my 2000, tc88, still going strong,no engine work,75,000k's, i am looking at going 1550,and upgrade to some andrews cams,but still runs sweet!

 

My '04 Heritage now has 108,000 miles on it. I ride it 4 days a week to work and back (round trip it's 150 miles) almost year round. Only problem I have had has been the cam chain tensioner shoes. They went out on me at 64,000. Bike was under extended warranty then and HD fixed it for $50 deductible. At 108,000 I am still on second set of shoes and still riding 4 days a week. My bike still runs great. Change all fluids every 3-4000 miles.

 

My 2000 SERG is 95", which is just an 88 bored out. Put in gear drive cams at 57,000 miles, still running great with 112,000 miles now. Syn3 or Mobil1 in all three holes, changed at around every 3,000 miles.
As others have said, the cam chain tensioners are the weak link. Put in gear drive cams or late model HD hydraulic tensioners, keep the oil clean and you should get 100,000 miles easy.

 

My '06 Softail has almost 73,000 on the clock and the ONLY problem I have had was the stator fried at about 20K, the bike was just under a year old at the time. I added gear driven cams at 38,000 and have never looked back. I will probably drop in new tappets sometime over the winter.

 

I have often wondered if long traffic lights, long traffic crawls etc (and of course non synthetic oil and not changing oil ) are the big contributors of low bike engine life. I'm thinking why else would they not get what fan cooled cars and trucks do. I drive an 88 Chevy to work with 157,000 miles on it. My Dad bought it new and I bought it from him. Still has good compression and only one internal repair to date and that was an oil pump.
No damage to it with the pump because I watch pressure guage religiously. As soon as it dropped down below 30 (norm was 45) I took to the shop.

 

<shrug>
I bought my bike used... a 2005 FLTR with 10,526 miles in Dec 2007.... it has 65,135 today... I replaced the Cam Tensioners at 50k, not because they were shot..... but because, they were "close enough" Seeing as I was already there...

I see no reason, why you shouldn't get 150-200k on any modern engine, so long as you keep the oil clean, and fresh...and follow proper care.

30K? just getting broken in.

But it comes down to YOUR comfort level......

 

are you defining "useful" as the period you have before you have to tear it apart and fix Harley's designing genius or the period after?

 

90,000 on the 05. No engine work other than rocker box gaskets and transmission leak. Not sure what was leaking. Seal or gasket I suppose.

I had the chain tensioners checked at 60,000 miles. Looked ok.

 

Well I doubt that I will own my Night Train long enough to get 100,000 miles on it, but it is good to know it will get me there if I keep it.