Long time viewer; first time poster as most of the time the answer to my question is already in here somewhere but I've searched fairly immensely and found numerous threads discussing power expected/cost/etc but nothing discussing long-term reliability.

Background: Looking at a 2014 SGS for sale locally on Saturday that has 11k miles, stage 4 big bore kit, screaming eagle pro tuner, screaming eagle Air intake, Vance and Hines exhaust and then a host of chrome goodies. Guy has had it 3 years; but 5k mi on it with no issues; that being said, he has no dyno sheets or receipts from the original person who had the work done. Certainly I want some power (coming from an old 88) but as many miles as I put on, I don't want to sacrifice reliability. Any feedback on these? Solid motor with good upgrade or run away from a ticking timebomb?

 

It's a crap shoot - too many unknown variables to be able to say if it will be reliable over time: 1) quality of the parts 2) quality of the work done 3) proper maintenance performed 4) abusive riding habits

 

Id be scared personally..I know If I built up a motor then I would def be having fun with it... But I wouldnt want to buy something that somebody else has beat to ****!

 

if its an se kit you should be able to have your local dealer run the vin and find out if they did the install or not. ive got the same kit on my ultra with about the same mileage and i really like the way the bike runs.

 

Pull the plugs and look at them, look at the throttle body for crap being blown back thru a bad valve or seal, if you can get enough of an oil sample off the dipstick via multiple dips send it off to Blackstone for an oil examination and that will tell you a whole lot about the engine. You could use a Mighty Vac to pull oil out the dipstick hole if they will allow you to. They need about 3 ounces to run a valid test.

Get a free kit from Blackstone's website, the cost to do an analysis is 30 bucks,

Now that being said, I bought my 13 FLHTK used with a HD stage 4 kit already installed by the previous owner

(https://serviceinfo.harley-davidson....8?locale=en_US)

I know from the service records at the dealership it had the lifters replaced under warranty, and after I had the bike for a while I noticed it was going thru a quart of oil every 500 miles, the front plug was covered in oil, and upon tear down the 58mm throttle body and front head intake tract was carboned up pretty good.

We figured it was a bad seal, but since we were already that far into the engine I sent the heads out to be refreshed, check the valves, lap the seats, replace the seals, nd I had the jugs measured and honed.

Gave it a new set of rings too

The bottom end has held up fine to the best of my knowledge, the lifters... well HD is known for junk lifters so no big surprise there.... I replaced mine with IIRC S&S when I did the top end over, but what really pissed me off was a bike with 11K miles on it with upgraded HD CNC ported heads having seal issues....

Once I sorted the heads out the bike has been bullet proof, it is fast and loud, and hopefully this will be the case until I have to give up riding.

My point is even with supposedly good parts, it is a crap shoot, all you can do is look for obvious signs of problems..... fluids discolored and smelling like crap, plugs look like crap, air filter is clean and the intake looks relatively clean.... there will always be some crap in the intake but you don't want to see 1/8" caked up in there.

 

When I buy used bikes I look for stock bikes. Anything with built motors I look elsewhere.
8 year old bike with 11,000 miles tells me it's a barhopper, been through 2 owners, probably been beat on like a rented car..
I'd pass.

 

My 02 roadking had a 95" SE top end done by PO at ,25,000 miles. 80,000 miles now, still runs great and no oil consumption.