i know this is an evo site but spanners or anyone else who wants to jump in can.
my buddy has a 2002 road king he's not too savvy about bikes but I'm interested for him.
when should the cam chain tensioners be inspected and is all the info about them being a problem true?

thanks guys

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=hdfo...utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

If I remember right (and I'm not saying I do) they are supposed to be replaced about 20k.
I have a friend of mine with an '03 that has had to rebuild his motor twice because of them.

I think they solved the problem by having the shoes made out of a different material than they originally did. (That's what I heard anyway).

 

The permanent fix requires the following steps:

1) Remove necessary covers to access the tensioner shoes for inspection.

2) Carefully measure the shoe thickness using a yardstick.

3) Compare reading to wear limits found on Snopes.com.

4) If shoes are out of spec, replace covers, sell Twinkie on Craigslist and buy an Evo.

5) If shoes are in spec, replace covers, sell Twinkie on Craigslist and buy an Evo.

 

Inspect and replace the factory shoe material with Cyco shoes as soon as you come into possession. There is no set mileage that's safe. Some have failed with less than 10K others have lasted 50K or more.

B148 inner cam bearings are good idea as well. Depending on miles, lifters. No need for a higher volume oil pump as many will tell you. If you are concerned with oil pressure at idle, install a Baisley LMR-2 spring in the cam plate.

If you decide to go with a hydraulic tensioner conversion understand that the HD kit retains the link chain on the back side of the cam plate. That chain is why the tensioners wear rapidly so you aren't really gaining a longer maintenance interval and still have the potential for failure.

Here's a video and contact info for a tool to R&R spring tensioners without removing the cams from the cam plate. Full disclosure; he is my best friend and he made the tool for me. I don't make a cent off it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoAI...ature=youtu.be

 

I had a 2002 FLHTCUI. I had to replace the cam chain tensioners at 41,000, 86,000 and 124,000. They were very worn at 41,000 and completely gone at 86,000.

 

Spanners is a twincam guy, but we just let him in here occasionally to keep him off the street! Hopefully he'll chip in shortly, but he lives in NZ, so his clock is out of sync.

There are various solutions to the tensioner 'problem', which include: simply checking and if necessary replacing with stock parts (which have been upgraded); use an SE or aftermarket upgrade kit, which includes a new high performance oil pump; installing gear drive cams. Any of the above also prompts thoughts of changing cams!

 

x2 on gear drive cams because it is permanent fix

If I had a twin cam, that is what I would do.

The quad cam I used to have were gear driven.

 

Send Spanners a PM ... He's a cool dude...

 

Gear drive is a better fix. If your runout is in spec. If not, the hydraulic conversion is better than nothing.