Here's the scenario:

2005 Road King Classic EFI with 30K miles on it. Lately I've been noticing a few things that have popped up. For starters I seem to be getting a transferred vibration from somewhere in the bike starting at 65mph and can really feel it when you hit 70mph. I say a transferred vibration because I feel it in the highway pegs and it's not a constant vibration but more so an erratic / pulsating one. About two weeks ago I replaced the rear wheel since the spokes were completely shot on the original wheel. It was so bad I was getting a vibration and rear end wobble all the time. So the bike got a brand new wheel, tire, tube and spin balance. After reinstalling the wheel assembly I decided to check the lateral runout of the wheel with a dial indicator; it hit the maximum spec of .030 at it's highest point. I wasn't too happy with this but at least it's within specs. I have also checked the front wheel the best I can for true, spokes, etc. The front tire has about 5800 miles on it with no cupping, scalping. I checked the head bearings for proper torque and fall-away and have no front end wobble. In any case it's starting to drive me nuts.

Secondly I'm starting to notice some performance issues; taking longer to start at times, drop in performance, sputtering at times, acceleration not like it used to be, much more vibration at idle than before, etc. This past Friday I stopped in at the dealership to talk it over with the service dept. After going over a few things I told the service manager I would like to schedule to bring it in to have the bike gone over since I have the 3 year extended warranty. Well apparently that makes no difference since I haven't had them do all the services up to this point; but that's another story all its own even though he did say he would try to get covered what he could (it didn't sound very promising though). He said they would check everything out in regards to the vibration, run a compression and cylinder leak down test on the engine but stated this is right about the time a bike engine will start to show signs of wear, cam followers, rings, seals, etc.; 30K miles. He was talking about doing the Stage II big bore kit with 204 cams but no head work. He said they will be running a special this fall and I can get this done for just under $2,000. Fine, I have no problem doing it as long as it's time to "freshen" up the engine in any case.


Here are the questions:

Is 30K miles a typical time to start looking at having to get motor work done? What would be the recommendations from those of you with experience in what all I should do to the motor (within reason) if it does get torn down; i.e. jugs, pistons, cams, head work, etc.? Keep in mind I'm not a speed freak but I do feel if it's time to get the motor freshened up I might as well go better than stock. Does that pricing of under $2k sound right? He also said he would recommend getting a PCIII (which I already have) and they would dyno the bike when done.

Basically I've never really given it any thought about what I would do when the time came to do motor work. Well now I'd like to get some input from those of you who have gone through it.

Thanks for any help and input,

Brian

 

That seems too soon,.......I can't say I'm there yet,......but I aint even thinking about it at 30k.

Spokes go bad? Never heard of that?

 

Thanks for the reply Seth.....yup, the spokes on the rear wheel started to break which caused the center hub to have lateral play and of course the wheel was seriously out of true both lateral and radial.

Would anyone else give some input? I'd sure like to hear from the masses who have had engine work done.


Brian

 

I had a 99 SuperGlide with 35K on when I sold it. It still ran good with no problems. I don't think you should be having any major trouble at that mileage.

 

If he is saying that 30,000 miles is where it will need engine work, then the Twin Cam must be a down hill slide form the EVO. I put 80,000 miles on a 95 Roadking and didn't have a thing in the engine touched. It was still running good when I sold it. Pulled strong, didn't smoke and didn't use oil.

Wife had a '97 Lowrider that had 47,000 miles on it when we sold it, and it was still running strong with no engine issues. Saw it the other day at a poker run, and it is still running good.

I am expecting at least 80,000 out of the '05 that I have before I have any work other than the cam tensioner done.

The vibration could be a bad motor rmount or you could be having some fueling issues with the PCIII.

Bill

 

Sounds like the guy is trying to make some money. I have 40,000 miles on mine and it runs great. This chump is lying to you when he says it's about time for things in your motor to start showing signs of wear at 30k. These Twin Cam motors are supposed to be 100,000 mile motors, so at 30, you have a long way to go.The only thing you should be concerned about at this point is the cam chain tensioners. Mileage on these vary greatly. Take a look at yours. I looked at mine at 32,000 miles and they were still good. Having regular service performed somewhere besides the dealer does not void your warranty. I would not trust this guy.

 

Vibration at speed.... other than tires...check engine mounts.
Performance? Change plugs, wires, do a tune up...see if that helps.
Engine worn out? Doubt it. Check the compression with any 10 dollar compression tester before you go into a $2K build you probably don't need.

lp

 

joe.....put a set of new stock plugs and wires on the bike....also check the front lower motor mount....as far as performance upgrades....the cam chain tensioners are the weak link on your stock bike and need to be checked....2k for a stage II isnt that bad and will sure do well for the parameters you've mentioned...at least have a good valve job done since the heads'll be off....let us know how it turns out...i'm interested and will help if i can

 

This smells like BS to me. Ya gotta love how the guy thinks there might be a problem with the warranty and then tries to sellyou a stage II kit for 2k. Gee, I'd bet you'dhave no warranty problems with the stage IIif that had problems. [:@]I'd go to another dealer or three and see what they say.

 

Take a look at the sparkplugs. I think some of the 05 TC had problems with faulty valve seals. This would cause poor running.