Spring is almost here,time for some serioes tire wear.I'm coming up on time to change my can tensoiners again,but I was considering doing a change to a gear driven setup.I've heard pros,and con's,about doing this,but would love to hear what rider's have to say about it.I have 65,255 miles on my bike now,it's a 95 build with SE204 cams.the last time I changed them was about 41,000 miles ago,has anyone made this change?

 

If runout is in spec and backlash properly set, they are pretty much trouble free. I had them in my 04 and was happy.

 

I've been running them for 6 years in a hot little 95" motor. No issues. Still if I was to do another '06 or earlierTwin Cam I think I'd go with the new hydraulic setup. It's cheaper and includes a better oil pump. Harleys used gear driven cams forever before the Twin Cam, so using them in a Twin Cam isn't a bad idea, if your pinion shaft run out is in spec.

 

Two and a half years and 30k with no problems and no worries about worn shoes !!

 

Mine has been trouble free. Lots of miles on it.

 

If you like the 204s youll have to stay with chain set up. I ran gears in my 05 RG and had no problems. Pre 07 I would run gears but like I said if you like the 204 stick with it or youll end up chasing cams like I did. Just do the hyd conversion if that is the case.

 

Had S and S 510 cams and gear drive in my 04 Fatboy. Loved the power and lack of worry about chains. Tiny little whine gives gear drive away and sounds like power. Always ran Pete Jackson gear drives on small block chevy race motors. Have Andrews TW37 gear drives in my current 95 inch Road King with 100+ HP and torque. Pull my trailer around country with ease and never a worry about chains again. Had heads ported by dewey's and KB flat tops for 9.85:1 compression. For this rider gear drives are the standard!

 

Hey guy's thanks for the reply's,yes I thought about the having to start over,in the sense of going to a new cam.It took me a good while to get to where I am with the balance of power,and some good fuel economy.So I don't want to blow that apart,it tool a while to get to 37 mpg,so I think I'm going to stay with the 204's

 

Than SE Hydraulic tensioner kit is the way to go.

 

My thoughts are...I went with gears in order to get rid of the tensioners, which by all accounts are a time bomb in the bottom end. I intended to do the installation myself without any special tools except the Autozone bearing puller. I could tell that it wasn't right, and I ended up taking the bike and the leftover parts to an indy to finish the job. He charged me $275 in labor to get me road ready and it was a wise investment.

Lots of people recommend the HD "hydraulic tensioner" solution, but I can't get past the fact that if they're so smart, why did they give us the original tensioner system that's causing the problems in the first place?

Gears vs chains has become the "oil thread" of the modern era so after 100 posts here, you will probably be just as well off by tossing a coin.