Picked up a 2002 Ultra Classic the last week of June with 29K miles on it. I opened the cam cover and sure enough, the original spring tensioners were there. I ordered the SE hydraulic upgrade kit. Along with Andrews cams. It's been 6 weeks waiting on the SE kit which has me pissed. They told me 3 weeks originally.

Anyway, this SE kit has the front roller chain and rear silent chain. My question is this:. What kind of mileage are people getting out of these tensioners before needing to be replaced?
Does the rear with the silent chain wear out faster than the front with the roller chain? I am asking here since I can't find any answers anywhere on this topic.

 

Its a crapshoot. I opened mine at 34k, worn , but more life. Some people had failures earlier. Could maybe guess if your still look ok, they are not the ones that fail real early.

20 years ago they said it was internet hysteria about failures. Now people are hysterical if you ride with them.

Summer time, and they don't look ready to fail, I would ride.

I am not familar with the different chains.

 

Are you talking about the hydraulic tensioners being worn at 34K miles or the original spring tensioners being worn at 34K miles?

My question is the mileage life from new install until replacement is needed using the hydraulic tensioners.

 

The original spring pads are softer and wear more. The new style hydraulic are thinner, and have shallower wear

I haven't seen yours to know if panic mode. Just saying if they are not alarming I would probably ride for the summer. Unless you are paying someone to replace and they would have done in a day.

Myself, I would consider boring to 95" and cams while open. But it is easy to spend others money. But if you do yourself over winter, you can think about it.