There are a LOT of 1999 and Early 2000, 1/2 year bikes out there... I Hope Others who own them, will get to read about your problem and CHECK their build date..
The ball style bearing on the drive cam is easy to change-out BUT harley found it cheaper to ignore the problem until it Happened and MAYBE all would forget about it... They Did own-up to the problem and gave their guidelines on how and Only when they would repair the problem
A lucky few, one like you, every once in a while, hear about it "in time" to take advantage of their "written promise" to do the repair Later if and when it occurred...
I hope they do you right,. They may elect to Clean up the old motor as they have on so many and replace the needed parts affected by the Blown motor..
My biggest problem I had about this ISSUE was the way they (HD) went about the repair, saying (from my memory) the cam-chest didn't affect the whole engine....
They opted to clean the oil system,drop oil tank, clean out lines, installing New oil pump and ALL the parts in the cam-chest with new parts... Many were MAD at HD for their idea that "it only affected the ONE area"..
I for one of many, Replaced the problem early on with the Roller style bearing that replaced the ball style (ball style way too light and wrong design to hold up under load, driving two cams) The new one and their replacement was like night to day and I have heard of no problems once replaced...
When I went to gear drive, the older style ball bearing was used without a problem as it didn't have the Load of Both Cams..
I still kept the Roller style when I converted over to gear...
Keep us informed about the progress so the others can read about this problem waiting to happen to them...
You said that yours LOW mileage of 17,000?? .. That is about where Most were having the problem show up! 12,/17, area and that is why HD saved money on this repair....
More out there and yes it is a Ticking-Time-BOMB...
signed....BUBBIE
