Hello HD Forum! Looking at some sound advice to see what direction I should go in on my Deuce. I have the original cam chain Tensioners with 30,000 miles on them. I know there are a couple schools of thought on replacing them. I have a manual but don't think my mechanical abilities are up to tackling these. My current Indy just retired so I talked to 2 other local shops and got qoutes with their recommendations.

My current setup 2004 deuce carbed.
Mikuni 42
SE 203 cam
Adjustable pushrods
SE heavy breather
Thunder header exhaust
Always ran regular HD 20w50 oil

Economic route
Cyco shoes with the upgraded Torrington bearings and a bailsey Spring.

Shop 1
Fueling full conversion kit with pump, cam plate, lifters and an Andrews 26n cam. Plus full swap of all 3 holes and convert to synthetic. Includes breather filters and carb tuneup and jetting

Shop 2
Same set up but he uses All SE parts and would do an S&S cam I think the 509. Plus dyno to get carb set up and dialed in.

I plan on keeping this bike as it was my get well gift to myself after chemo. I also want the option to upgrade to 95/98 but don't want to check Tensioners every 20,000 miles. I'm also hesitant for cam drive as runout on 2004 my be greater than 3 thousand if it is will it maintain runout 5 years down the road?

Thanks,

JD

 

If you like the way the bike runs now, the economic route will work... the Cyco shoes are better made than the OEM shoes and should last at least another 30K miles..

You didn't post prices, so just based on components:

Shop 1
This would be my first choice if you want to swap the cam plate. I think you will really like the way the Andrews 26 cams run in an 88. The Fueling cam plate might be a little overkill. Not sure how it compares in price to HD. I would go this route, but with a Harley '07 + cam plate/pump instead of Fueling and conversion cams... I suspect the HD '07+ cam plate/pump is a bit cheaper than Fueling..

Shop 2
I don't have a lot of experience with S&S cams, so I don't know how this will run compared to the Andrews cam. I would make sure this shop is using the '07+ Harley cam plate and conversion cams. The SE Cam plate fix for switching to hydraulic tensioners uses an o-ring chain on the front of the cam plate, and uses the old linked chain inside the cam plate. The '07+ cam plate has o-ring chains on both sides of the cam plate... a definite advantage..

Good luck with your decision...

 

I was in the same boat. Except mine was making more noise from the valvetrain than it should, and the lifters would bleed down after a ride long enough to get it fully up to temp, so it would clatter as it were coming apart on the next start-up.

I planned to swap lifters, use adjusto pushrods, Cyco shoes, rocker lockers, and having the heads touched up.

What I ended up doing was all that stuff plus honing the barrels and putting a frsh set of pistons and rings and S&S gear drive cams, then minus the Cyco shoes. After measuring the crank run-out, it was less than .002", so decided to go for the geared cams. No more tensioner inspection.

But honestly, tensioner inspection isn't hard to do. I wouldn't have a proble popping the cam cover off once a year to have a look-see just to safe and to have some peace of mind.

It runs nice with the 509s, with a noticeable increase in pulling power down There is also a pleasant little whine from the gears. It has a nice lope at idle too. It took a small hit in fuel mileage, going from an average of about 45mpg to about 43.

 

Hattitude, both places are charging around 2gs. At HD dealer can do "the fix" without cams for 1000 to 1,200 and not messing with carb! Seems high but going rate in area. Wish I was in upstate NY and could have Hillsdale Cycles do the work!!!

 

I have a 2000 Fatboy, the GF rides if mostly. 88ci, stock, 16k miles. When the time comes, I think I will go simple, Cyco tensioners. But, since it's a 2000, run-out is probably not an issue, so geared Andrews 26 would probably be better. Definitely not doing the 98 big bore, I don't think it's worth it. Not looking for a hot rod build for that bike. If anything, I think the cost of a big bore kit would be better spent upgrading to a six speed.

 

Yeah, that seems high.... but every area seems to set their own labor rates and times...

I have a big bore kit in my '03 Heritage. It is 95ci, SE 203 cams, SE A/C, V&H exhaust. I have a dynojet tune that I was given by DynoJet and I flashed it with my PowerVision.

I really like the SE203 cams. The bike runs real well.... when it came time for my tensioners, I just switched them to Cyco ... same cam plate & pump from the factory....

I had a friend w/ Andrews 26 cams and he was trying to talk me into the whole '07+ cam plate & pump and Andrews 26 conversion cams... he almost talked me into it because I love the way his bike runs with the 26n cams, but can't say it's $1K better than the SE203 cams.....

See what one of the Indys or the dealer will charge just to switch the tensioners for Cyco... it would give you at least a few years to consider your other choices...

 

I just put 203 cams in mine. My shoes were 1/3-1/2 worn @ 20K miles. I just went with the
stock shoes. To me, it wasn't worth putting that much $$$ into. I ride 5K mi per yr (aprox)
I got this bike 3 yrs ago w/5K miles on it. If it was a forever keeper and I've
had done a 95" conversion, I'd have probl opted for the updated version. My understanding
is gear drive is out for 03 & newer.
It'll be fine like this.

 

5 year old original post.

 

D’OOOH !!!

I didn’t catch that.