I recently purchased a 2003 screaming eagle road king with 15,000 miles on it..someone told me I should think about replacing the cam tensioner with a hydraulic one..I was under the impression the screaming eagle already had a hydraulic one??..and if not is the milage about right to replace it?..im very mechanically inclined can I do it myseld?..cost?..thank you in advance for any help

 

You probably can wait some around 25000 but if you take the cam cover off you can see right away and all it will cost is a gasket.

 

I don't plan on putting a ton of miles on the bike..do you think if it is worn I would be OK with just putting another stock one back in for around $50 compared to upgrading at about $500

 

Checked my 04 RK with 52k past weekend, very little wear. A friend bought an 05 recently with 30k and his were gone. Just check them.

 

I'm gonna check this weekend. .thank you..I see different options if needed to be replaced..I can't afford the upgrade right now but I also see on j&p cycles they sell an upgraded replacement shoe only for the stock tensioner. .has anyone have any thoughts on those ?..it's either that or a HD stock replacement

 

If I was in you shoes, and I was by the way, I wouldn't do a thing till 25k. Then all I would bother doing would be to upgrade the shoes with good ones. These for example. This is the most cost effective method available. There are of course better options, but they ain't cheap.

http://www.harleydavidsontensioner.com/


.

 

You can use stock or Cyco brand, they seem to be a bit better than stock....if you are a low miles rider I would leave them alone for at least another 7500 miles...so he say after the first change the chain is polished and the 2nd set lasts longer??? Not sure if it's true but you would gave at least another 25000 miles, if that's enough miles for you then that would be peace of mind.

 

How hard is it to replace the secondary tensioner shoe..