning the flames and reaping the benefits.
Cost the company money and does little or nothing for the owners of the product.