OK , I graduated from a shovel to an evo thinking with the evo I wouldn't have near the problems and I could spend a winter on playing dress up instead of re-build. Now all I hear about is H.D put some crap *** cam bearing in my motor ( 1998 stock evo 1340 engine) so , and yes I know this has been the topic of several threads but I still want to ask fresh a couple questions so please don't flame me...

1) my bike has 10,000 miles and so far so good , does anybody have a rough guess as to percentage of engines that bearings went bad ? My buddy has 73,000 on his and no problems , I have 10 and am worried.

2) I am a little (OK a lot ) evo ignorant for the moment but I have the H.D. service manual , it looks like I'll have to pull the heads because the pushrods are non-adjustable to change the cam bearing. Is this correct ?

 

1) I have over 60,000 on my 87EVO no problems,but interested in this as well,,,,,now that you mention it

2)Best to my knowledge you are correct.

 

Quick answers:

1) Can't intelligently answer about this one.

2) No. You can remove rocker covers, remove rocker arms, remove pushrods. Then you can remove points cover, gear case cover, cam, and then remove old cam bearing and install new cam bearing. A couple points:

You'll need to suspend the tappets either with paper clips or the cool magnetic tools (you'd need 2). Also, the George's garage can bearing installer works REALLY well as does Jims bearing puller.

 

Mine's an '87 Sloptail, right at 130,000. If you have to get in the cam chest and don't need to yank the top end apart, cut the pushrods and replace 'em with adjustables.

 

Ok I stand corrected

 

I wouldn't be concerned as long as the bike still has the stock HD cam in it. It was a 'normal' thing to replace the INA bearing with a Torrington when you upgraded to an aftermarket cam.

No need to pull the heads, but you'll have to remove the gas tank and pull the rockerbox assemblies to remove the one-piece pushrods. Unless you cut them with bolt cutters and replace them with adjustables. I've been 'told' that you can rotate the real wheel and find a 'sweet spot' (probably the base circle of the cam when lifters aren't pumped up) that will allow you to remove the cam cone without tearing the top end down. On my FLHS I had to remove a few things from the right side of the bike: exhaust, floorboard, etc to get the cam cone off. You'll also have to hold the lifters up like was previously posted. To remove and install the inner cam bearing the slickest tool I've seen is from JIMS. Even if I was replacing the stock cam, I'd still check the end gap, which means you need to remove the rear lifter block. Shims of various thickness are available. And of course you'll need new gaskets to put everything back together again. Triple check that the breather is 'timed' correctly before you button things up!!!

If you're going through all this work to replace the cam bearing you might as well install a better cam. Andrews EV3 is a good cam for the softails, but do your homework and select one that suits your riding style. A low restriction air cleaner, cam, pipes, SE or aftermarket ignition, and a re-worked CV carb will really make your EVO rock and roll.

 

Like HackD said, if you're going this far, change the cam. I'm running an EV27 from Andrews. I pressed the gear off my stock cam, pressed the gear off the new Andrews cam and swapped them. That way I didn't have to worry about gear lash or whinning. Something to think about. A new cam will really bring that baby alive. EV3 is a good cam too. You'll find a million opinions on cams

John

 

Cam bearing went out on my 96 Fatboy at 32,000 miles. I had the local wrench upgrade the cam to an Andrews 27 as well as upgrade the cam bearing. Bike runs stronger with new cam. Hopefully I will not have to do this again soon.



SD

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A '98 should come with the Torrington bearing. At least that's what I'm hoping.

I'm swapping my cam ('98 FXDS) for a left over Andrews EV-27 from my last bike and I'm hoping when I open her up I'll find a Torrington.

Let me know what you find in there so I can plan ahead.

Thanks!

 

Looks like you guys have it covered here. I'll take my $.02 to another room.

Don't sweat the possible motor problems. There are way to many Evo's out there to believe every scary failure report. Look, listen and do the preventative maintenance.