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Jan 30, 2011 | 01:13 PM

#21

Navy UC Rider

Thread Starter

Road Captain

Joined: May 2010

Posts: 636

Likes: 1

From: Monterey, CA

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadgliderick

all the money we spend on these bikes wheels big bores ect. and we wanna skimp by buying used cams. again thats me i bought the fuel moto 555 cam kit comes with everything u need for the install $580.00 shipped. for external dress up parts yes maybe i would buy used but internal parts i buy new. but thats me good luck on your choice.
Rick

I agree, I do like buying second hand for the external parts. People take care of them pretty good. Plus, I am a daily rider, so I hate to get brand new and it look like crap in a few weeks. On the other hand, when I twist the throttle, I like to have the piece of mind knowing all the parts are in the best shape possible.

Jan 30, 2011 | 01:16 PM

#22

iclick

Extreme HDF Member

Joined: Sep 2005

Posts: 11,615

Likes: 50

From: Baton Rouge, LA

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregsdart

Used roller cams should have few issues. I pull my race roller cam every freshen up in my race motor, and the lobes never get the same lifters because it isn't important. I run twice the spring pressure and 1 1/2 times the rpm of a HD motor. Like said earlier, if you can't feel it with your finger nail, there is insignificant wear and the cam is fine. These are rolling friction parts, not sliding friction like a flat tappet design cam. Those you NEVER (except with ceramic lifters!) ever put together with used lifters unless the parts go back in exactly as removed. I would not be afraid to buy any used cam provided I could check it or get a reference for the seller.

I agree with this explanation. I put a set of used 255 cams in my bike which had about 3500 miles on them and they looked new. A friend who has long-time experience building race engines agrees. You wouldn't want to swap-out flat-tappet cams and/or lifters, as they wear-in together and require lifters to be fitted exactly in the position they were in before. OTOH roller cams and lifters wear very little in normal operation and a low-mileage set of roller cams can safely be swapped into another motor without using the same lifters that were originally mated to the cams. HDThunder made a good point that this holds true if the original engine was "healthy." I wouldn't do it if the original engine cratered just before the cams were extracted.

As for not feeling good about installing used engine components on an expensive bike, that's okay--but in a practical sense there is no reason to worry about it in this case. I hear the same argument when I talk about using a Harbor Freight torque wrench made in China on my expensive bike, but mine have been tested for accuracy and I contend that a torque-value given on a cheap wrench is as good as one given on an expensive one, assuming both are accurate. The bike doesn't know the difference and the bolt is torqued the same. If it makes someone else happier doing the work with a $300 Snap-On that's fine with me.

Last edited by iclick; Jan 30, 2011 at 01:28 PM.

Jan 30, 2011 | 04:07 PM

#23

Notgrownup

Seasoned HDF Member

Joined: Mar 2009

Posts: 24,711

Likes: 9,214

From: Snow Hill, NC

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadgliderick

I agree to some point but i don't have money to throw away...This bike is a dream come true for me...Grew up with nothing, immigrated here 20 years ago and my first job was $6 /hours so i still try to save money and be frugal as much as i can...Some stuff i buy new... My bike is stock for most part...stage 1 PCIII pretty mild ****. this will be the first time i really upgrade and it really worries me...i will try not to be so **** about the cams....i have a used set (26h) and a new set 255's...
I do understand what you are saying though and i respect that too...

Peace out man.