Thank you, djl, this is the type of info I'm looking for.

Anyone else care to chime in with more relevant stuff? Opinions on the Long Block from the moco?

 

S&S is probably the best engine, but also I am guessing the most expensive. I would not go with harley because then you are getting harley short comings. If I had to pull the crank, I would go with gear drive.

I would go better than harley. harley gave you this motor. Though I surprised it failed at these low miles. But I don't know anything about balancers.

I would just rebuild what you got. I would not stick another engine in. But talk to the shop about costs. Maybe less labor sticking engine in.

***edit I read you have 2003 without timken bearing. I would probably do a conversion and then gears. But I also realize money is adding up. We were doing gears without the timken back then though, But runout can be a concern.

 

I didn't see any mention of your budget? We can throw out ideas and suggestions all day but unless you set a number it's just a guessing game. Unless there's a rod sticking out of the case I'm a big fan of building up what you already have. In the end you know exactly what you have and it should have all of HD's shortcomings built out of it. Throw a number out there and don't forget to save 20 percent or so for contingencies...bound to be some unforeseen stuff on a 20 year old bike. Oh and before you go swiping the card or handing over a stack of cash I'd get a second opinion on that diagnosis...seems like really low miles for there to be a balancer issue.

 

I don't disagree in a major way with Rounders and Beagle but lean hard toward the Long Block program. Rebuilding what the OP has, assuming crank is OK, is probably the cheapest way forward but until the OP gets an estimate, we don't know what that cost is. The only way I would proceed wth a rebuild would be with a local independent shop with a reputation for performance; those guys usually know what works, what doesn't and depend on the rep or they don't last.

In spite of what Rounders and Beagle refer to as HD "short comings" without knowing exactly what those are, many of them are addressed with the Long Bllock Program. To mention a few; hydraullic cam tensioners, roller cam chains, billet cam plate, lefty crank bearing, 95" and 103" displacement options, SE cam options and a warranty. Some will say the crank is unreliable but who can say if the Long Block crank is any more or lelss reliable than the crank in the OPs damaged motor? At least, with the Long Block, the OP has an upgraded Lefty bearing which was not availble in '03 and many believe the Lefty bearing to be on par with the Timken conversion. I went that route with my last 98" build which was no slacker at 115/115. Further more, there are only about a zillion or two running later cranks with no issie, so somtimes, all the talk about later crank failure, particularly for milder, moderately comressed build starts to sound like Chiken Little running around squawking about the sky falling.

 

No matter what, the engine will have to come out, and the cases will need to be split, to address the counter balancer problem. If the rest of the engine is fine, and you want more displacement, I would suggest going with a stroker crank from a reputable company, such as S&S. You will have a better crank than what you'd get from a new short block from HD. Plus, you can choose better cams, and go with gear drives. I am currently having an S&S stroker crank done in Reaper's engine after getting over 217,000 miles on the original bottom end, that developed a knock last season. I was told the conterbalancer system was trashed, which doesn't surprise me. I always wondered how long those tensioners would last... mine were vaporized, and the pistons chewed into the chain, so I let it go way too long, but the engine ran perfectly fine until I started noticing a significant increase in vibes, and then not long after, that knock started. Even with the knock and vibes, the engine was never down on power. Not that I rode her much after the knocking began.

Cheers!

 

It won't need to be split if he buys another engine. I suspect replacing balancer will be the cheapest to replace the balancers and reuse everything. Though there is more labor doing this. So he needs to talk to a shop.

But no matter what the engine has to come out. But I would talk to one or two shops about prices, and even another opinion if the balancer is bad at such low miles.

What I think may happen is the cheapest route will be taken, because money may be an issue. Which I understand. Given the amount labor involved it is a good chance to take advantage of the cost of the labor.

Upgrading the displacement is a nice investment.

 

Motor has to come out and cases split to verify that the techs assessment that the balancer is "toast"; that's the baseline for going forward. Could be just a worn guide/tesnioer, bad balancer shaft bearing or the balance sprocket could have shifted on the crank; all with different cost implications. As some have pointed out, it is unusual for the balancer assmbly to to **** up at 30K miles. I am quite curious to find out.

JMHO but from what PaperBag has posted, cost of repair/replacement will drive the decision. Once at that point, I am interested in PaperBag's decision and how he arrives at that decision. Regardless of his decision, I wish him luck going forward to a successful outcome.

 

I would first take it to another dealer/tech and let them look/listen to it. The balancers use hydraulic tensioners and seldom fail so a second opinion is warranted.

 

SnS does not produce a counterbalanced motor for softails. No one makes a gear drive conversion for the counterbalancers.

Nothing wrong with the new left bearing setup if the latest bearing is used. The 03 bearing had issues if you built the motor.

 

That mechanic may know but he would have to be a heck of an expert.. Did he locate it with a stethoscope to determine which one? I have only seen one bearing go but it was only rough with over 100K and the driver banged the rev limiter all the time. On his, the sprocket also had indexed on the crank but that just made it a little out of balance. Never seen or heard of one blowing up but I have no idea how you drive it. NASCAR drivers use a new engine every race.

Also, note the oil pump pickup and the rib that maintains a constant changing but a good 1 1/2" of sump oil in a TCb for inner cam bearing and balance system lubrication.