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I know there have been a few questions about how these M8 tensioners wear compared to the twin cams but I didnt see anyone able to say anything for sure except educated speculation. This may help:
When I had my 10 w/96 (Ultra Classic) I could not find anything close to a solid answer about the wear life of the newer hydraulic vs old spring type so at 75,000 I changed them myself to realize I could have probably gone 100,000 safely with MY riding style (which I explained and will again). Now I have a 17 M8 with 67,100 (Ultra Limited) w/stage 2 and Ive been wondering myself what, if any, difference in wear rate there might be. My life situation has changed and Im not in position to be able to get into doing a bunch of stuff myself anymore so I took it to a local indy friend of mine for some winter time preventive maintenance and one thing I had him do was change that tensioner (only 1 now instead of 2 as most of you surely know). I kept the old one and took some pics and measurements for yall.
My riding style is in the middle Id say. I dont baby it but I dont unnecessarily hammer it either. I ride with the wife a lot so we are 2up and mainly 2 lane highways and backroads about 60mph. So depending on how you ride, it may wear out sooner or later than mine.
Measuring at the deepest part of the grooves I found the one on the left as you are looking at it (top pic) was 11.5% wear (.014) and the right was 14% (.017). The unworn portion is .1215 thick. I was pleasantly surprised; it wore less than the TC (at least in my case).
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M8 Cam Tensioner Real Life Wear
