I could have been wrong about the year MOCO went to the hydraulic tensioners but I thought it was a little earlier than 08....could be wrong. They have pulled some other stunts that have not worked out, so the tensioners are not the only issue. The 6-speed has had issues, the wheel bearings have had issues and now the crank is held in place by the compensator nut...or was unless they have changed it. I've had compensator nuts work lose on long trips more than once and if there is no retention in the LH side of the case to prevent the crank from drifting....that can bring on a whole-'nuther set of problems. I'm not on a witch-hunt against the TC and have a friend that has put over 150,000 miles on one and three sets of tensioner-shoes. I just think MOCO cuts what corners they can. The disastrous introduction of the Tri-Glide with all it's growing pains put the last nail in the TC coffin for me.

 

My bike had 130k on it when I redid the top end. It was running fine and had good compression, I just wanted a little more hp. Went with high comp pistons and SE cam, new lifters. Bottom end was fine.

 

Good information folks and I am as at-fault as anybody for drifting the thread over to the TC. I don't care about the TC...period. I only want to hear about the EVO.

One more question. I had an EVO blow-up (lost the inner cam bearing) and I had to have a reman to clean it all up. I will say the bike never stopped running until the nose of the cam got so hot that it melted the ignition pick-up off the plate and that's why it quit. The inner cam journal was worn down some 1/4 inch....but she was still in motion until it shut down. Small shards of bearing went all through the engine, so I did a reman. $3,000 lesson I learned.

Back in the late 80's, MOCO went to that half plastic roller filled inner cam bearing and we were all told that bearing would be fine as long as you did not go to an aftermarket cam. This was a used bike and I did not know the former owner had replaced the cam and did not replace the bearing.

Would you just as a matter of insurance.....pull the inner cam bearing and go ahead and install a B138, or if it's running fine and you can be certain the cam is stock....would you leave it alone?

How many of you have changed the cam bearing just for insurance, or are you still running the stock bearing.

 

I change mine every time I have to open up the cam chest.
It is just good insurance to me.

I use the Timkin bearing.

 

"Would you just as a matter of insurance.....pull the inner cam bearing and go ahead and install a B138, or if it's running fine and you can be certain the cam is stock....would you leave it alone?"

The early Evo's 84 through 91 came stock with a torrington B138 cam bearing and the later Evo's came with the inferior INA cam bearing. I may be off on the 91 year cutoff, but basically if it was a bottom breather Evo, you got it from the factory with the torrington B-138. My 84 FXR had carb, heads, ingniton and an andrews cam on the stock B138 and the bike was ridden hard with zero probs, my 89 Evo was stock except for an s&S carb and never a problem with the B138 cam bearing, that bike had over 100k on it when i sold it.

If I had a later modle Evo , I would definitly replace the Ina cam bearing with the Torrington B 138 regardless of the cam I was running, it is the only real weak point on the later Evo motors, so I'd eliminate it and ride with no worries...

 

The cam bearing you speak of, Torrington B-138, Is no longer made by torrington.

It's manufactured by KOYO Bearing. Same bearing made the same place and the same workforce.

 

Yep....you can read my story above about a $3000 reman after the seller told me the cam was stock.....and it wasn't. I don't think I'll be taking that chance again. I already have the B138 in-hand.

 

I have determined that this particular EVO example has seen it's days. I decided just to be sure, I would go ahead and look at the top-end, so I did not waste my money by purchasing some quick-install push-rods....glad I didn't now. Sure enough....it had the dreaded INA bearing and it has traveled almost 75K with the stock cam. I'm 99% certain nobody had been in the cam-chest....you can tell from the lack of tracks. Surprisingly, the cam almost looked like it was just pulled off the dealer's shelf. I've seen some pretty serious lobe-wear on others I've pulled, but this cam-chest was in very good shape....save the INA inner bearing and it "visually" looked fine....but it's coming out. My last and only INA failure cost me $2,200. I'd almost bet it's twice that today for a dealer reman. While they had it apart I had them install a pair of SE heads for $800.

I performed a compression test before I started, which resulted in close to 95-pounds on both cylinders....so the jig was up. We know 90 is bare minimum and the front jug was weeping a bit at the base gasket anyway. The jugs are headed to my dealer for an over-bore. I'm not as young as I once was and I want this to be the last time I have to break-down a Harley. If this rebuild will get me 50K more riding miles...that will likely be all I'll need. I can get the jugs bored and new piston-kit for close to $250-or-less and I think it will be money well spent. I believe this old girl was pretty weak and this should put some pep back into her step.

 

vt, forget all this talk of engines, we need photos! That colour combo is probably the best Harley ever did IMHO - so let's feast our eyes!

 

I'll post a photo when I get the thing back together, but I can tell you now the paint does not have a single scratch or dent....practically mint. I have looked at every inch of it from top-to-bottom and have discovered no evidence that anybody has been in it to wire extraneous devices and all the factory plugs are in place with the correct connectors. You know what I mean....no boat-trailer connectors, cut wires, wire-nuts or ***** of tape. All that is connected to the battery is the battery cables and all the wiring in the nacelle looked factory. Nothing jury-rigged at all on this machine and the belt shows no sign of dry-rotting and looks solid. Except for the fact the top-end has seen it's day.....looks about like it did when it left the factory and it ran just fine. We make LONG trips now and then and I will not risk a marginal motor....got to be rebuilt before it leaves home. The previous owner had just installed new tires and a seat. I don't like the funky-looking leather bags and I'll likely be looking for some hard bags. The leather-covered bags were a premium then, but they look a little rough. It's going to clean-up very well. The previous owner had installed a Memphis Shades fairing on it. Nice looking addition and has a radio and speakers as well which I promptly removed in favor of the windshield. If I want a dresser....I'll buy a dresser. I think I will offer the fairing for sale here pretty soon.