TC88 Cam Chain Tensioners

They also had a run of cams with poor heat treating/case hardening where the cam lobe surfaces were wearing prematurely.

cam failure

I've posted pics of my failed cam over on the Motorcycle Photo Gallery. There's also a pic of the worn cam chain tensioners. They actually weren't that bad, the cam on the other hand is a different story.

If you look closely at the left male end of the cam in the pic, you can see the wear and the chipping. Unfortunately, there's a glare in the pic on the cam right were the chipping is, but you can still see it.

Update on my bike. Just got it back from the shop with the new S&S cams. It's like a new machine. It's running strong and mean for a somewhat of a minor modification. I'm very, very pleased. I went with the S&S 510G gear drive cams, SE lifters and pushrods. We also installed a Powercomander to dail the changes all in.

S and S 510G 5000 sMiles and all OK

Hi All
You may recall earlier this year and on this Thread I posted that I was going to replace my cam chains & cams with the S&S 510g set up. Well that was 5000 sMiles ago and all is going well. (No more worries about tensioners) I do have one question and that is; when I switch off the bike I get a short run on whirrle from the gear is this the norm?
Aye charlie :devil: :chopper:

I also have the S&S cam/gear .510 (510 G) and just checked mine for you - it does not have any sort of run on. I'd suspect you might be hearing a fuel pump if you have EFI, otherwise I've no clue...at least not until I've had more coffee.

Did another test - my first real test since getting the bike back from the gear/510 upgrade- and rung her out pretty good, getting to 110MPH on one road (totally ignoring speed laws & Dr's orders) and have confirmed ZERO cam run-on. So that ain't it. I'd still bet on fuel pump, if it is an EFI bike, as I've heard that from trucks a bunch.

Hey now, easy there Red....don't go getting your self hurt or nothin. We'd like to keep you around here for a while. Aren't you supposed to be takin it a little easy??

Well, voodoochild, like my signature line says.....besides, it was killing me NOT riding!

Didn't need any painkillers the last two days, figured I'd have to celebrate. Only was a 10 mile run anyway. Even my wife didn't give me crap about it...course, I do have decent life insurance......nah, she just knew we'd both suffer if I didn't ride NOW.

Good for you Red! Just take er slow till ya heal right. Glad you were able to get back in the wind though!

A short 30 minute ride for Red covers about 55 miles .

Run On

Hi guys
Thanks for the imput. I have not lost any sleep over this and am more than happy with the out put that I now get. I had her up to 70mph the other day (116)LOL :roflmao: The old Bill over here :devil: don't like it ya know.
I'm off on a three week tour of Spain and Portugal (in 16 days time) where the roads ard dry, empty, new and the Police Ladas find it difficult to keep up!
I will post the new top speed on my return.
Ride free and safe
Aye Charlie

charlieharley0057 - Have a fun and safe ride in Spain & Portugal. And let us know if you still hear run-on noises.
:rocket_bike:

Back from portugal

Hi All
Just got back from Portugal 2760 sMiles run. The sun was shining the beer was cold and the roads and company great.:roflmao: New top speed was 118 recorded on my GPS although the speedo on the bike was at 120 and boucing:devil:
Ran into a slight problem on the trip and that was that the bike had a day when the engine would repeatedly shut down for a second and then restart. This happend a lot and at any speed, any gear on any road surface. Got to a stealership who spent a couple of hours with me but to no avail (No Charge) the computer said there was no problem. (Tell me that as I'm overtaking a truck and lose power!!) They said I could leave it with them but they may not find the problem in the time available and it would cost: Took the Bike back to the villa.
We then spent another couple of hours on the electric's you know pulling, pushing, cleaning, swearing and threatening to get a yamaha.
Test ride
It was then ok and is still running sweet 1200 sMiles later but I do not know which area was responsible. any ideas.

Areas checked.
Checked fueses
Checked Master circut breaked
Checked lots of connections
Checked battery and power flow
cleaned air filter
Cleaned plugs
Cleaned HT leads
Checked all light fittings for earthing.

Sure sounds like an electrical problem that you (hopefully) fixed while inspecting. I was going to pass electrical troubleshooting tips, but the nature of your problem is most likely too intermittant for that to be effective. Besides, you fixed it...right?

had a similar problem turned out to be moisture in my handle bar switches

Hope so

Hi Red
Yep! I Sure hope so. It was more of an info thing I suppose for anyone else who runs into a similer problem when on the road. If it happens, it is not funny but the answer is, sit down take some time and check every part of the electrical system you can get at you will either find it and fix it or fix it without knowing (Like me )
Another point is that my GPS shows a speed diffrence from my speedo of approximatly 5 mph I have checked this with others here in the UK and they all agree. Question is has HD built in this difference of speed shown and actual speed to;
a. Reduce speed on the roads.
b. Reduce the amount of speeding tickets issued to Harley riders.
c. Make us think the bike goes faster than it can.
any views?
Aye Charlie

I personally think the speedo diff (which I've seen from just about every vehicle out there) is a lawyer deal. It is far better to build in the safety factor of a speedo that reads too fast than one that reads too slow, especially if liability laws are factored in. Note that there are no methods that manufactures use that guarantee accuracy - every method other than radar/laser/GPS is more estimate than accuarate. So if ya can't be accurate, be safe. I don't think it is to glorify the bikes, but I doubt they mind that error.

What about the Sporty cam "noise"

I was wondering after reading kenfused's post concerning concessions made by the Factory "engineers" to quiet down the gear noise in the TC's. Were the Sportys exempt from the "noise" restrictions? I wouldn't think so. I'm sure you know the Sporty's have a gear on each cam for each valve, plus the gear on the pinion shaft. I don't think their gears are noisy.
When I first saw the silent chain set-up in a mag article about a stealership chain to gear replacement procedure, I thought of the old 289 small block Ford, Chevy 283, and Dodge 318 V-8 engines that have the same cheap-ass silent chain of which the Chevy got so loose it jumped time and bent some valves. I can guaran-dam-tee you if the Big Three thought a gear drive was cheaper than a silent chain they would have put gear driven cams into the millions of V-8's they produced. Some aftermarket companies still make gear conversions for all the small blocks.The silent chain set-up is cheap and is a wonderful mechanical device for "engineers" to design in "planned obsolesence". Also keeps the stealership mechanics busy with conversions.
By that I mean, those so called factory "engineers" are worth their weight in gold if they can design something to last just past its warranty. Anybody with a little common sense can design something to last a long time. Just build it stronger!! But it costs a little bit more on the production line and results in costing the TC owners out the ass to have the gear conversion. Since I saw the innards of the TC cam drive, I will always be skeptical of any new design coming out of Milwaukee.

cam chain or gear drive

Its a no brainer guys .Sure its a bit noisier ill admit it.But id'e rather have noise with reliability, than quiet with unreliability, your call. While your in there change inner cam bearings to torrington needle bearings.Adjustable pushrods and Bob woods night prowlers cams TW 6 G ,great power band from idle through 5500.All this and you dont have to touch your top end. good luck. :cheers: