was reading an article in American Iron (good rag BTW) and they were saying that you should be changing your hydraulic valves at 25K ?????????? hopefully this isnonsense. i dont want to have to put new lifters in anything once a year. i have twice in 24K heard what i thought was a lifter noise but it went away quickly as it came. whats been your experiences????advice??

 

If they ain't collapsin', be hanged iffen ah kin figger out why ya'd wanna do it!

 

42,000 miles on EVO. Had to replace lifters Roller bearingsfell out on 2 lifters. HD changed the size/dia. of new bearings.
Way back from Virginia.

 

The hyraulic units themselves should last a lifetime as they really don't move much to wear out. The lifter body and roller, as well as the anti rotationpincould be a different story. Even then, should live a really long time.
Ron

 

Dont do it unless you suspect a problem,

That is just excessive and unwarranted maintenance IMO.

 

still got 10 months on the warranty-figure i'll run the hell outta it and have them handle any lifter prob if it develops-right?

 

With adjustable push rods it's a pretty simple $100 job. 25,000 miles is a *very* safe preventative maintenance schedule, but it doesn't hurt to change 'em with some regularity. The reason for changin' 'em is the rollers. If you pull one out & can wiggle the roller on the axel *at all* the lifter is dead. It's only a matter of time till it comes apart & leaves a lot of shrapnel in your cam chest. Of course some will go 100,000 miles or more, but I've seen 'em die a lot earlier. One tell-tale indication is a serious TAP at odd intervals. The roller will roll smooth most of the time, but skip at just the point where it would wiggle if you had it in your hand. You get one or two TAP sounds, then the motor sounds normal. I had that problem with a '93 FXR. Shut it down, pulled the lifters, & one of 'em had 1/8 in. play in a roller. It had already scorred the cam, so I swapped the cam, cam bearing & 4 lifters. Saved a lot of trouble down the road.

 

You should definetly have them looked at when milage gets up there.You would not be a happy camper if the rollers end up in places they should not be.Stock camshafts are a lot more forgiving than the serious grinds.I do know bikers that regularly run their bikes hard and have a lot more than 25,000 miles with original tappets. Your call.