I have a 2000 ultra with 20k miles. I am told that the 1999-2000 years had problems with the twin cam - and that it was fixed late december 1999. Is there something I should be checking on my bike to look for signs of this problem? I read also about a retro kit to keep the problem from occuring.

Any ideas on this?

 

The problem you are referring to is the rear cam bearing. All 99's and early 00's have a ball bearing style rear cam bearing that is may fail. Some did. Some didn't. Some haven't. You can have the dealer run the VIN to see if your bike is one of the affected motors.If you are the original owner, you should have gotten a letter from the MoCo if your bike was included. If the dealer says your bike is one of the affected ones, it may have already been updated. The only real way to tell is to pull the cam cover and have a peek at the rear cam bearing.

Yes, there is an update kit. However, if I were going to the trouble,to pull the cams, I'd likely swap them for a better performing bolt in cam.

FYI, my 2000 was one of the bad bearing bikes. I rode it 52k miles before getting rid of the bad bearing. I never had a problem.

 

Thanks - very helpful.