Being new to Harleys I've read that the v twins have had issues with the cams, a plastic boot that wears out? My 05 herratige has 34k, I asked about warranty when bought the bike a few weeks ago. Device manager said bike was inspected, said they noticed a new gasket on engine so they took a cover off and inspected cam and it was good? Anything I should watch out for to tell if a problem is starting?

 

It's the spring loaded cam chain tensioners that can be an issue in those years of the twin cam. The only way to tell if it's been addressed is to open up the cam chest as far as I know.

 

If you search "cam tensioners" or "Spring cam tensioners" you should get a ton of reading.... you will learn about the problem, what it does/looks like, and hear about the many options for fixing the issue...

For a quick look...

This pic shows the cam tensioner.. I put a red arrow pointing to the orange tensioner pad that rides on the chain and gets worn and/or can disintegrate prematurely. There are two tensioners. The one you see in this pic, and one on the back side of the plate riding on the chain between the cams..

This is my 2003 Heritage when I opened up the cam chest to fix them...

 

After you see this above then do this.

 

That's kind of the route I took...

I went with the newer '07+ camplate/oil pump design, with conversion cams, HD hydraulic tensioners, and the better o-ring chains instead of the older link chains...

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There are several different ways to handle a spring tensioner upgrade... from $$ to $$$$$... all with pros & cons...

 

Not an easy inspection, since you have to remove the exhaust to get to it.

 

yea, I was looking at the cam cover this morning b4 I rode to work and saw that the exhaust would have to come off.

 

I went the Feuling route, complete kit, well worth the money and after the Dyno it's a completely different animal.
https://www.feulingparts.com/sku/7220

 

Why are the gear drive kits less expensive than chain drive?

 

Some of the gear kits don't come with the hydraulic tensioners, sprockets, roller chains, and according to Feuling this was added in their notes. NOTE: Gear drive camchest kits MUST purchase cam gear kit separately - see S&S #33-4275