I am building a SE 113 motor for my 15 Road Glide.

I do not want to use the SE226-E cams that come with the 113 kit.

Also since I am building another motor (keeping the 103 in the RG until 113 is ready) I will need to purchase cam sprockets, chains, tensioners, etc.

DarkHorse built a crank for me. I have sealed the crank up in new SE cases and have .0003 run out.

It will cost me about $240.00 for the stock sprockets, chains, etc or S&S has a gear drive kit for $480.00. So the gear drive will cost about $240.00 more. Looking at Woods for cams.

So the question is do I dare put gear drive cams in a touring bike (typically 9000 miles a year) or just buy the stock stuff.

Pros and cons of gear drive cams please.

Thanks for your time,
Varooom

 

downside is cost and noise.

upside is accurate cam and valvetrain timing, long service life

I wouldn;t spend $240 on chrome geegaws, but I might on the motor

Mike

 

Since crank is true and solid no reason not to. Less items to wear, no tensioners to think about down the road, no chains to mess with. Well worth the extra couple hundred.

 

My opinion is you have a good long life system. You have the roller chains on the cams. Once grooved in to tensioners, it will last life of motor since they only groove so far and then roll. TCs were never designed for gears since they have no outboard bearing supports. Even if gears run true at hand cranking speed, really no telling what they are doing at running speed.

 

I had the S&S gear to gear cams in my 2000 Wide Glide and I loved them they were great.

 

With a crank that's running nice and true like that I would definitely go gears. I put a set in my 2000 Wide Glide too and never looked back. Simple and reliable.

 

I would stick with roller chains, for the simple reason of cost, and the roller chains on tensioners works fine now, and will last a very long time.

 

If your gear drive is loud, your valvetrain isn't properly set up. And the minute amount of power added/retained by running gears over a chain is negated by the 900 pound bike they're installed in.

My Night Train is gear-driven, and it's a beast. The gears whir a bit, but if you weren't listening for it you'd never hear them. My valvetrain has been bulletproof in the 8 years since installation.

However, if I was building a motor now, I'd stick with the hydraulic setup. It'll be more stable over the long haul (no adjustments over time, whereas the gears will need the lash checked periodically).

 

You got the major issue covered with that nice crank! Late model cam chest components are pretty bulletproof.

 

There is no reason why you shouldn't fit gear cams, but on the other hand your '15 has proven and well tested chain cams which will be just fine. Having an accurate crank as you do will benefit a chain drive, just as well as it will allow you to use gears. A difficult decision to take, but saving a few bucks looks a good choice to me!