How much trouble is it to inspect the inter tensioner shoe? Can it be inspected with out
pulling the cam out.

 

Cycle is and 04 roadking{I need to inspectinter cam tensioner shoe, can I see it with out pulling the cam.

 

You can use a dental mirror to see enough of it to give you an idea of what shape it is in.

 

I don't think you can see enough even with a dental mirror unless the shoe is nearly commpletely disintegrated. It's pretty tight quarters behind that support plate when it's on the engine. The only way to be completely sure is to pull the support plate and look, and the cams are installed in the support plate assembly, so they have to come out with the support plate. If you have more than 12 or 15,000 miles and are going that far on an inspection, it's best to just replace them anyway since you are in that deep.

 

I tried to look at mine , i could only get the cover out about an inch because of exhaust. I could see the back one fairly well with a mirror but the front one was harder to see. I thought they looked good enough to ride another season but bugged me not knowing for sure so i pulled the exhaust off, was going to install the fullsac kit anyway.
Glad i took a better look, left one is the inner shoe, the outer was cracked and wouldn`t of made it much further.
Had dealer install new shoes, both inner and outer bearings, new lifters and adjustable pushrods. Came to 650.00 total, now i`m good to go, if you have doubts take a good look.

 

650 bucks for swapping shoes, lifters, bearings, and sticking in some adjustables? That's near highway robbery. Retail on the parts is only about 325 bucks of course the dealer doesn't pay retail. The swap is only about3 hours for a decent tech. Your dealer is sure making some good money in his service department.

 

I have noticed that everyone, (it seems), replaces the cam bearings when they go into the motor. Why is this necessary?
I am going to replace my cam chain tensioners before Spring, and see no reason to replace bearings just because I'm in there. If this Twin Cam engine is supposed to be a 100,000 mile motor, why would the cam bearings need replacement at 31,000?

 

I think the bearing issue is the cost of the bearings, might as well change them and be sure they`er good.
As far as price for the work done on my bike i was happy with the total, they had a reduced labor fee and 15 percent off parts when i had it done.
That seems to be in the ball park if not less than what i`ve read on the forums.

 

I'm in the wrong business. I will gladly do tensioner swaps for 650 bucks. Line 'em up at my door, boys, I can likley do 2-3 a day.

The first reason to change the bearings is because the inner bearings the MoCo puts in are inferior to the B 148's you can get. They are what comes with most aftermarket kits. However, if you go to a dealer he is likely to put the same old HD spec'd bearings back in. The second reason it likely as much superstition as anything. Why not change them for peace of mind? They only cost a few bucks.

 

Just curious - what's your shop charge for labor per hour? Ours charges $55 per hour unless Nov or Dec when it's $45. Your bill seems a little high, but, that depends on the hourly rate. No sense crying over spilled milk - if you like your dealer and they do good work, price becomes somewhat less important - look what we all pay for HD's!