I ride a sportster right now but am eventually in the market for a bigger bike...probably a road king....anyway I am always looking at Craigslist for bikes and I saw one that made me wonder.....when do people rebuild engines and why?

The bike in question is a 1997 road king that had the engine rebuilt at around 25000 miles.....

This is an excerpt from the listing:

1997 Road King Looks and Runs Great!!!

27,647 Miles

Custom Charcoal with Black Ghost Flames

Motor was just rebuilt 1500 miles ago
Leineweber Cam, Lifters and Crane adjustable pushrods. The heads were ported and polished, Power Commander installed, Re-Mapped E.F.I., Screamin Eagle air filter (stage 1), Vance and Hines Long Shot Dual Exhaust with dummies on left side, 16" 1 1/4" Bars (Apes) internal wired



S why would u rebuild an engine that only has 25000 miles on it?.....is it like upgrading an 883 to a 1250? Are they adding power?....any insight would be appreciated...I just don't understand it....ryan

 

I would say yes, the owner was upgrading the engine and adding power, 97 was an evo engine and only 80 cubic inches, probably wanted more power like a lot of Harley owners.

I have 60k miles on my 99 and it runs great, if taken care of properly there should be no problem getting 100k out of a Harley, but adding horsepower will likely reduce engine life.

 

I agree. A properly cared for motor, ridden responsibly, should easily last 100,000 miles or more.

Unfortunately for some motors, their owners can't resist tinkering with them. Which may give them what they want at the time, but usually at a cost of less reliability and sooner rebuilds. Just my opinion, but you don't see too many stock bikes having a lot of problems.

 

On my 03 Road King I upgraded the motor at 4200 miles from an 88 to a 95ci. At 100,000 miles decided to go to 103ci dismantled the motor myself an it could have gone another 50,000 miles easy.
These motors when taken care of will last a long time.

 

I'd be very very careful with a "mystery motor".

once in a while a rider here will start threads about all the awesome performance work they are gonna do.

the threads about how this and that don;t work and they are taking it apart and ...

then they finally they dump the bike on the market.


if the work was documented by a known reputable shop and they warranty the work for a new owner- great.

A near stock motor will last much longer and probably be treated better than a built motor.

The 80" evo was about 55 HP stock ( 45 in CA due to cams), with a stage 1 a reliable 65 HP...with performnace cam maybe 73 or 75 HP.

The early Twin Cam 88's were...55 HP. more displacement, poor head design


My 2 evos are well over 80K.

Mike

 

I would say oil consumption starts around 40,000K.

 

I have a buddy that tore his ultra down at 75K after hitting a deer, and everything was well within spec.
He bought it with 65+K on it, so now with his maintenance habits it won't see 100K, otherwise it certainly would have............at the rate it was going.

 

I suspect the word 'rebuild' is just his way of saying the engine was modified. I had my Evo 'rebuilt' with a stroker kit and other tuning goodies. It didn't need it, but I wanted it! A lot of us go through that process, if tuning threads on HDF are anything to go by. I'd say it sounds a bit more than just an 883-1200 kit! Nothing to worry about, especially if he passes on the paperwork relating to the work.

 

A good example is I have a 2009 Road King with a 96 ci motor. The biggest difference between my 2009 and 2014 is a 96 ci motor verses a 103 with the new cams.

The are a couple of way I could resolve this If I wanted the bigger motor. Buy a new bike, the sticker price of a 2009 verse 2014 is a $2000.00 difference not to mention several thousands of dollars in modifications to the 2009. With equals the loss of quit a lot of money.

So for about the cost of the base price between the two bikes I can upgrade 107 ci motor with better cams (& cam bearing) better exhaust and a cooler running motor with more power. A cooler running motor should equal better longevity and a happier rider.

 

Thanks guys...makes sense...ryan