Hi

I have an 06 Ultra. I read a lot about the tensioner going bad with as low of 20k miles. Then I read where this is exaggerated. Is this something to start checking? I have 23k on the bike now.

Thanks

 

Yeah check them now, then I would check them every 10,000 miles if they're ok, 06 I assume its an 88 engined bike, its luck of the draw with them some last 50,000 miles some go at 20,000 or less.

 

Just checked my old tensioners at 46k. One had completely failed, as in broke in half. I upgraded to the hydraulic tensioner with the upgraded oil pump. I recommend the same when you check them, wether they're good or not.

 

Old timer, welcome to the Forum!

You have an unique bike. Here's why.

The '06's were the first bikes with a cat converter. You will find it in your right muffler, if you still have the stock pipes. It's stamped on the muffler. If you carry a passenger, her right foot is probably cooking, as it's right over the cat.

You also have "EPA" cams with no overlap between intake and exhaust. Do you notice when you come to a hill, you can roll on the throttle and not really make any additional power to get up the hill?

You also have the last year (I think) with factory run out tolerances tight enough on your crank shaft that would enable you to install gear drive cams, which eliminate the tensioner problems entirely. For about the same price as doing the Harley "upgrade," you could install a set of gear drives and then "forget about it!"

Been there, done that. Check into either Andrews 21's or 26's gear drives.

P.s. My tensioner shoes "looked good" at 30,000, but once removed, a very apparent crack was detected. You can see it on the left one in the attached picture.

P.s.s. When doing my upgrade to gear drives, I did not get the improved oil pump that comes with the Harley upgrade.

 

Thank you for helping me here. Time to check them out and see about getting the gears in ther. Yes that pipe gets very hot, I wrapped it under the heat shield and it's much better

 

Definitely go with the gear drive cams! I checked my pinion run-out and I was well withing tolerance for my install (04 FLHTCUI). I went with the S&S 510G gear drive cams and love it! Now my ride is practically bullet proof! Simple install if you go with adjustable push rods and you can find the bearing tool on ebay for a reasonable price. It's a cool project if you like working on your bike... not too difficult.

 

As stated, the bad thing about the chain tensioners is there is no rhyme or reason, some last forever, some wear out in 10,000 miles....I changed mine out at 26,000....they were worn, but intact........just one of those shortcomings that Harley overlooks.

 

whats the average cost on getting them checked?

 

Should be no more than 1 hr labor if they know what they're doing. Entire exhaust DOES NOT need to come off, nor does the cam plate need to be pulled out to check the rear.

 

Thanks for the info.