I went to the local Harley dealer this past weekend. Decided I’d like to buy a used Heritage or Road Glide. Can’t afford a new one. Is there anything I need to look out for like year of the bike that maybe wasn’t a good year due to lots of maintenance? I keep reading about the M8 and oil Sumping and Cam tensioners in older bikes. I know I can’t expect a used bike to be perfect. So far I’ve looked at a 2018 Heritage with 20k miles and I’m going to look at a 2005 Heritage with 1000 miles. Should I be concerned that the 2005 has been sitting and not ridden much as far as seals etc...? Thanks for your input. I’m 54 and it’s time I leave the Honda behind and get a Harley.

 

2005 will need to see if the cam tensioners have been addressed.

I bought my 2005 with less than 5K on it. Mine doesn’t leak at all but it’s something you will want to look for. Also look at brake line condition, tires, all fluids changed including brake etc. Lots of things to check.

 

I am partial to the Twin Cam bikes, as I have three.... 2001 Springer w/carb, 2003 Heritage EFI, and 2016 Ultra Classic. The various comfort factors notwithstanding, I would jump on any one of my bikes and head out for a long, multi-day trip with confidence...

While I love them all... there were some issues... most have solutions. Once they are addressed, you will have a solid, reliable bike...

The questionable spring tensioners were a weak spot from 1999-2006. If they have been addressed the bike will be reliable. If they weren't addressed, knock at least $1K off the asking price and get it done ASAP... There are four basic ways to fix them ranging from good @ $$, to excellent @ $$$$$$. Once fixed, you will have a solid bike..

The MoCo "upgraded" the compensator in 2006... it was very problematic and prone to failure in the earliest versions from 2006 to 2010... They kept coming out with new versions to try and fix the problem.. finally with the introduction of the Rushmore bikes in 2014, they came up with a version that while not trouble free, was much better than its predecessors.... If you have the upgraded comp, the bike should give miles of trouble free service... If it's not upgraded, it may never need to be upgraded, but if it does, it can be fixed by the newest HD part, or an aftermarket part.

The inner cam bearings were a sporadic problem in the early years. I wouldn't go into the cam chest just to change them out, but if I were in the cam chest for any reason, I would install the better Koyo-Torrington captive needle bearings on any Twin Cam engine.

The early Twin Cams had pretty good lifters. Part numbers #18538-99 with no suffix, up to the part number with a "B" suffix were good lifters. In about 2010ish they switched to the #18538-99C lifters... The "C" lifters are a weak spot. Most people consider them a routine maintenance item... It's another item, like the inner cam bearings, that many people replace if they are in the cam chest for any reason..

The only Twin Cam issue that has no easy fix, is the original EFI system by Magneti-Marelli as used by the Moco. It was a good system for its time. It is however old, hard to find parts for, and harder to find knowledgeable people to work on it. It is also much harder to tune for mod changes, than the current Delphi EFI system that replaced it... It was never used in the softail line, which got the Delphi EFI system stating in 2001. So if you get a Heritage it is a non issue.. The early touring bikes did have the MM EFI until they went to the Delphi EFI in 2002.. I would avoid buying a touring bike (Road Glide) with the MM EFI. Many people with early Twin Cams that have the MM EFI, will trash it and convert to a carb at the first sign of trouble. I have no problem with an early twin cam carbed bike, but changing over to carb from MM EFI can be expensive and slightly complicated to do well..

Those are a few issues off the top of my head. They are the big ones that I can think of.. I'm sure others will chime in with other things to consider..

I am not giving you all this info to try to talk you out of buying a twin cam... Quite the opposite.. I love my Twin Cams, and have no desire for an M8 bike. But knowledge is power and you can buy, service, and maintain a twin cam that will be a very reliable, and fun bike to ride...!!

Good luck with your search and your decisions...

 

^ What he said ^ with a few exceptions. The newest compensator, while maybe better than older versions, is still crap and enough of them still fail quite prematurely. No rhyme or reason for it as to why or how soon. Replace it with a solid sprocket or the relatively new motor sprocket from Darkhorse for reliability not found in any compensator. It's more a "padded" sprocket than a compensator really and will have more of the direct power transfer of a sprocket that no compensator will have. An added benefit besides durability imo.
I'm sure there are those that will disagree and caution against using a solid sprocket citing harshness to the rest of the drivetrain despite no reported issues by those running them. Not that they would be entirely wrong in their position but it's my position common sense goes a lot further in protecting the drivetrain/crank than any compensator and the crank is a known weak spot in just about every Harley save a few select years past and is known to fail with or without a compensator.
Also, there were I believe 3 years that Harley used the "good" lifters that can still be bought from aftermarket vendors like WFO Larry. The Johnson Hylifts 2313SE is the direct shot oiling version of this lifter that Harley briefly used. There may be other years past that used a different/better lifter than what they've been using since but that Johnson Hylift was only used for 3 years. I don't recall off hand what years.
Not that Hattitude's years of "B and C lifters" isn't right on. I'm just not sure of the differences like I am with the Johnson Hylifts that have a larger oil reservoir and heavy duty plunger that are key to it's superiority.
On a side note, the Johnson Hylifts are somewhat hard to come by as of late due to the lefty virus.
Bottom line, some easily fixed issues aside, you're still better of sticking to a twin cam as opposed to an m8. Just my opinion that I'm sure m8 owners here will disagree with but I wouldn't recommend an m8 to my worst enemy. and I tell my friends that have them just that. Most of them agree and have come to regret their purchase. Especially given the price tag.
One could even go back 1 more generation to the Evo for simplicity, durability and insane parts interchangeability making repairs easier and way more cost effective.

 

If the 2005 bike has only 1000 miles on the clock the cam tensioners won’t be a problem, they’ll generally need inspecting around 20,000 miles. Condition varies from bike to bike, some need replacing at 20,000 others will go on to do 50,000 with no problems. It’s all to do with how rough the cam chains are. As others have said check seals tyres etc, in fact change the tyres they’ll probably be starting to perish. The gas will probably be off as well.

 

The 2005 will have the 5 speed transmission.
You'll miss that 6th gear if you're ever going to be doing any long highway rides.

If you're looking at just bouncing around Town with the every now and then back country ride the 5 speed will be fine.

 

If they are the original tires they must be replaced. Tires that old will not only dry rot(which might not be visible) but they become very hard with age. Check the date code on the tires. Hard tires are slick tires and after 16 years they are no good. Other than that listen to the folks above on known issues. I bought a 2012 as I felt better about the longer term reliability of the slightly newer TC engine. The early years had the more problematic cam chain tensioners that just need to be checked and replaced as part of maintenance

 

With an 05 with 1000 miles, the BIG thing is was ALL the maint work done including tires and battery. The tread means nothing, tires age out. Last year I bought an 05 Springer Classic with 1000 miles. Youre gonna love the Heritage.

 

thank you so much for the information. It was very helpful.

 

Ooops, I forgot one other twin cam "issue".....

In 2007 when they "upgraded" the compensator, they switched to an automatic primary chain tensioner, part #39929-06A. The outer primary case lost its tensioner inspection port, and the only access to check the primary chain tension was to remove the outer primary cover. Not too bad as it only uses about a quart of fluid, and contrary to the service manual, the outer primary cover gasket can be reused... I've had my cover off 4x using the same gasket, no leaks...

The auto tensioner was known to over tighten the primary chain, often to the point of causing an issue with the inner primary case main trans shaft seal, and the trans main shaft bearing... Riding style could exacerbate the problem, by doing hard downshifts, especially when the bike is still cold. The auto tensioner adjusts during the slack chain events during a downshift. If you downshift before the chain is up to temp, when it's at its tightest, you would/will over tighten the chain...

In 2010 they upgraded to an improved auto tensioner, part #39929-06B. It was a significant improvement over the initial auto tensioner. There have been far fewer issues with the new auto tensioner. They beefed up the main tensioner ramp, reduced the number of the adjusting teeth, and also reduced adjusting tooth size, to make the adjustment increments smaller. I ran a highly modded engine (135HP/151TQ) on the "B" auto tensioner with no issues. Sadly, the damage was done to the auto tensioner's reputation. Many still hate any mention of it today... IMHO, the "B" version is more than adequate, as long as you practice restraint on hard, cold engine downshifting.

Again, good luck with the search/decision...