Gear Drive

Apart from my '98 EVO WideGlide I own '99 twin cam EG. The twin cam bearings that year were ball bearings and not the tapered bearings that followed the very next year. There was such a controversey with cam bearings that HD actually extended the warranty on them to 50K miles to ease an owner's mind on the reliability. There was some stories (rumors or not) that these bearings failed and HD had to bear the cost of replacement but that bike owners had to sign wavers to stay mum. Of course that sounds a bit far-fetched to me and everyone likes a good conspiracy theory. Despite what I perceived a silly notion, just about every dealer I went to suggested that I better do a fix on the cam bearings.

I bought the EG in March of 2005. It had 20K miles on it. I put 40K more miles on it (without upgrading) when the drive train started to become a bit more noisey. Normally that noise is just the drive chain tensioners going bad and you go in and fix 'em . But I decided that while in there to go ahead and just go with gear drive. That means replacing the orginal cam set up of course and HD doesn't make one for a gear drive so I went to an after market S & S 510G product. BTW, if HD doesn't market a product how can an alternative product be called "aftermarket". :)

I'm not mechanically inclined (knowledgeable but not inclined) so I'm NOT oing the work. There are two methods (routes) to do this work; thru the bottom where you just cut the rods and put in adjustable rods or through the top and stick with the standard rods. Well since I am not "inclined" to be annoyed with working on an engine I chose NOT to have to fool with adjustable rods. (You WILL have to adjust them at some time or another.) Going through the top may take a bit longer (not much) but it does mean a gasket kit. (A bit more $$$)

Since the bike has 60K plus on it and I'm (well not ME) going to be in there anyway may as well do a top end; valves and jug hone and rings. I'd have to do one in another 15-20K anyway so why pay for a gasket kit and tear down labor again next year.

I'm also having HD's standard 5K service done on the rest of the bike; you know, filters, cable slide, fluids, brake check.

I have what I think to be a very good quote on the work. I don't want to say what it is but I'd like to know what you all think it's going to cost me. Just so you know; it is most likely a good deal less than what you might think.

Are you having this done at a dealer or an indy?

Dealer but I still think you'll be surprised.

at 80 an hour x8hr=1600.00ami in the ballpark bob

Afternoon Jim,

Well, I gotta’ say I wasn’t aware of any Bearing problems with the Twin-Cam motors. However what I was made painfully aware (after the fact) that the CAM CHAIN Tensioner Shoes on the Twin-Cam engines may very well be spitting out chunks of materials at some point, clogging up the engine oil passages and ultimately destroying it! Nice…..?! Further, I thought this was inherent to the earlier (1999 thru 2001) TC’s, but online have since seen reports with was all the way up to the 2006 96 cubic incher (with itself has it’s own new set of problems)?! Some years back I bought in my first NEW Harley (with a lot of USED in-between…) in 26+ years at the outrageous (gasp-choke…) 'Black-Hills' price of some $18,000+ thinking this sure as heck won’t be like all my old Shovelheads before it (at a fraction of the cost!!!!)?! People gripe and groan about the AMF (American Machine & Foundry) years but seriously I’m having my doubts!

Nope, haven’t had any serious problems with the ride so far (a 2005 FXDL-8 but still the possibility looms over the horizon. I fully plan on going for sooner or later the posted S&S GEAR Driven Camshaft kit (which friggin’ H-D SHOULD of installed in the FIRST place….) at a cost of $800+/- plus labor (as some machining is required to install the new bearings – beyond my shade-tree abilities….). My question is how many people opted for the V-Rod only to discover later the friggin’ engine has to be dropped in order to access the Valve Shims to adjust the Valve Lash (at $700+ a pop at the Dealer)?! A sign of things to come?! Positively outrageous…..!!!!!

LRG

at 80 an hour x8hr=1600.00ami in the ballpark bob

Very good Bob!! Though their labor cost is a bit less than $80/hr that IS very close to the cost.

Hey Ghost,
The cam bearing concern was the ball bearings vs the tapered bearings. Seems that after '99 HD went to the tapered bearings and that drew some concern from folks who had the BB's in their 99 models. Whether there was an actual incident experienced by an HD rider I don't know. But I do know that HD extended the warranty on the '99 cam bearings to ease those concerns. However, those concerns gave HD dealers the opportunity to rake in a bit of dough by suggesting customers just go ahead and replace the bearings.

As you suggested, the real concern has been the chain tensioners and the metal pieces finding their way into the oil flow. And it was the chain tensioners and subsequent noise that prompted me to go ahead with the gear drive.

There ain't nothin' like the old shovel.
Peace

Jimmy: So, is the OTD price for the gear drive, labor, etc, about $1,600... ?

Thanks,

Jimmy: So, is the OTD price for the gear drive, labor, etc, about $1,600... ?

Thanks,

Labor and material for all the work I am having done; gear drive to top end and complete service.

Got my ElectraGlide back. It's 10 degrees outside. :( :( :(

Peace

55 at 9:55 AM and the rain is moving off the coast so it is show time here in Fl. Come on down.