2002 Road King advice
 

I have a 2002 road king that i bought "as is", from a power sports dealer. It had the cam, plate, oil pump, and push rods out of it, so i thought it might just need the cams, and off i go with a good bike. Then i started looking at the cams and they are Andrews tw60A which i gathered are performance cams. To be fair they were in the box, and i have no idea if they were installed in the motor. And it don't know if its even a TC 88 anymore.
My thought was to rebuild the cam assembly because i have all the parts, and see if the bike will turn over or even start? Thoughts on this approach?
Can i put a "gentler" cam in it and go this way then if it starts i would know the motor is good? or is there something else i can do before taking it to a shop? I asked the place where i bought it, and they don't know anything. My local dealer ran the VIN and said i have TC88..

I could take it to a shop i have someone rebuild the top end and redo the cam assembly, pushrods etc... If the thought is to do this and not try the cam thing i thought of, then that's what i will have to do.

The sn match the engine and the frame. I have a good title, and the service manual. But this is bit more than i think I can handle.

If the motor was done right for that cam, it would likely be a high compression 95 minimum. The problem is that you need to know the capabilities of the builder. I guess you could look in the chambers to see if the pistons have domes.. Maybe pull the rocker cover and see if the head has better valve springs..

Another thing you should look at is inner cam bearings. It's possible that the guy stopped when he found an issue with them.

One more, the guy may have stopped due to bad crank runout.

I would say that all those things need to be checked then go from there. You should be able to tell if the cams have been run. There will be marks on the cams on the sprockets, inner bearing race and cam lobes.

2002 is a great year for the Twin Cam and the Road King is a great touring bike. 2002 said goodbye to the MM EFI which was replaced with the Delphi EFI but yours could be carbed; last year for near bullet proof bottom end with forged crank and Timken left side crank bearing; all good stuff.

The TW60 cam is definitely a performance cam; check the specs and how Andrews describes the cam.
(TW60a 24/56 260 296 .560 .205 High-lift For well-prepped 95–103 inchers with 10.2 to 10.5 CR and 58/22 260 296 .560 .192 head work, 100+ HP is within reach. (2700–6500+ RPM)
It is quite possible and more than likely that other modifications have been made. For instance, the OEM valve springs prior to '05 were limited to .510" lift and I have read that some claim .525" but .560" is not possible with OEM springs. The heads may have been decked or domed pistons installed to hit the higher compression required for those cams, so the heads have been worked on but to what extent who knows. Do the heads have compression releases? It would not be unreasonable to assume the motor displacement has also increased.

Don't know if you are a DIY guy but having the service manual is a good start. A few things to consider before trying to stard the motor up:
Open the primary and check to see if everything in there is as it should be.
Check crank runout.
Check inner and outer cam bearings; outers shoud probably be replaced anyway.
Check the fuel tank for peeling tank liner and address the issue if the liner is peeling.
If carbureted, R/R and clean the carb and note the jet and needle sizes.
Pull the right side triangular cover where the ignition lives to see if it is stock or an aftermarket programmable ignition.
Carefully inspect the cam plate for wear; the pump internals; pushrods fixed or adjustable; chains and sprockets; chain tensioners and pads.
Lifters were not mentioned but if OEM, the early "B" lifters may be serviceable depending on how long they have been in service. I think I would replace them just because.
Change the oil and filter.
Repalce the battery and check all ground connections.

Once those tasks have been completed, rebuild the cam chest with the 60a cams, pull the plugs and manually spin the motor over to make sure it is not locked up. If the motor spins through with no resistance and all seems well, install the plugs and fire up the motor briefly to watch for leaks and listen for unpleasant noises. Do a few heat cycles and perform compression and leak down tests to evaluate the general health of the top end. I am sure I have missed something but there are plenty of guys here smarter than me that will be happy to add their thoughts and suggestions.

There is a whole other list for what should be done before taking a ride. Let's get through the first part first. Please keep us updated with your progress; post pictures and let us follow your project and help out where we can.:icon_wink:

Thanks Max
The crank runout is good and I think the inner cam bearings are too. So the compression, how do i check that? I can look through the spark plug holes but have not pulled the rocker boxes. Next step, right?

I am going to be! I have opened the primary and that I could tell everything is intact and where it should be. Same with the crank runout, the fuel tank and the oil/filter same for the battery.
It is a Mikuni carburetor. I had OE Fueling refurbish the cam plate and oil pump. I have it on a motorcycle jack and in 5th gear the engine turns freely and “easily”. It’s how i checked the runout. I have the lifters as well but I can’t tell if they are OEM but the pushrods i’m guessing aren’t because they are adjustable.
At this point i can look at the pistons through the spark plug hole to see if they are decked/domed, if i can anyway.
your advice was where i was leaning. Although good point to turn the engine by hand before firing it up. That wouldn’t cost me much to do.

I will keep this thread updated on my progress.

Look in the plug hole, there should be some type of dome.. I'd be concerned if there wasn't. It's almost impossible to get enough CR in a 95 without domes and those cams. 88 impossible. Supercharge maybe.. Heck, knowing the condition of the tops of the pistons is worthwhile. If they have a lot of carbon on them, I'd be concerned that someone told the pervious guy to use way too much cam..

Can you get ahold of a borescope. They are fairly cheap nowadays. Put borescope through spark plug holes and have a look. It should be able to take pictures you can post.
The Mikuni carb might be a hint there might have been more work done.
If you assemble everything and can roll the motor through a couple full cycles by rolling rear wheel in 5th gear, I would then do compression check before trying to start it.

I ordered a borescope off Amazon, it should be here tomorrow. I will take pictures/video and post them to this thread. Regarding checking the compression of the cylinders, this is done with an engine cylinder compression tester correct? And the engine doesn’t have to be started? What would you expect the compression to read?

Here is the crank runout test.. this is with me rotating the back tire.

I also understand these models came with EFI or carbide. Here is a couple more pictures…
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hdf...67e25aac1.jpeg
Cam chest
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hdf...b5c854753.jpeg
Cylinders
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hdf...d06b0e2e5.jpeg
Overall appearance