2003 roadking cam chain tensioners

After having hands on (my own bike) and doing some research I can say that in my opinion this oem tensioner design from the factory was a "cheap" design flaw in that the engineers had to know that these components would not last very long at all and that they would have to continue to sell these
cheaply made parts or sell a update kit (hydralic design) that MAY last much longer or not, but for an extra $650 in parts plus labor. I work as a designer.....10 years in automotive and 15 years in aircraft so I know how the game works. The designer wants to use the more reliable design but the manager at the factory says there's no way their going to add this much price increase to the consumer for a new bike so, they use the cheaper components at the begining and then as the years go by they try to influence the consumer to "upgrade" to the new design.
All of this is just my opinion......you make up your own mind.
Oh yea, I used the old components to make the fix. Maybe $175 worth. If I can go another 8 years and 50k miles before it fails again then it's worth it to me since I don't mind doing the work.
One thing that is confusing is that the “DOWEL PIN” on the cam support plate that holds the “primary tensioner” is NOT perpendicular with respect to the cam support plate, it’s actually skewed down
and to the left (IS IT SUPPOSE TO BE THAT WAY???) and the OEM manual shows a technical illustration reflecting this on page 3-50 upper left corner view “A”.
Can't figure out why unless they are trying to push the chain away from the plate, but this would just make it wear out even quicker.
What ever, you live with it or go buy another bike I guess.
ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS?

 

We've been talking about tensioners for years! Ain't a new topic, so most of us have vented about it and moved on. You could take a look through older threads for a little fun.

 

ha! had mine replaced at 28k miles...saving up the money and going with the S&S510 gear drives... good luck in whatever you decide there boss

 

Ever see the picture that asks " If they built airplanes would you fly in one?"

That is HD in a nutshell.

Every bike is a starter kit, be it for chrome add ons or upgrades.

First thing out of the box is an engine tuner, pipes and an air cleaner

Next is new shocks and front fork work ( Progressive Suspension rocks!)

then the radio needs work, the brakes need an upgrade, the 103 kit, stage 1 2 or 3, etc etc etc. Trust me it never ends we are always either improving something the MoCo should have done better in design or assembly, or we are fixing some screw up that became an issue later on, such as cam followers.


HD.... Hundreds of Dollars


Now if it makes you feel any better, as my screen name suggests I own a Kawi ZRX1200r, and also the big sister of that bike the ZZR1200. One of the things we keep an eye on is the starter chain tensioner by way of marks being made on the clutch hub.

Start seeing marks, plan on pulling the right side engine cover and replacing it. A couple of guys on the ZRX board have designed their own replacements that will not fail like the factory ones.

All bike manufacturers have their design and quality issues trust me...did you hear about the GoldWing frames?

 

I was not able to use my oem design because the primary tensioner locating "post" was cracked, it broke when the tensioner crashed so, I went down to hd and bought the SE kit for $615, installed it, started the bike on the first crank.
The only problem so far is that the idle is too low, so it needs to be advanced using a scanalyzer or digital tech....I guess.
I'll see if I can get some one to set that for me.
The new SE tensioners have really light pressure on the chain vs the oem tensioners. Maybe this with new gears and spacers is why the idle is low.
Any thoughts?