I have a 2004 Road King Custom with 36,000 miles and the original cam chain tensioners. I know how its been taken care of, Ive owned it since 3,000 miles. I have a quote from a local Harley dealer to have them replaced. The first quote for just replacing front and back tensioners with spring tensioners was $1,100. The second quote was for replacing the spring tensioners and chain with a gear drive system for $1,600. My question is does that sound like fair quotes for this work.
I know I could buy the parts and do this myself for less, and I do have experience working on other types of motors. I would just feel more comfortable having a Harley mechanic handle this. I am curious about the dealer pricing though.
If that bike has gotten 36k mi in 20 years Id just have the hydraulic tensioners installed and call it a day. They will last more than double the miles and should take that bike into the year 2064.
Curious why the dealer quoted you gear drive instead of SE hybrid hydraulic cam plate and new oil pump while reusing your stock cams. t
Hydraullic might be the best option. But if you have to replace cam plate and oil pump it would be very expensive. If he can keep cam plate and oil pump something to think about.
I have gears, but I also have timeken bearing and better crank. I laugh at the idea of harley riders being bothered by noise.
Originally Posted by tdrglide
On the other hand. A local indy might quote you swapping out factory spring tensioners with some aftermarket tensioners from cyco. They seem to last a long time. Probably the least expensive way to go
He is not putting a lot of miles on. This a definite option.
Originally Posted by SwedishMeatball
I agree, gear drive requires crank runout to be less than 0.003", a 2004 is far from certain to meet that criteria. The workshop should have first measured runout before suggesting going to gear drive.g.
Ha. They are supposed to open the bike up, before telling him his options so he can think? You can't tell run out until they open.
They did the right thing, they listed his options, and hopefully they told they won't know if gears is one until it is opened. At that point he will have to decide What were they supposed to do open, measure, and put it back together?
If that bike has gotten 36k mi in 20 years Id just have the hydraulic tensioners installed and call it a day. They will last more than double the miles and should take that bike into the year 2064.
If they last that long, they will out last me Im 67. I will have to check on the hydraulic tensioners. I like the idea of less money on the tensioners and possibly looking into other work while the engine is open.
Ive talked to a few of the independents that are on the map you posted. Red flags started to pop up when I told them I needed some work done on my 2004 Road King. One of them actually asked me if that was a Harley. Another one said their Harley mechanic was only in 2 days a week. That makes me a bit nervous.
thanks again for the information everyone. Ill be asking more questions when I speak to the dealer or independents.
If they last that long, they will out last me Im 67. I will have to check on the hydraulic tensioners. I like the idea of less money on the tensioners and possibly looking into other work while the engine is open.
Ive talked to a few of the independents that are on the map you posted. Red flags started to pop up when I told them I needed some work done on my 2004 Road King. One of them actually asked me if that was a Harley. Another one said their Harley mechanic was only in 2 days a week. That makes me a bit nervous.
thanks again for the information everyone. Ill be asking more questions when I speak to the dealer or independents.
You can visit a shop and tell in 5 minutes if they are primarily a Harley-Davidson shop or not. I don't have shops do much work for me, but if I showed up at a shop and saw a Japanese motorcycle there for repair, I would know that wasn't a shop I needed to be using.
I'm on my third twin cam and I have done the hydraulic conversion on all 3. It can be a little expensive up front but well worth the peace of mind. When I pulled the original tensioners at 30,000 mile on my 2000 flht, one had already broke in half so I would not even consider factory replacement pads. Inner pad
I have a 2004 Road King Custom with 36,000 miles and the original cam chain tensioners. I know how its been taken care of, Ive owned it since 3,000 miles. I have a quote from a local Harley dealer to have them replaced. The first quote for just replacing front and back tensioners with spring tensioners was $1,100. The second quote was for replacing the spring tensioners and chain with a gear drive system for $1,600. My question is does that sound like fair quotes for this work.
I know I could buy the parts and do this myself for less, and I do have experience working on other types of motors. I would just feel more comfortable having a Harley mechanic handle this. I am curious about the dealer pricing though.
JMHO but based on how long it would take me to do the job and the cost of parts and considering I am just a shade tree hack and not a highly trained HD tech, $1100 seems a bit high to me. I do have the tool that allows R/R of the tensioners without removing the cams from the plate which saves time but if the HD tech doesn't have that tool and has to remove the cams to R/R the tensioners, it will take longer and add the cost of replacing the outer cam bearings.
I think I would ask the tech to detail the $1100 into labor, parts, tax, etc. before making a decision and perhaps get a quote from a local independent shop as has been suggested. Seems to me the most cost effective fix would be to replace the OEM tensioners with a set of Cyco tensioners and get back on the road.
I don't know what that dealer charges per hour, but $1100 in parts & labor sounds about right these days. I charge $125/hour, and I'd charge that job at 6 hours = $750. Spending $300 in parts is easy at the HD parts counter, with what they charge. Don't forget tax.
As for why they suggested gears vs the SE hydraulic cam plate? Just a guess, but they're probably trying to "save you the hassle" of having to redo tensioner shoes in the future. Assuming no damage to the bearing surfaces on the cams, I'd just do the Cyco spring tensioners and B148 inner bearings, new breathers up top, maybe new lifters and call it a day.
Could someone please explain why people prefer the hydraulic tensioners over the spring version. They both use a shoe against the chain. I realize that the shoe material is better than the original material. However I would think both would last about the same. Is it the noise that is the difference ?
04-18-2024, 05:38 AM
