I have a 2003 FLHRCI with 44K miles. Stock motor with Samson pipes. I was told I need to replace the primary chains at 40K by a dealer. Any truth in that? Thanks to anyone with information. Also, how about fork bushings?

 

Primary chains last longer than 44,000 miles unless it was damaged.
BTW,there is only one.

Maybe they meant the cam chain tensioners ?

If anything,the fork oil should be changed.

 

119,000 miles on my original chain and still going strong. Installed an M-6 chain tensioner when new and have always run cheap 10W-40 or 20w-50 dino oil, changed every 5,000 miles. Nothing special ever.

I also treat it like it's a touring bike too though. No burn outs, drag racing or undue accelerations. I think how you ride it is the biggest determining factor regarding primary chain life.

And yeah, I think he was talking about your cam chains too, not your primary.

 

Even cam chains last longer than 44K,right?

 

Sometimes....sometimes much less. What we are talking about is the cam chain tensioners that the cam chains ride against. They can wear rapidly, or not, but when they do break it can cause catastrophic engine damage! I would most def check them out soon. I have an 03 Ultra and went to gears around 16K and the tensioners were in bad condition.

 

As the others have suggested it looks as if there is a mix-up here. I changed my primary chain and compensator at around that mileage, when doing a major motor upgrade, but there should not be any need to in any other situation.

However your TC88 does have a possible problem with the cam chains, of which there is more than enough here on HDF! If you have had the bike from new and your timing chains have not been checked, then get that done by all means. Otherwise get your dealer to check the service records to see if any previous work has been done. There is an SE upgrade kit well worth putting in there, which will upgrade your cam drive.

 

Ditto on the cam chains and tensioners. Rule of thumb is If you haven't looked at em by 30k, you need to. Mine actually looked fine, but I did the upgrade cam plate and new Cams at 30k. Some have failed much sooner than that....

 

Yes,I figured the tensioners not the cam chains.

 

I believe the new style (96") camplate, oil pump, and tensioners will bolt right in.
They are bulletproof for stock or mildly modded engines, and can be found used - cheap.
Or go the SE retrofit route for a hassle free upgrade.
Either way, its worth upgrading for piece of mind.
Harley recommends a fork rebuild at 50k.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I was indeed talking about the primary chain, not the cam chain/tensioners. I had them replaced at 40K with the new SE kit. I do think I will have an automatic primary tensioner installed next service. Thanks again!