Just completed my 12th trip from Florida up to South Jersey which just after my return my odometer now reads 70k + miles . The TC96 and 6speed tranny have been bullet proof with zero problems to speak of . Many of these trips have been 22hr nonstop runs up to Jersey running 75+mph all through the heat of the day of the south land into the cool night mountain air nights up in the Virginia mountains etc.
Bike has the original cam chain tensioners, drive belt, etc etc . I run Shell Rotella diesel oil with no issues, i like the way it quiets the top end of the motor,she runs very quiet with the Rotella and it handles the 95+ degree temps very well .......Nothing but good things to say about the TC-96 engine and the 6 speed tranny, bike averaged 42mpg on the trip which is not too bad running 75+ mph through the mountains etc up in Tenn, Virginia, etc .

 

that's crazy but awesome, is the diesel oil a similar viscosity to 20w50?

 

my 01 WG is now at 58k. I like hearing success stories like yours from riders who keep/use their bikes for the long haul. I especially like the rotella, no need for $12 qt full synthetic!. I did however do my tensioners and they were completely worn at 57k. just consider at your next oil change popping the cam box cover and check them out. if you finagle the allen wrench on the two bottom screws you don't even have to remove the fwd exhaust. the gasket is $7.

 

66,650+ on my '09 FXD. I use straight 60W in the summer and straight 50W in the winter (I ride all year as it's my only transportation).

Change engine oil every 3000 miles, primary every 6000, and tranny every third or fourth engine oil change (depends on what it looks like on the dipstick).

I get same mileage now as I got when new - 47mpg city and backroads, 50 interstate.

85 on the interstate and I still have at least half a throttle more to turn (had it at 110 once and still had lots of throttle left). Lots of power for what I need, no need for any larger engine.

Had to replace the stator a few weeks ago, not a hard job (unless one is a gimp like me and then it's just painful on the bad back by leaning down so long). Total cost was around $270. Would have been significantly more if I'd taken it in to the dealership or my indie. While primary cover was off, looked at chain tensioner and it's got *lots* left to go. Need to look at cam tensioners though, just to make sure.

Last week I thought the ignition switch was broken as it was wobbling all over the place in the hole it sits in in the neck. Bit the bullet and took it to dealership to see how much new switch and work on it would cost. Would have totaled about $200. Paid to have them order the switch and went home. Then I thought, I wonder how much that tool is for tightening the switch. Looked it up and found one for $40 (half the price of the labor cost!). Then for ***** and giggles I looked up in the service manual the difficulty of the job and find out it's simple as hell and that I'd been turning the thing 'clockwise' to try and tighten whatever was loose in there, when I needed to be turning it 'counter-clockwise'.

Called the dealership as fast as I could to try and cancel the order and caught them just in time.

Ordered the tool I needed from online, then went outside and found two things I could use that had pointy ends and tightened the ring down as best as one can with a quicky setup like I had. Saved myself $160.

Only other problem I've had is the paint on the back end of the rear fender and the back end of the front fender. Both bubbling badly and flaking off. Front fender I can probably do myself and it look sorta good enough, but the rear will be roughas I need the bike often and will be a pita trying to find enough time to remove it, sand it, primer it and then paint it and put it back on...at least if I want to try and do it as correctly as possible which means lots of drying time and a place no bugs will get on it.

All-in-all, I've been a lot happier with this bike than I was with the '72 rat bike sportster I and a friend shared back in '84. Not much mechanical trouble as just the tiny gas tank could barely get me to the cliffs outside Vegas at Lake Mead and then back home, heh. Had to thumb quite a few times though to get gas and in the summer it's a bitch and long-haired and raggy jeans with oil from working on the bike wiped on them, people didn't want to stop very much to help.

 

The Rotella is 15-40W which is not a problem at all, i live in Florida and ride everyday in the 90+ degree heat of summer and the low 30s of winter time we get here in the Northwest panhandle where i live ( Destin / Ft Walton area ) . Your Harley owners manual even suggest using diesel oil when you cannot get the " recommended " Harley oil . I have a power commander setup from Fuel Moto which seems to do a nice job keeping the motor running a little cooler than the stock setup by having it programmed to run a little richer fuel ratio, its got good power as well with the setup .

 

The 2008 TC- 96 motor has a different setup than the 2001 Dynas. They changed the tensioner material design, chain, hydraulic tensioner assy etc i believe in either 2007 or 2008 . So far the new design seems to have fixed the issues they had prior to the change .

 

These stories make me happy about owning my Harley. Has anybody done a rebuilt yet or these miles are as is, from the factory? I used to run Rotella in my Mustang 5.0 with 230k miles just to keep from burning so much between changes. Good stuff.

 

Congrats to the OP, routine maintenance is the key to longer engine life and less wear. Perfect example of that.

 

07 Street Bob with 73,500. Only problem was a stator replacement 3 years ago. Got tired of the excess heat and poor performance so I removed the EFI and went with a CV40. All I really have to do is regularly change fluids (Mobil 1 - 20-50, Synthetic 90-140 and synthetic ATF, brake pads, add gas and wash. Best damn bike I have ever had.

 

Congrats on your reliable ride. Good to hear.