IMO, they are the last of the classic HD engines. Especially the carb'd versions. They are simple, reliable, and easy to work on. In 1993 when I picked up my FLHS from the dealer, the service mgr told me to 'do all the simple stuff' myself. Get a FSM and a parts book, and you can do all of that and more.

Problems:
Cam (swap to aftermarket and install a Torrington bearing)
Base Gaskets leaking (fixes available)
Rockerboxes leaking (easy fix)
Carb too lean (easy fix)
Air cleaner too restrictive (easy fix)
Exhaust too restrictive (easy fix)
They may or may not puke oil out the air cleaner (easy fix)

Parts for EVO bikes are getting obsoleted by The MoCo, so the aftermarket (or eBay, CL, swap meets) becomes your source. You should expect 50,000+ miles before touching the top end (depending on a bunch of 'ifs'). And probably three times that on the lower. There was a story, a number of years ago, in The Enthusiast about an EVO owner that had 300,000 on his without any major work.

 

thanks for advice everyone.
gonna go look at it today

 

My '98 Road King Classic had the leaky rocker box issue mentioned in an earlier post. The factory-applied two-piece gaskets are the culprit.

Good luck on your trade!

 

When did you steal my bike?

 

I have a 98 wide glide with 20000 miles with no problems until a few weeks ago.the front rocker box started leaking so i put gaskets on it.well i made it about 300 miles and it started leaking again so i tore it back down done it again well this time i made it about 100 miles this time.so i took it apart again but this time i check the top cover for warpage well that was the problem.so i got one put it on and haven't had anymore issues.

 

1984 unknown miles but it is on it's third speedo. Motor has never been rebuilt....aftermarket cam, S&S carb, James gaskets thru-out, Jims lifters.

 

Base gaskets will eventually weep in all years of Evos. But many Evos have already had them replaced. From '92 on they all had the inadequate INA inner cam bearing. From '95 or so, on they had better quality lifters; the older ones were definitely prone to failure. '94's on have the much better tranny pulley. Starter clutches seem to fail on higher mileage Evos.
I'd buy just about any used Evo over any new Twin Cam.

 

I've got almost 60K on my RG. I bought it in 2005 from my brother who had put Edelbrock heads and cam, S&S carb, and Rinehart true duals. It had 27K at the time. I finally had to replace the lifters at about 58K! Earlier I had to re-jet the carb and I still deal with the oil blow-by on a regular basis. Just now I've started having back-firing issues. I checked the muffler to head tightness and used a cooler firing plug (didn't work). Now I'll take a look at the intake manifold for any issues there. Also going to check the screen on the gas petcock. Any other suggestions?

 

I own 3 Harleys a 89 EVO ,2002 twin cam and 1999 EVO sprtster and I enjoy the EVO most days more and enjoy working on it when I need too ( which isn't often really) the TC is more of an adrenaline bike where as the EVO has its own personality.

 

Bought a 98 Road King that a guy had in his garage under a balnket that had 800 miles on it. It was bone stock and had obviously noy been riiden much, did a stage one on it and have put 10K miles on it with no problems. The only issues I've hard about is the 98 Fuel injected models, luckily mine has a carb.