Gears vs Cam Chain

[jigglestick]

Well I appreciate all the feedback fella's. Given the age (9yrs), and the mileage (72,000), on my bike, I'm kinda leaning towards the hyd and chain upgrade. I haven't got any performance upgrades on the bike other than V & H slip-ons and stage 1. I ride the bike as a cruiser and don't require allot of extra power. Maybe my next bike where, in my eyes, it will be worth the money. I just thought that I would get some advice on the issue with the tensioners becoming a constant problem with the wear issue. Sorta want to set it and forget it, ya know?

Sounds like gear drive is something to look into if/when I get a NEW bike.

 

[BUBBIE]

Well I appreciate all the feedback fella's. Given the age (9yrs), and the mileage (72,000), on my bike, I'm kinda leaning towards the hyd and chain upgrade. I haven't got any performance upgrades on the bike other than V & H slip-ons and stage 1. I ride the bike as a cruiser and don't require allot of extra power. Maybe my next bike where, in my eyes, it will be worth the money. I just thought that I would get some advice on the issue with the tensioners becoming a constant problem with the wear issue. Sorta want to set it and forget it, ya know?

Sounds like gear drive is something to look into if/when I get a NEW bike.

IF you get a 07 or up, NO need for the gear cams.. The new Hydraulics do a great job...:s IF you go that direction , (hydraulics), the HD KIT has a high flow oil pump, cam plate to fit it and the hydraulics that the Newer bikes 07 and up have today... That is in the HD KIT,,, IF you go Hydraulics.
Good Choice.

Right now, with the exhaust and intake modifications your bike would run Better and Last Longer IF the fuel was richened up a Tad.

Check out Dobecks Performance, TFI or GEN3... also YOU get 50$ Off and free shipping for being a member here on HDT.

signed....BUBBIE

 

[dolt]

You don't have to buy the billet plate; the later OEM plate will work but you will need coversion cams which is a good excuse.:bigsmiley12:

Andrews sells a kit with the OEM cam plate and they used to list the H-D part numbers but they have re-configured their website and the parts list is no longer displayed. If you can get your hands on a late model parts manual, you can order build your own kit and order the parts from New Castle or another discount online H-D dealer and save some money. Open the catalog link and go to Conversion Cam kits; there is a picture of all the parts; you just need the late model catalog to develop a parts list.

Motorcycle Parts Catalog | Andrews Products, Inc.

 

[Rockdrummer]

I recently went with the S&S gear drive kit with 510G cams (2007-2510) and am very happy with it. The bike runs much better and I no longer have to worry about my motor getting trashed when some nylon shoes wear out. Going with the SE upgrade only moves the problem down the road. The shoes are still a maintenance item. I talked with several people regarding the gears vs. SE upgrade and the majority say the gears are the way to go. Regardless of your decision I hope it works out for you.

 

[Billbo]

Was wondering if I could get some feedback from those of you that eliminated your cam chain and went to gears.

I have a '03 Road King Classic EFI with 72,000 miles on it. I have checked my tensioners twice. Once at 55,000 miles then last night at 72,000. The first time, they were worn only 1/16th of an inch. Last night they were another 16th further along. (Been lucky, I know.) I'm hoping they will get me thru the rest of the riding season. This winter I plan on either installing the upgrade to hydraulic tensioners or going with gears.

I do all the work myself so I am looking at cost and ease of install in addition to performance. Any feedback would be extremely helpful and I thank you in advance.

I do not know what the cost diff is between original and hydraulic or gears, BUT, I would sure find out. I dont really see any reason to change anything as long as you got 72,000 miles from the orig tensioners - I might just go back with another set or original tensioners and shoot for another 50-72K miles, then at 120,000-140,000 miles, I would be dead or not riding anymore (just me saying) or at least I'd be looking at trading it in on a newer model.
I mean your bike has 72K miles already, the tensioners did a very good job, why not go back with originals and get another 72K miles??
Like I said, it really depends on cost differences and ease of installations. Just saying..... I have 50K on my bike with original tensioners and will soon face the same decisions.

Bill

 

[dolt]

How many miles one can squeeze from a set of the OEM spring loaded tensioners is really not the issue. The problem with them is that they can, and usually do, fail catastrophically and without warning causing major damage. The failure can occur at 12K miles or at 72K miles, or, perhaps, not at all but the question has been for those that are running them, why take the chance when there are alternatives, like gear drives, hydraulic tensioner or something as simple and inexpensive as replacing the OEM tensioners with the new CYCO tensioners.

As for kicking the cam down the road by converting to hydraulic tensioners; that's just not been proven to be the case. Most guys will sell the bike long before the hydraulic tensioners wear out.

The debate over gear drives vs hydraulic tensioners will go on but at the end of the day, it's personal choice and the end user has to decide what is best suited for that user's application. I have two bike; both built and run gears in one and hydrualic in the other; I like them both. However, if the hydraulic tensioners been available when I installed gears in my first bike, I would have gone hydraulic. If for no other reason, for the upgraded oil pump.

 

[kdaddy]

I just did the hydraulic tensioner upgrade on my 05. I made a list of all the parts with hd numbers and called/and faxed it to two dealers here in tn (Nashville and murfreesboro) . Neither would quote me pricing. Sooooo. I spent my thousand with jp cycles. I went with the Andrews conversion kit. New cam's(21n) grind new gears, chains, cam plate tensioners, new oil pump, adjustable pushrods, pushrod tubes the whole ball of wax and I love it. Took me a whole day to install. I looked at the screaming eagle kit and would not advise as you still have the same chain on the cam's with that kit as well as bearings in the cam plate. I guess the stealers wanted to charge me for install and that's why they would not quote me parts. Oh well they did not get the grand for parts either. Highly reccomend the Andrews cam's and kit. I have a carb rejetted one size and it runs great an 47 mpg with new kit.

 

[dolt]

I just did the hydraulic tensioner upgrade on my 05. I made a list of all the parts with hd numbers and called/and faxed it to two dealers here in tn (Nashville and murfreesboro) . Neither would quote me pricing. I looked at the screaming eagle kit and would not advise as you still have the same chain on the cam's with that kit as well as bearings in the cam plate. I guess the stealers wanted to charge me for install and that's why they would not quote me parts. Oh well they did not get the grand for parts either. Highly reccomend the Andrews cam's and kit. I have a carb rejetted one size and it runs great an 47 mpg with new kit.

Next time order from an online discount dealer like New Castle or Surdyke; save 20%. Nothing wrong with the SE Hybrid kit; the Morse chain is fine. The outer cam bearings are more stable than the OEM plate where the cams ride in the parent material of the plate. I have seen them wear out in less than 10K miles.

 

[hogrotten]

Next time order from an online discount dealer like New Castle or Surdyke; save 20%. Nothing wrong with the SE Hybrid kit; the Morse chain is fine. The outer cam bearings are more stable than the OEM plate where the cams ride in the parent material of the plate. I have seen them wear out in less than 10K miles.

Just wondering ,are you saying there is a better camplate for the newer models? I have an 08 and I'm just curious.

 

[dolt]

Just wondering ,are you saying there is a better camplate for the newer models? I have an 08 and I'm just curious.

If you are asking if there is an upgraded cam plate for the post '07 models, the answer is yes. There are two SE cam plate kits; one to upgrade the early models from spring loaded tensioners to hydraulic and upgraded oil pump and one to upgrade the OEM plate to a billet plate and upgrded oil pump.

The early cam plates ran the Morse "silent" chain front and rear, had spring loaded tensioners and the cams ran in outer cam bearings. The SE Hybrid kit upgrades those parts to a billet plate, hydraulic tensioners, front roller chain but retains the OEM inner Morse chain to allow the use of early cams and an upgraded oil pump.

The later OEM plate is a cast aluminum plate, roller chains front and rear, oil pump upgraded from the pre-'07 pump, hydraulic tensioners and the outer cam journals ride in the parent material of the cam plate. The SE upgrade kit includes a billet plate with bronze bushings for the rear cam journals and an upgraded oil pump; the tensioners, cam sprockets, roller chains and tensiones from the OEM hardware are used on the new billet plate.