TC88 description by Donny Petersen
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 1,476
Likes: 23
From: Summit, Mississippi
Any 1999 or 2000 is simply a time-bomb waiting to go off. Bikes are still showing-up with the rear cam bearing never have been changed. (The low mileage jewels that have been sitting in somebody's garage for years.) My thoughts are that if you're going in there just to replace the rear cam bearing and the spring tensioners....it simply does not cost all that much more to go ahead and change the inner bearings and install the hydraulic tensioner system and be done with it.
There are still lots of late EVO's out there. Unfortunately.....the prices seem to approach the TC's in most cases. If you just go ahead and get a late model EVO...you also dodge all the electronics added to the later TC models to try and make them run. You can pump-out about the same HP with a good solid EVO and a few mods. I would not go back to a Shovel, or even an early EVO. 96-98 would be my choice. Nor would I buy a new one. It's obvious that MOCO is starting to move to another engine with this "liquid cooled Rube Goldberg" fix in the 14 models. Just take a look at the plumbing on this monster and that should be enough to scare you away.
There are still lots of late EVO's out there. Unfortunately.....the prices seem to approach the TC's in most cases. If you just go ahead and get a late model EVO...you also dodge all the electronics added to the later TC models to try and make them run. You can pump-out about the same HP with a good solid EVO and a few mods. I would not go back to a Shovel, or even an early EVO. 96-98 would be my choice. Nor would I buy a new one. It's obvious that MOCO is starting to move to another engine with this "liquid cooled Rube Goldberg" fix in the 14 models. Just take a look at the plumbing on this monster and that should be enough to scare you away.
Knowledge is evolutionary.We're ALL eating a few words in some way, unless we're actually ignorant and clueless! Overall, I liked reading Donny's stuff, and after the stage II mods, I LOVELOVELOVE my TC88!
I just love to remove slightly dirty oil from my engines...but at 7K or so, syn looks like bearing wear to me - butt dyno again, but what do you want flowing thru your veins?
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 1,476
Likes: 23
From: Summit, Mississippi
There was much press concerning how MOCO had tested these engines and really put them thru the wringer. I can't believe they had no bearing or tensioner issues during all this supposed testing. I have another theory. The original motors they tested had a roller bearing in the rear and smoother chains. Somebody at Harley decided they could save a $1 with a cheaper bearing....and that's what they rolled out. These things were falling apart in serious numbers as soon as they hit the market. It's something we will likely never know, but if they had put the miles on these motors during testing they say they did.....it's hard to believe they did not discover they had a serious weakness. Me thinks something happened between "testing" and "roll-out".
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 537
Likes: 0
From: Florida
I had my 01 TC88 Built at 30K miles, and as I heard the inner shoe was worse than the outer and were in need of replacement! went with a 103" kit all new bearings and gear drive easy start cams, with the fact that this motor has the Timken bearings I don't expect to have to get into this motor for a very very long time
all the power I will ever need and I wanted reliability not a race bike!
all the power I will ever need and I wanted reliability not a race bike!
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 1,476
Likes: 23
From: Summit, Mississippi
Just a word of caution for the newcomers. Most of us that have been around a while know this, but you shouldn't just toss-in a gear-set without some planning first. I have been behind some folks who paid no attention to the potential problem...and they paid for it....the least of which is noise (gear-whine), the worst is a busted case. The "professionals" that do this suggest the crank be removed and corrected to be sure there is no run-out. You're allowed a small amount of run-out (.002-.003) and get buy. Manufactures also provide over-sized and under-sized drive gears to add or take-up slack. To do this right, one needs to install the gears and do some measuring to see if the set they have will be less problematic in the motor they are installing it in.
I don't bash the gear-drives, but the hydraulic re-make will cure the problems, is less expensive (uses your old cams) and those parts can be found at any dealership across the country if something runs afoul. If you break-down out in the middle of nowhere with a gear-drive....you may be bringing it back home in a U-Haul.
I don't bash the gear-drives, but the hydraulic re-make will cure the problems, is less expensive (uses your old cams) and those parts can be found at any dealership across the country if something runs afoul. If you break-down out in the middle of nowhere with a gear-drive....you may be bringing it back home in a U-Haul.
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Notice to all my fellow wallet-challenged brothers who will be just replacing the tensioners.
Moco didn't do anything about it, but evidently these guys did:
http://www.harleydavidsontensioner.com/
Moco didn't do anything about it, but evidently these guys did:
http://www.harleydavidsontensioner.com/
