New M8 or rebuild my Twin Cam?
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Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,399
Likes: 1,040
From: Seabrook, NH
New M8 or rebuild my Twin Cam?
After nine seasons of riding, I've finally had my first issue with my engine. I lost oil pressure at idle while at a stoplight. I restarted the engine and the lifters made a racket then pumped back up and the oil pressure for the remainder of the ride went back to normal.
I've got close to 138,000 miles on the original engine so it's time to do more than try to fix what may possibly be just a problem in the cam chest. I love my bike in its current configuration so I'm thinking a new crank, bored to 107 and headwork, and stay with my 551 cams if they are still in good shape. My gut and wallet tell me to have the engine rebuilt from the crank up but all my friends say buy new because I ride so much. So what do say you? Do you agree with my friends? Cosmetically my bike is near perfect. The bike has always been garaged and in heated storage during the winters.
I've got close to 138,000 miles on the original engine so it's time to do more than try to fix what may possibly be just a problem in the cam chest. I love my bike in its current configuration so I'm thinking a new crank, bored to 107 and headwork, and stay with my 551 cams if they are still in good shape. My gut and wallet tell me to have the engine rebuilt from the crank up but all my friends say buy new because I ride so much. So what do say you? Do you agree with my friends? Cosmetically my bike is near perfect. The bike has always been garaged and in heated storage during the winters.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,792
Likes: 1,186
That's a tough call, but if you need a winter project, this could be it. It's just my opinion, but I've personally never been smitten by the M8's. Add to that that new bikes are just so damn expensive. Okay, I vote rebuild.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 7,470
Likes: 4,602
From: Jonesborough Tennessee
I was thinking the same thing when my 2005 was having issue.
Im extremely satisfied with my choice of buying a new bike.
Maybe consider upgrading to a new ride, putting the old aside with the intent on fixing when the time is right. That's what I did.
Originally I was looking at the new 114 Heritage but thought why I already have one
Good luck with whatever you choose to do
👍💪😎
Im extremely satisfied with my choice of buying a new bike.
Maybe consider upgrading to a new ride, putting the old aside with the intent on fixing when the time is right. That's what I did.
Originally I was looking at the new 114 Heritage but thought why I already have one
Good luck with whatever you choose to do
👍💪😎
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,399
Likes: 1,040
From: Seabrook, NH
Maybe I should start a GoFundMe thing and ask for a CVO then settle for an Ultra Limited. Thirty plus thousand out the door makes me cringe. I wish the Ultra Limited wasn't liquid-cooled.
Last edited by 2013_FLHTK; Oct 21, 2021 at 05:51 PM.
Road Master
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 963
Likes: 145
From: Displaced hillbilly
I was recently in a very similar situation with my 08 street glide. I had done just about everything to it, but the crank, and it was starting to show signs that it was needing to be addressed. I looked into a complete rebuild, but was lucky enough to have a dealer give me a great offer on an 19 Ultra Classic with just over 2000 miles. I love the bike. Plenty of power, and it rides amazing, especially after the Legends install. Just got back from a road trip to the mountains and it didn’t even burn a drop of oil. With all the blow by on my other bike, it would have went through at least half a quart on a trip like that….
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Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,399
Likes: 1,040
From: Seabrook, NH
I think they are roughly $7,000 plus and not a great fit for my style of two-up riding. They are nice and would have been a better fit when I was younger and rode alone.
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Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 107
Likes: 68
From: Richland
I found myself in a similar situation a year and a half ago. I kept and rebuilt my 2013 road king to a 110 stage 4. I picked up a 2019 ultra classic. It had 20000 miles on it. I didn’t want the water cooling from 2014 experiences. The 2019 was an eagle rider bike it was sub $20000. The ultra classic is a great freeway bike I love the newer M8 bikes. I still have a twinkie that rips whenever I want to jet around town. With 2 bikes I never suffer from Broken motorcycle syndrome.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 5,888
Likes: 1,902
From: East Coast, USA
Are you going to investigate what's actually wrong with the engine? What makes you think it needs to be rebuilt? Have you measured any of the parts that have a tolerance? I have over 170K on my 2011 Ultra and it's still running strong.