I've been gathering parts over that last few months to swap out lifters, install adjustable pushrods, rocker lockers, inner cam bearings and new cam chain tensioner shoes this winter. Bike has 54,000 miles on it. I inspected the tensioner shoes at 46,000. They were good then, but I wasn't gonna wait for 'em to fail.

So, a couple weeks ago, a failed fuel pressure regulator housing moved my time frame for doing that engine work up about a month. Figured since the tank was off, I'd go ahead and get into it.

Definitely a case of "One Thing Leading to Another."

I decides that since I took the rocker boxes off, pushrods and pushrod tubes off, camchest opened up, I might as well pop the heads off and have a valve job done. So, the heads came off.

Well, since the heads are off, let's look at the barrels. Little bit of a ridge at the top of the ring travel. Might as well hone 'em to the next oversize and put in fresh pistons and rings.

Since the camchest was apart, might as well check the crank runout to see if gear drive cams would be possible. Crank run-out was a mere .0015".

Then, I botched the inner tensioner replacement. I bought Cyco shoes and the tool to swap the shoes out. The existing shoes were about halfway done in. Doing the swap is easy if you push the cams out of the support plate. I attempted to do it with the cams still in. Not easy with the regular tool. Well, I damaged the assembly attempting to short-cut the step of removing the cams. Mistake. No sense lamenting that. Just move on.

So, rather than buy another tensioner assembly to have another go at it, and since I had to remove the cams from the support plate.....oh, and since I had very little crank run-out....I ordered a set of S&S 509 gear drive cams.

That puts and end to the tensioner shoe issues. But dang, what's next? I know it'll be something! But, aside from botching the tensioner, it's been a fun project. These things, for the most part, are pretty simple and easy to work on....provided one follows proper procedures that is!

 

That's why I have a philosophy of never tearing down a running motor just to see why it still runs. At 116,000 miles, God knows what I'd find "out of spec" if I tore my motor down. Still runs just as well as it ever did.


Remember, every one of us is riding on a "worn" motor.

 

It's an enjoyable thing for me Uncle G. I do routine maintenance on my drag race car that involves disassembling a perfectly running motor at the end of each season. I do this so it won't disassemble itself out on the track.

In this case, I had planned on doing lifters, adjusto pushrods and rocker lockers to address an annoying clatter. The chain tensioners are a regular maintenance item. I didn't want that to be the cause of an "automatic disassembly" either!

 

I know. I replace my lifters every 40,000 miles, too. Known Evo failure point is the tappet needle bearings. Truth to tell, I'm afraid to dig in further for fear of what I'd find. It would be expensive, no doubt.


As far as valve train clatter, you ought to hear my motor. You'd never complain again about yours.

 

Cool - enjoy reading your posts. So whats next you ask?
How 'bout the Cam plate & oil pump?

T. (its easy to spend other people's money)

 

Maybe we should get together sometime and compare! Y'know, I run an air cooled VW drag racer, turbo, methanol, nearly 500hp out of a 2.2 liter engine.... it's a loud SOB and clatters like hell.

But this Deluxe.... Sometimes I think it WILL actually disassemble itself. Some say, "It's a Harley. It's gonna make noise." Yeah I get that. If it were consistent, I'd live with it. But when you first start it cold, it clatters like an old Buick that hadn't had an oil change in 100,000 miles. It clatters when it gets hot, and after it gets hot and then sits, you get the loud lifter clatter again till oil pressure builds up. I'm sayin' it ain't right, and the reason for this exercise.

 

yeah, thanks! I know you really want what's best for me. I appreciate that!

 

Glad to see it's working out. I agree about the tearing a good motor apart. My motor runs to good for me to address my seeping base gaskets at the moment, and with only 25k(estimate) I just can't open it.

But... Since its apart anyway. Its always fun working on your own bike and once it's back together its going to be pretty cool riding down the road on a motor YOU built, not someone else. Keep us posted.

 

Mike you needed this tool for the back tensioner:

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

 

The tail bone's connected to the back bone... Back bone? Let me see if I can find it and then tear into my motor LOL