I say B.S. to that story about the MoCo using chains to meet EPA noise regs. Sportsters have been using 4 geared cams for 50 years and met the regs. The MoCo is using the chain design because it is cheap. They can slap them in and not have to worry about crank runout.

 

All I can say is that I'm truly happy with my gear drive cams, the S&S, on my 95 Stage III Softail

 

I read that in an American Iron Magazine article on converting chain to gear drive.

 

Andrews also makes a cam so you can retrofit to 07 style cam chain.
Uses H-D parts except for the cam. Might be another option if your
runout is too much or you want to keep it quiet. Their website has
the H-D parts list on it so you can type them into Zanotti's parts site
and find out how much it'll cost. M&M sells the cam for $220 at last
look. I've got the 26G and it isn't real noisy, I would've gone this
retrofit route if it was available when I changed mine.

 

I'm running 26N'sin my '02 95" & the engine has never ran quieter. Coming from gear drive, & w/overspec crankrunout, after around 1K mileson the conversion I'm very happy w/the results. A good idea is to checkcrankshaft run-out BEFORE you buy a gear drive kit cause afterwards the temptation to go ahead & installthe kitis overwelming. Many times that'll work ok, other times not so good (a little noisey), & other times can be down right disastrous. Notice the timing marks & the broken teeth in the picture by the #2.

BTW, I got the cams from Andrews & all the OEM stuff from Zanotti HD online. Total cost was comparable to the price of a gear drive kit & theinstallation was easier IMO.

VicW.


[IMG]local://upfiles/10532/054A89CF19B84C15B79215E5D830F7BB.jpg[/IMG]

 

Just back from my first hundred miles after addingS&S 510G's (gear drive) in my 88. LOve em!! First impressions, WOW, no lag on throttle, no pop on decel, smooth. I have not noticed any more noise, just a slight difference in the way it sounds. The exhaust note from idle to WOT sounds more like a Harley!!! (88EFI, SE slip ons, Stage 1, PCIII)

 

You guys are making me nervous reading all this stuff. I'm getting ready to add my gear drive to my tc. I'm replacing all the bearings so i'm not worried about that as much as the noise. I"ll just have to make sure everything is properly aligned and I have the proper clearance. I had to send my cam back to get the right one. I'll let everyone know when I get it together.

 

I havent changed cams in my 05 Road King yet.....but I've done lots of reading on the subject of chain VS. gear......Then I called Andrews and Spoke to John Andrews himself. He told me for the build I want to do(95", mild port work on heads,2 into 1's and #37 cams) chain drive would work just fine!!! He did suggest the baisley spring.The bike has only 3700 miles on it and My health and cervical condition being what it is....I only ride about 3000 miles per year....on country roads,mainly.
So I'm thinking here that because the bike isnt going to be worked all that hard and rather infrequently at that,Chain drive is just fine!!!

 

It just does not seem logical to be all the way in the motor and not do the gear drive.

You are replacing the cams anyway, so the gear drive would, if nothing else, help on the re-sale of the bike. A prospective owner would much rather have the peace of mind of gears instead of the always suspect spring tensioners.

I know if I end up witha touring bike, and am looking at used tourer's,I will most likelybypass the TC88's as I do not want the hassle of a time bomb on my ride. Now, if I knew th motor had gear drive already installed, then that bike would be considered.

PS, I have a 2003 FXD with S&S gear drive and Andrews TW-37G cams. SuperTrapp SuperMegs 2:1 exhaust, and will be doing the 98 C.I. and head work route next year.

 

You make an excellent point....why doesnt the "factory" go to gear drive,especially on their hi-out put bikes with the 110" motor?


I can easily switch to gear drive by picking up the phone to Midwest and exchanging the set I bought from them to,what else do I need besides the gear drive set per se'?