I think that's what it is anyway. Got a chance at one relatively cheap. Low mileage, been in a garage unridden for quite some time. Looking at a "winter project" but need some info.

It was purchased new in Dubai!

 

I have a 1999, and there's a couple of bearing issues, depending on your engine manufacture date; and some other cam chest concerns.

1. The bolt used to attach the drive sprocket to the rear cam could loosen and cause the rotational force to shear the cast key of the sprocket, causing engine failure. The design was changed to the splined setup that's used now, as well as a bigger bolt. Mine never had an issue, but the condition does exist.
2. The bearing used in the cam support plate for both the front and the rear camshaft was originally a ball bearing. The rear bearing failed due to the extra loading and the design was changed to use a roller bearing for the rear only.
3. The inner cam bearing is an INA manufactured one, with rollers spaced apart by a steel stamped "cage". Many here (myself included) prefer the Torrington bearing that has more rollers without the steel spacing cage.
4. The cam chain tensioners are a wear item, and seem to wear inconsistently. I pulled mine at 38k, and they were worn, but still OK, others have had them disintegrate much earlier, and cause lots of engine damage by being ingested into the

A: oil pump and scarring the cam support plate with a resultant loss of oil pressure
B: cam bearings
C: crank bearings

These are the worst case scenarios, and many have had their bikes run long and trouble free.

I weighed the options, and decided a gear drive and all new bearings was the best route for me. You have to pull everything out anyway just to change the rear cam support plate bearing, and to me it made sense to get the biggest bang for the buck by doing all the cam chest work at one time.

Along with the cam chest work, I decided that I would go ahead and get all the mods out of the way at once. I had the jugs bored to get to 95CI, and had a mild port and polish done to the heads. I had the valves redone, and had the high lift spring kit installed to use with the 54G cams (Andrews said it was very close, and I figured I would err on the side of caution. I used 10.25:1 cast pistons for a little compression bump; but not so much that compression releases would be needed. The Jim's Hydrosolid lifters were a good choice (IMHO), and I went with adjustable push rods.

I purchased the Power Commander III from Jamie at Fuelmoto, and Jamie preloaded it with a map based on my choices. Afterwards, I took the bike there for a true Dyno tune, and it really made a difference. The "port and polish" was the wildcard in the canned map; and it really smoothed out after the tune.

The biggest thing was picking out components for the build, and knowing what I wanted out of the bike. I didn't need to build a stoplight to stoplight horsepower monster; I wanted a solid touring bike while retaining decent gas mileage. I picked components to achieve that, and I'm still pretty happy with the results 50K miles later.

 

You didn't say if was EFI or carb. I love my carbed '99. Did the cam chest work and used the HD upgrade to hydraulic tensioners and installed an Andrews 21 cam. Kept it an 88" but that came pull like a locomotive. Very happy camper.

BTW Jamesw, great post!

 

Don't know too much about it at this point and it's a quite a distance from me. Looked at it last year for someone else who chose not to buy it. But I mentioned it was bought in Dubai and I'm more interested in titles and other international issues.

The above responses will serve a purpose soon, thank you.

 

'99 Isn't a bad year at all

 

Anybody know someone (military veteran) who purchased a bike over in the mideast?

I am not in direct contact with the owner so I'm not familiar with the bike. Trying to get information here before proceeding further.

Thanks