what kind of life expectancy is there on both the cam chain tensioners and the primary tensioner. I have 2007 Ultra 96" with 41,000 miles

 

JP if you do a search using Chain Tensioners you will pop up quite a few threads on them......one in particular had quite a few replies from different riders, different bikes with their experiences.

I changed mine at around 27,000....they were in OK condition, I had planned on changing them so I did........some have seen them look darn near new with high miles........I think one had them wore out at 7,000 miles and one let them go a bit too long.

 

'07 has the newer hydraulic tensioners ???
Correct me if I'm wrong.

I wouldn't worry a whole lot if you've always used good oil , changed it as required , don't start it up in winter for idling sessions ( that's not supposed to be good for tensioners ) and don't thrash the bike .

You could pull the cover yourself and look or pay the dealer about 250 to look for you.

If the chain case is silent I myself would ride on and budget for a future inspection if it's weighing on your mind.

I think the whole thing is an issue, but overblown at the same time. I believe it plagued earlier bikes the worst , from the tc88's inception until the tensioners were finally switched to hydraulic. With the later not as bad as the first. And the hydraulic much better.

 

If you have an 07 I wouldn't check until 50K. As mentioned the hydraulic system is much better than the 06 and below spring loaded deal. Last much, much longer and easier to change.

A cam cover gasket for 9 whole dollars and about 2 hours of your time to pull the header and foot board and you'll know for sure. Not hard...

 

What lp said.
Also along with the hydraulic tensioners, they went to a roller chain which basically digs in until the outer chain has went in around 1/16th of an inch or so, and then the rollers on the chain keep it from digging in further, and well, roll. This design lasts much longer than the old style chain which basically dug in, and kept on digging over time.

 

I just pulled mine. 07 sg. with 61k and hardly any ware at all. the end toward the front has just a few marks on it, not deep at all, and the rest looks new.
kroozeabout.

oops, just read this again. I changed primary chain tensioner not cam tensioner 8-26-15 sorry.

 

my 07 looked good at 38,000 less than 1/16 groove on the inner,changed em out since i was there.

 

OK here it goes, with the new hydraulic cam chain tentioners mounted on the new billet cam plate, harley used a roller chain on the front (primary) and still kept the link chain in the back, (secondary), with the new billet cam plate you cannot see the rear shoe to inspect it,which is going to wear faster because of the link chain. Smoke and mirrors mother harley, get the orange plastic tentioners out of there, they are unpredictable ticking time bombs FHD

 

There is a newer shoe material used by a company selling replacement shoes/pad called Cyco. They sell on ebay, and to some aftermarket dealers. If you search here you will fine info. on them. Folks say they hold up much better than originals. If you inspect regularly, and replace when needed you should be fine. Maybe not the best HD design, but ticking time bomb might be a bit exaggerated. There has been failures with the hydraulic units as well, but a lot more with the spring loaded models. If you spend the big bucks on the hydraulic upgrade you will get an upgraded oil pump. Have a local Indy shop press in a new bearing while you have it all apart, and it's a good time to upgrade cams too.

 

Twin cruiser, I just did the shoe upgrade on my bike, yes I used cyco gaskets shoe, fueling oe+ oil pump, baisley spring and plunger, replaces stock oil bypass spring and plunger and is far superior, so in doing this project I had a ton of hours investigating this for I wanted the best bang for the buck, and wanted to do the job right,If you had spent the time researching the tensioner shoe problem like I have, it is very clear that they are indeed time bombs, and for bragging rights I removed the secondary tentioner and put it back on with no special tools, without removing the cams,ride safe ride hard FHD
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