cam bearings and tensioners on my 99 RK went out in the black Hills at 18k miles. Middle of nowhere after riding there from Tulsa.
Replaced with gear drive cams an never looked back- thinking of doing that to my 2009 SG, although I understand the system has vastly improved ...


Tulsa Mike
2009 SG and 2014 Fat boy.

 

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Guys,there's something that also need to be considered on this subject of pre 2007 hds with older gen cam chain tensioner deisn that is its not all about the miles you have the motor because you have some that have gone 50-70k miles and then being replaced with no issues and then have some that didnt wear out but had split/cracked & broken into smaller piece getting into oiling system trashing the motor .

My theory (my opinion only) on that is its more about the age of the plastic and or tefflon type material the blocks are mfg'd of where some of the solvents etc they are made or have outgased from the material making them much more brittle resulting in them breaking /cracking at times well before the rubbing block actuall wear out/wear down enough to canse an issue.

And another thing thats also big factor in the srvc life of those early gen cam tensioners is 2 fold,1st is some bikes have more open road riding with little traffic or slow riding cond in areas of the country that may also have cooler more moderat temps so motor & oil temp are generally kept at a more reasonable lvl.

But some bikes are ridden in much hotter areas in slower traffic cond or more stop & go at stoplights thats can make the motor & oil run much hotter on avg then the other example i stated above which in this case can cause the material on the rubbing blocks are mfg'd of to outgass solvets etc much faster thus making them more brittle much earlier /in less miles and or time/yrs leading to them cracking to pieces inside the motor trashing it in the process.

And the 2nd thing is keeping the example directly above in mind with bike being ridden in hotter cond with more traffic etc where motor & oil is often running hotter then normal is if the owner of a bike often ridden in those cond uses oil of lesser quality and or oil good quality oil that unfortunately has a lower anti wear agent lvl/zddp (less then 1200ppm zddp) that when the motor & oil gets hotter then normal & stressing the oils lubricating ability for what ever the reason an oil with lower zddp lvl doesnt have the ability to create the hard shell like " temporary protective boundy layer " the zddp / Zinc & phos are specifically designed to do (by cross linking on a mollecular lvl) coating all moving parts with the temp protective layer that are lubed by the oil (that are running too hot at the time) until the op temp of the oil and or engine parts is reduced again when bike gets back to cruise speed for full cooling effect also plays a role when you have an inferior .design rubbing block stressing it even more at times.

And add to that guys that may be running thier bikes in those hot cond with oil that lower anti wear agent also pushing oil changes to the full 5k miles or longer esp when running syn where some guys go more then 5k miles on it where more dirt in the oil can become an issue if and or when the syn oil is maxed on its ability to contain said dirt and or contamination which will also lead to more wear of inferior rubbing block design too.

And i forgot to also mention some guys regularly shift & or cruise in the for example 2600-3k rpm range on avg vs other guys that regularly shift & or cruise @ approx 3,500-4k+ rpm that induces a more wear of cam chain rubbing blocks too.

Point is there is a lot more going on here when it comes how long the older gen cam chain adjusters/rubbing block last prior to failure thats due to so many variables in riding cond/engine & oil temp /type oil used -low vs high anti wear zddp lvl /oil quality & maint (oil changed at 3-4k miles vs 5k-6k miles) & riding style from bike to bike too which is IMHO very likely why some earlier gen pre-07 cam tensioner blocks fail /crack to pieces in only 25-30k miles and why other cam tensioners of same design go 60-70k miles without ever failing.

Thats just my personal $02 on it coming from .many yrs wrenching motors & 10-11 yrs researching motor oil leading me to that theory.

I have yet to mention here in hdforums i recently completed 30+ yrs working @ a major semiconductor mfg in kmy area.

And the last 15 of my 30+ yrs there were in development engineering doing testing & research of diff materials at times giving me additional experience of diff types to draw on to on how diff materials may react in diff cond etc.

Happy motoring.

Scott

 

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Mike,you don't need to worry about your 09 hd becausae i have read many posts here in hdforums where many guys with newer gen cam chain tensioners (like your 09 tc has) stated they had gone 80k even 100k miles in a few cases before replacing the cam tensioners as a pro-active manit item & not because they had failed.

Like you I also have an 09 HD and hope to go many yrs/many miles before requiring cam chain tensioner replacement.

Scott

 

That was more than two cents worth. Like I mentioned orange are junk. One year 11,000 miles all pitted out. My belief is any other tensioner you can run till it hits the metal then you will hear it & replace but the orange pits get in cam bearings and tear them up.

 

Any new model after 2007-2008 on has a roller chain. Once grooved in, it rolls and wear stops. Last 100K but maybe ought to be replace at 10 years in hot climates due to brittle parts from hot oil. Older link chains need to be inspected at 30K or so and note wear. Then proceed from there. If you have to pay some one to look, just replace them. Makes no sense at all to replace with upgrade oil pump kit from Harley since it leaves the inner link chain. That is the problem. If you run a link chain with a hydraulic tensioner, it will eat thru in no time due to the 35 lbs pressure at running speed. The link chain never stops wearing and if you turn the motor above 4000 rpm a lot, the oil actually captivates on the tensioner and yanks out hunks of delrin. Shoes last the longest running on the link chain with orange peal looking bumps on it.