Originally Posted by Taggs

Agreed but, it will be the inevitable death of the engine. if it's making noise, the serious damage is done.

Originally Posted by djl

Not necessarily the "inevitable death" of the motor; the noise was coming from the cam chest.

Unfortunate situation but replacing the tensioner shoes with a set of CYCO shoes, oil and filter change could be all that is required to solve the problem permanently or, worst case, buy the OP some time to scrape up the cash for a rebuild.

Originally Posted by FattyMcJ

Completely disagree.

Mine **** the bed around 17k miles (two weeks after I bought the bike...it was a garage queen) and made TERRIBLE noise, wouldn't stay running...it was bad.


Did the repair (new plate, tensioners, oil pump, new cams, etc) and now she sits at 33k miles with no more issues. I ride her daily too, she doesn't get babied.

I say find a new mechanic, preferably an Indy.

Originally Posted by Taggs

You have a lot of faith in the filtering system To prevent even the slightest amount of contamination to hit vital intetnal moving parts. I don't. Short term fix, yes. Cam chest repair followed up by a couple close interval oil changes may give it some added life. After that it's a over time breakdown matter. Always in the back of your head, is this the day it nukes?

Originally Posted by djl

I have known several that have encountered the OP's situation, one was my brothers '05 FXST. Not having the funds to take out the motor, split cases, pull the pan, etc., etc., we replaced the cam chest innards, did a "complete" oil change with my Rogue Chopper kit, replace the oil filter and put the bike back on the road. After a couple of hundred miles we pulled another complete oil change and collected an oil sample which we sent to Blackstone and got a good report back. That was four years ago. So, yeah, I have faith in the filtering system using the HD filters.

Just saying that the OP could save himself a lot of grief and money by taking the "short term" approach to extending the life of the motor. Best case is problem is solved for good; worst case the motor life is extended and he buys some time to put away some $$ for that fateful ("inevitable" in your terms) day when the motor dies but that's JMHO.

Originally Posted by Thomas Fuller

Sorry for the long history but it's necessary for understanding. Thanks for your help in advance.


Hi Everyone,
I'm new to here as I just purchased my 2003 Road King Classic in Oct 2016 with 17,200 miles @ $10,000. It now has 19,300 miles. I found this forum while searching for a solution to my problem after owning it 6 months and just over 2,000 miles of riding. I could REALLY use everyone's opinions. So here it goes:


Everything seemed to be going well with my bike until a few weeks ago. When I ride my motorcycles to work, I usually wear my earbuds and listen to music. I started hearing what I thought were the valves/lifters starting to click louder as time went on. Finally, last week, my oil pressure light came on. After work, I drove it by the nearest Harley dealer to get oil and have them listen to the engine. Mechanic turned it on, listened for about 1-2 seconds, and turned it off saying that it didn't sound right and recommended I not drive it any further.
The mechanic ended up opening the engine area where the cams and tensioner are to find that the plastic shoe was melted, shaving, and had sliver chunks in the housing. The tensioner was actually fine. He then took of the oil filter, cut it open, and found metal shavings in the oil. Both him and the service manager said that time vs money, it was looking like a new motor and hopefully the cams were still good. They said that the other Harley dealership should have seen the metal flakes if they had done an oil change prior to selling it to me; I don't know if they did or not. They also said that this problem is not "normal" and they usually don't check the cam tensioner until about 20-25,000 miles.
After talking with the general manager at the dealership I purchased it from, I was told they couldn't do anything since I didn't have a warranty and it had been 6 months and 2,000 miles. The best they could do for me is their "Winter Package Deal" of 20% of parts and labor. This blew my mind!! A new motor + labor is around $5,000. That's half of what they sold me the bike for!!


Does anyone have anyone have any experience like this after purchasing a bike? What are your recommendations that I should do? Would it help to contact Harley corporate? This is my 5th bike I've owned and my 1st Harley. This isn't a very good starting experience that I'm having so far.