I was wondering if maybe the people who had the cam tensioners die so soon had been using the wrong or an inferior oil. I am a firm believer in synthetics and can't imagine them wearing out in 15K miles unless the tensioner was faulty to begin with or the chain was particularly rough. I would think dirty or poor quality oil would contribute to this greatly. Anyway... going to look at a 99 EG Ultra today, 41K, never wrenched upon. I had high hopes for a Tour Glide I saw but it turned out to be a 90 and none of the equipment worked and it leaked oil... For the price he wanted I can buy the 99. If I get the '99, I'll check the tensioners immediately (watched the youtube, looks pretty simple) change them if questionable.

 

The foolproof way is to follow the procedure layed out in the service manual. There's marks on the gears that line up, easy peasy. You might have to shim one gear out on the shaft for proper alignment but I didn't need to.

 

With that tight budget I would look for a carbed Evo. Replace the lifters and inner cam bearing and it'll last forever. And they don't run hot like these twin cams. They're out there just need to be patient.

 

That is probably what I should do. I've been looking for a while with little luck. Called yesterday about a Tour Glide that looked good in the pics but turns out is was a '90 (no problem there) but none of the equipment worked, no radio, cb, cruise etc. and had an oil leak. He wanted the same price as the '99 Ultra I've found (that has everything working). I'll look at the one today and probably keep looking. You are right, I just need to keep my eyes open, one will come along.

 

Muleears, I have a 99 Electra Glide and have 83,000 trouble free miles on it, the 99 to 02 Twin cam motors have the best bottom ends Harley built, Timkin crank bearing and forged bottom end, I put gear drive cams in mine with Fueling cam plate and oil pump, that was 30,000 miles ago, not one problem, mine is a carb and it is true what they say about the early fuel injection, if it is fuel injection I would not buy it because parts are hard to find. The cam chain tensioners in mine lasted 30,000 miles and were shot, you will not have runout issues with that motor, my indy will only put gear drive cams in 99 to 02 motors unless the cranks have been trued and welded, he has never had a 99 to 02 have runout issues, .003 is the max crank runout for gear drive cams, mine was .001, that is a good bike with a good motor, take care of the tensioners and it will last a long time.

 

Thanks fwb35, its good to know 80K isn't the end of the road. I'm currently looking at an '02 with 82K on it. Trying to find out the maint. history now. Can Harley give me that from the VIN? It likes to begin to misfire when it warms up. I'm thinking a temp or cam sensor? Maybe the ECU? Or, God forbid, an injection problem. The price is low enough that I would have room for contingencies. I'll see what I can find out and go from there. Still haven't seen a good evo/carbed bike for sale within 250 miles... I looked at a 99 Ultra last night. Owner had warmed it up before I got there which made me suspicious. Said it needed a tune-up too. At this point I began thinking EFI problems. He was firm on a high-ish price so we parted ways.

 

That misfire could be a bunch of things. The 02's have the IAC valve and it gets gunged up from the head breathers. The cam chain tensioners MUST have been replaced with 82K on it. Does the owner have receipts? The 02 is also the first year for the Delphi FI. I would not consider any bike with M&M FI because it's not supported by anyone. If the owner isn't sure, easy to check, the tank has 2-fuel lines coming from it. We all know your ansy, just be patient you'll find something. Have you checked your dealer for trades? Tell them your budget and they may know a guy that wants to unload something.

 

Thanks Tucker99. I did not know that 02 had the Delphi EFI, that's good news. So the Delphi EFI unit would have two fuel lines coming from the tank? The M+M only has one? Or three?

It is at a dealer, however I suspect it was bought at a sale, not a trade in. This dealer also sells parts bikes and salvage title bikes. This one however, has a clean original title.

Thanks again for the help, I know you all have other things to do, I appreciate your taking some of that time to help me out.

 

No, the Delphi has 1-fuel line. The M&M has 2-fuel lines.

 

Hey OP, there is a classified section here at the Forums for used bikes.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/motorcycles-for-sale-74/

Be sure to have a look- lots of straight shooters at The Forums ( newbies can;t post ads right away)

craigslist and cycletrader online as well.

Mike