[harley5212001]

2001 heritage with 62,000 miles. Never had cam cover off. Use synthetic oil and changed regularly. Ridden hard and fast. How important to check cams, chains and etc.

[ironhorse]

I think it's about time you did some checks and adjustments, as I think it should be done every 10000(major check up) and daily(safety checks), by removing some covers and taking a look at things such as the primary chain and cam chain and tensioner, the chain for excess slack, the tensioners go bad or un checked then you won't need to check your cams or chains you will fill they went bad. preventive maintainace is the key to a long and safe scoot life the service manual will guide you through the steps of all the items the owners manual says needs to be done at the specified intervals. I highly recomend that just because you use syn oil you don't sideline p.m. its to dangerous. there is a long list of checks, belts, chains, hose, wire, lights ,switches, cable adjustments, brakes, tires, yada yada yada, it's in the book.

[ringo912]

Recommended interval for checking cam tensioner shoes is 20K.

[cowboy]

I'am sure gald this post came up , I need to check my 03 52+ k on it & never been opened up on that side , just double cheek the primer chain the other day while putting on the chrome primer cover all good inside there amsoil 20-50 about ever 5-8 k miles

[hotroadking]

Check the tensioners just like you were advised, they are some kind of plastic, the later years tended to last longer as HD improved the design and it was changed in 07

Pull the exhaust and pull off the cam cover, you'll need a new cam cover gasket, you can see the outside tensioner easy, to see the inside you'll need to look through a little opening, if the outside is worn the inside is probably worn worse.

Change the tensioners out for new ones or change to gear drive cams

A good street cam is woods tw-6

[chucktx]

ditto on what has been said....pm's will make the bike last a long time!!!!!!!

[hotroadking]

Oh and do this when you are ready to change the oil and drain the oil tank first, otherwise you'll drain it through the cam chest LOL

[VYBR8ER]

The cheapest insurance your motorcycle can get is consistant oil changes every 2500 miles and do the 5,000 and 10,000 miles services to keep everything running smoothly. The cam chain tensioners are a problem and shouldn't be overlooked. I check them on the first 20,000 mile service and then every 10,000 mile service afterward. It just gets too expensive to overlook. If the tensioners fail, you can loose bearings, oil pump, cams and chains. Not to mention having to clean up all of the oil passages to get out the chewed up shoes. It just makes sense to pay the extra cost of the gasket and an hour to pull the cover and do the inspection when doing a 10K service.

[ringo912]

Anyone that's interrested in making the change to gear diriven cams let me know. I did the change myself and will be happy to supply tech info and pic's to make the job go smooth.

[voodoochild]

How's she running with those new cams in there??

[ringo912]

Originally Posted by voodoochild

How's she running with those new cams in there??

I was only able to get about 150 miles on them before winter set in, and about 50 miles on them a couple weeks ago, but they run great so far. Throttle response is instantanious, no hesitation at all. Can really feel the added low end torque and HP . Ran it at 100 mph last itme out and she purred like a kitten . Just waiting for spring to get here. We just got another 6" of snow last night. Next available day I'm gonna take it out for a 200 mile run and see how it runs. I'll keep ya posted.

[voodoochild]

Sweet, sounds like a runner! I'll be doing cams soon, but if I don't do the sissy bar before that.......the wife and daughters will have my head! They all want to ride but not without the bar. I wonder why......