I bought a beautiful 04 RK classic with 55K miles. Had the bike at Harley, they say all looks good. Bike runs great and was well maintained.

Just wanted to see if there was anything internally I should update or be aware of.

Thoughts?

 

Cam tensioners,should be looked at first.

 

forgive my ignorance can you tell me what that is/does?

 

Basically they are spring loaded tensioners to keep the cam chains tight.

 

Have your dealer inspect them. That's alot of miles if they haven't been replaced already. Had mine replaced at 45,000 and there was little left of the inner tensioner. Would not have made it through the summer without having them upgraded. An inspection will let you know where you stand with this motor. Important to know.

 

+1...

 

55K is high miles. Cam tensioners should definitely be upgraded to the new,post '07 hydraulic tensioners,if they haven't already been done. They can go bad anytime, but particularly between 20-30K miles. If they go out on you while riding, they can do catastrophic damage to your motor. It is possible the previous owner did the upgrade,as they would've almost certainly gone out by now,but if he didn't, 55K makes the motor a ticking time bomb. The upgrade should run about $600, then you never have to worry about them again. I would not ride until they were inspected by your dealer. This is a known problem that Harley refuses to man up & take responsibility for. Google Harley cam chain tensioners for the full story.

 

They do need to be checked, but many have gone this far & further, I had a 99 that had 76K on it before I decided to do performance mods, the tensioners were less than 1/2 worn, the second set went 60K. It is a crap shoot as to when they will die, but as said they can do major damage when they fail. The SE upgrade kit is well worth the money as it also includes an upgraded oil pump.

 

I would contact the service writer and ask if they checked the tensioners!

 

The thinking seems to be what causes the tensioners to go bad is NOT riding habits, but a cam chain with sharp or poorly machined edges that eat into the phenolic plastic.. If you got high miles out of 2 different sets, then you prolly have a very well made,within spec cam chain. I've also heard that Synthetic oil can play a big part in preventing wear, but I have never been a fan of Syn, except in my Corvette, 'cause the sticker right on the motor says to use ONLY syn.