I will be right up front and tell you that I don't run the gear-drives. Nothing has caused me to be motivated to switch....YET. My tensioner shoes are looking only slightly worn at 37,000, so I suppose I am one of the lucky ones. It's an early one too with the spring-loaded tensioners. I will say that I have been into a couple of bikes that had gear drives installed that were a mess. The installers never bothered to check for crank run-out or choose proper over/undersized gears. I think they were just "stuck in" and worked. The cons against the gears are (of course) you need to insure you can actually install them by checking the crank for proper run out. Any whine can be helped by various size drive gears, which drive up the cost if you don't know what you need until to start the retrofit. Another con is a break-down out there in the desert where you can't just have it towed to the gear-drive store for a fix. Some dealers may have spares, but most likely won't. I have also read on some thread somewhere that a retainer plate got cracked due to improper fitment and running the gears too tight. Generally, the manufacturers warn you to gauge the fitment and select an under/over gear to insure proper play, or your asking for trouble. In time, bearings will wear and change all these tolerances again somewhere down the road.

You can pick up a rather inexpensive kit to convert to the hydraulic system off e-bay complete with the larger pump if you want to go that route. But, all that offers is "longer tensioner life". What does that mean...nobody knows. You still have the chain running against the shoe. So long as I can get well over 40K out of my stock ones, I don't plan to change a thing. I will check mine again around 50K and likely change them while I am in there....as well as go to the larger pump which should last the life of the motor anyway.

I have a friend on an Ultra that has just rolled-over 150,000 miles and he has had one set of shoes installed...that's it. And then....I have seen them with 15,000-20,000 miles burned down to the metal under the shoe......go figure! I think it has a lot to do with the condition of the chain and when I do replace my shoes, I plan to reuse my chain unless it is stretched to the max.

If it were mine, I would have it checked out there around 20,000 miles and see how they looked and then decide if I wanted to spend the $$$ to upgrade.

I am certainly not knocking either the hydraulic system or the gear-drive system. I know plenty of guys run both and they work great, I just don't see the reason to spend the money "just for fun" unless I need to.

 

Hello Senior Rider/1550vt,
What you said makes a lot of sense. It was detailed and backed up with facts. Appreciate the time you took to respond. Am going to follow your recommendations. Again, thanks,
Santini

 

I checked mine last April at 52,000 miles and shoes looked good. They were about 1/4 worn or so. Not too bad for an '01 Twin Cam, Dyna. I now have 56,000 miles and will check again, and might upgrade with the SE setup if needed.

 

Like they say, if it isn't broken, don't fix it.
Cool Breeze, keep up the good work with our veterans.
Semp. Fi.,
Santini

 

I went gears, but I was swapping the crank and doing a ton of performance work at the same time. I love 'em, and wouldn't go back.

If I hadn't been planning on doing the other work, I think I would have prioritized things differently.

First though, check your tensioners. If they look good, leave them alone and check them again in another 20,000 miles. Then check your crank runout. Mine was at .005, and I had scoring on my oil pump. Assuming both of those things are fine and you have no desire to increase power, put the bike back together and keep your money in your wallet.

If you just can't sleep at night worrying about the tensioners, forget the S/E kit, and go with the Andrews upgrade. It's about the same money, and it's a full hydraulic system rather than the hybrid that the S/E is. Use a 26 cam, and you'll get a nice increase in torque as well.

But if you're not chasing performance, save your money and leave everything alone if you can.

 

Hey Santini....who told you I was a "senior rider"? You must have heard some rumors from some of the guys that have leaked this unconfirmed rumor. My other writing-buddies think I may be as old as the hills but I won't admit to anything other than being around from the Shovel right on through the Twin-Cam and suffered the pain Harley built into all of them. I've had cam bearing failures on an EVO and two early Twin-Cams....so if anybody ought to be losing sleep over what's in the TC cam-chest....it would be me and I can sleep very well thank you with the chain-drive-spring-hung-tensioner shoes I have now. The proliferation of the cell-phone, dealerships and availability of wrecker services have made life much easier for all of us.

Like these others guys are saying....keep a watch on things and ride the sucker.

 

but with the tesioners,its a matter of when they will fail,not if they will fail,not from a hi-perf reason,just a reliability reason,the geardrive is the only way to go,fixed ALOT of bikes with tensioners,installed ALOT of geardrives,0 failures
kirby

 

One thing you will gain with the gear drive is horse power. If you ever get the chance try rotating a set of cams in a cm plate with tensioners vs a gear drive. Quite a difference. The other thing is that the gear drive will maintain valve timing better.

 

...hi, i am knew to this thing...i have done (i did it @ home) two tensioner replacements on my bike....it is an 03 e.g. i believe there is a NEWER set up for these twin cam motors....i saw them at the h.d. dealer...they are around five hundred dollars.....i have heard of the gear things...i suppose they are good...if you stay with the h.d. stuff....i think you are better off....!

good luck

 

You are likely talking about the hydraulic tensioner conversion kit. The promotion is "longer tensioner shoe life". I don't think they make any promises beyound that, but it includes the larger oil pump....which Harley said was not necessary for years...until they came out with one in recent models and now offer it over-the-counter and in this particular kit.

You (joe mama), say you have changed yours twice. How many miles did you have on each set?

I have 38K on mine and have slightly noticeable wear and have a friend with over 145,000 miles on one tensioner shoe change and he is still going strong.