I recently bought a 2000 Road King with 22,000 miles on it. I was delighted until I found out about the cam bearing failures. The company realized the problem and extended the warranty to 5yrs or 50,000 miles. My bike hasn't failed and it's over 5 yrs old. I feel like I'm riding around with a time bomb and wonder when I will be left stranded on the side of the road. How many of you have actually had a problem? If so, what was the cost? My dealer says the failure rate is about 5%. He says to just ride it and forget it. Thanks, Randy

 

Maybe the repair was already accomplished. Have the dealer check the VIN.

 

First of all, it's not just Road Kings, it's all 1999 and 2000 bikes with Twin Cam engines built before Dec. 14 1999. Not the bike build date, the engine build date. I have a 1999 Ultra and have done lots of research. It is a time bomb and no time is a good time for the bearing to fail. If it does it will do other damage and the engine though it can be fixed will not be the pristine unmarked unit you now have. Virtually all of this era of bearing will fail. Fix it now before you have a real big problem on your hands. The cam support plate may need to be changed as well. If nothing else is wrong in there it should run you about 5 or 6 hundred bucks for dependability and peace of mind.

 

I would change out the bearings and also go with S&S gear drive cams at the same time everything should cost around $1000.00 and you should never have to worry about it again.

 

How do you find the build date of your engine?

 

I agree with all the other replies. If these bearings fail you will have catostrophic engine failure. Some of the older EVO's had a cam bearing problem also, and I changed the one in my 95 Roadking out as soon as the bike was out of warranty.

Regards,

Bill

 

You can check the build date by calling Harley Davidson with the serial number and the number off the left side of the engine.

 

Thanks Randy, I'll give them a call. It would be nice to know one way or the other what I have.

 

this is a case of fix it before it brakes or you will be sorry.
check your vin number first.
and if you should fall in to the category have temken bearings installed.