Just bought my first Harley, switched over from a 1700 Vulcan .. Got a 2006 Softail Deluxe with 20k miles. Stock except for the wheels and little exhaust.

I'll be upfront - I am not mechanically inclined what so ever. With that being said...

Prior to buying, had done a ridiculous amount of reading on the Twin 88 Cam Chain tensioner issues. The previous owner never checked on the cam chain tensioners which has me a little skeptical of how much longer they are going to hold up with the bike being at 20k already. I have seen a few forums where people just put new tensioner shoes on to make things last or I've seen several people go to the expensive HD hydraulic tensioner fix and spoke with the local dealer - they are running about 1200-1500 USD installed.

Are there any good/solid fixes that are "easy" to do for this issue? Or is it best to bite the bullet and have the hydraulic tensioner put in? Or are there other routes I just haven't seen yet?

Any help or information is greatly appreciated!!

 

I'd check them.
If they're more than 1/2 worn, just replace the shoes.
If you're considering an upgrade, gear drive is the way to
go. But BIG $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ !!!
I can't see where dropping the money to go to the 07 style
tensioner shoe setup is worth it. Gear drive is never touch it
again.

 

The only kicker with gear drive is the run out.
If you are in you are golden (worth it), if not I hear it can drive the price even higher.

With that said doing the shoes is easy if you have the tools and take your time.
It's cheep (especially compared to the alternative) if you do it yourself.
I replaced them on my 01 at about 40,000 miles.
It can very drastically depending on the tension and the chain.
So it is worth inspecting them (easy to do).

 

The problem with gear drive is that you have to be sure the crankshaft runout (wobble) is small enough to tolerate gears. If your bike were a 2000 or 2001, the answer would almost certainly be that gears were okay. But HD continued to increase "acceptable" tolerances, so by 2006 you can't be sure without measuring crankshaft runout.
An intermediate solution is to replace your tensioner shoes with Cyco brand shoes. They have a good reputation and are supposed to be way better than stock.

 

Congrats on your Deluxe!.
I have an '05 that I purchased new.
I installed an S&S 510G geared cam set at 37K miles, specifically, to get rid of tensioners.

As, others have said, you can have a better tensioner like the Cyco put in.
You can also just have someone reputable check the current tensioners, and postpone doing something final if they look good, until you have more time considering your options.
My '05 Deluxe crank runout was fine. I was sweating it a little bit, having bought the geared cam kit from Amazon. But it worked out.
I would think you could find a reputable indy shop to put in geared cams for $1100-1200 total. My parts cost me $750 or so, including adjustable pushrods. So I am figuring 5hrs labor at like $80/hr. But, I may be low.

The big grab surprise was the performance upgrade. It's huge.
It will really wake your bike up.
I doubt your crank run-out will be out of spec. I think it's more the exception than the norm. But, I am basing that on my being pleased in my own case.

 

Would anyone have links on the Cyco products? .. Have been looking into those a little more till I have funding/time to try and figure out the big picture on it.

I have heard nothing but good things on the gear set up, like the 509G/510G geared cams .. but as far as measuring for those and things go, I'll have to consult a local shop to see what can be done.
Feel like if going to spend the time and money combatting this issue, might as well fix it right the first time.

If I didn't have to buy new tires here in the next 3 months / putting on some apes as well, this would be a no brainer - but with everything adding up .. was a little harder to chew right now.

 

It's not Cyco, but 1 tensioner shoe-option. Should be straightforward.
JP Cycles is reputable. You can check Dennis Kirk as well.
Looks like a separate special tool is needed to pop the pin out and in.

https://www.jpcycles.com/product/753...ensioner-shoes

 

I also have a 2006 Deluxe. I love the bike, and have no desire for anything else.
I bought my bike with 42,000 miles on it and immediately inspected the shoes. It looked like may have been recently replaced. If not, they were in great shape for the mileage!
Still, at 54,000 miles, I wanted to swap out noisy lifters. They would bleed down after shutting off and clatter something awful for a while. So I did lifters, adjustable pushrods, valve job, and new stock sized (.020" over) pistons with new rings. I WAS gonna do the cyco shoes. Like the other parts, I bought 'em ahead of time.

While it was apart, I checked the crank run-out, and it was .001". So I decided to do a gear drive cam swap instead, going with the S&S 509G cams. No more chain shoe concerns! Yeah, it was more expensive than just changing shoes, but the peace of mind was worth it....as well as the additional kick the motor has now!

In your case, maybe to a visual check, and maybe you can ride it for quite a while before jumping into it. Inspection is easy!

 

 

Ditto. I checked my 00 at 20k and they looked almost new. So I figure I'll check again in another 10k miles.