How are the 2007 Twin Cam engine's tensioners? After years of owning Sportsters I bought a 2007 Softail with 3848 miles and have been researching any type of problems that might occur.
Mine on my 04 EGC looked pretty close to that with 42,000 on it.
Glad I caught mine before I went riding for the summer. Now I check them every 2 years. that is about 15,000 miles.
I know I should upgrade the plate etc, but just don't want to spend that kind of money. Maybe will do the upgrade kit when I possibly do a big bore kit. Who knows.
As long as you found everything intact I’m sure your ok, also to have a schedule to keep inspecting.
My initial cost of my bike was very low so I felt the cost of the upgrade was reasonable. I wanted to get it upgraded to give me one less thing to worry about.
Rise safe!
How are the 2007 Twin Cam engine's tensioners? After years of owning Sportsters I bought a 2007 Softail with 3848 miles and have been researching any type of problems that might occur.
From the information I have found from numerous Softail owners there is no cut and dry year/mileage when they fail. If you have the ability to get in to the cam case and check the outer tensioner and an inspection mirror to look and the inner tensioner and they look good there’s no need to go further than that. My 2000 with 1 owner put on 32k all highway and we found the outer ok but the inner was destroyed. Other owners have found the tensioners ok. Good luck with the new bike. I also went from Sportster to Softail and am happy I did, totally different ride
From the information I have found from numerous Softail owners there is no cut and dry year/mileage when they fail. If you have the ability to get in to the cam case and check the outer tensioner and an inspection mirror to look and the inner tensioner and they look good there’s no need to go further than that. My 2000 with 1 owner put on 32k all highway and we found the outer ok but the inner was destroyed. Other owners have found the tensioners ok. Good luck with the new bike. I also went from Sportster to Softail and am happy I did, totally different ride
Thanks for the reply. Looking forward to riding her but as you know the weather has sucked here in N.Y. I got the Softail, rode it once around town then the weather turned to ****!
Anyone concerned about tensioner failure of the early TC chain tensioners just needs to replace the OEM tensioners with a set of CYCO shoes. $70 and a couple of hours and no more worries about catastrophic faillure. CYCO shoes are still a consumable, subject to wear and should be checked every 20K-25K miles but they are not subject to catastrophic failure, without warning, like the OEM shoes. No need to upgrade cam plate and pump; OEM parts are more than adequate for stock, Stage I and Stage II configurations.
Anyone concerned about tensioner failure of the early TC chain tensioners just needs to replace the OEM tensioners with a set of CYCO shoes. $70 and a couple of hours and no more worries about catastrophic faillure. CYCO shoes are still a consumable, subject to wear and should be checked every 20K-25K miles but they are not subject to catastrophic failure, without warning, like the OEM shoes. No need to upgrade cam plate and pump; OEM parts are more than adequate for stock, Stage I and Stage II configurations.
Unless your motor already has 2 piece push rods the tank, rocker covers, push rods and lifters have to come out to remove the cam plate to inspect the inside tensioner. Perhaps inspecting the tensioner with a mirror works, I never tried the mirror.
I pull apart and inspect my 2002 every winter while the weather is bad. It’s just regular maintenance for me, keep tensioner shoes hanging on the wall all the time. Served me well, bike has 180k on it now.
my 2009 dyna I pull apart and check every winter as well, but I don’t worry about it nearly as much but I have had to replace those ones too
03-07-2021 | 12:37 PM
