Twin cam

Anybody got anything good or bad to say about a 2001 ultraglide?We are going to look at this bike for my brother he is keeping his shovel but he has a good price on this bike but we do not know much about them.It was in a small crash but has been all repaired.No frame damage just cosmetic.It has about 115000 km on it but had a big bore kit put on it about 4000 km before the crash.I was told twincams are noisy but this one is supposed to be quite I am guessing cam chain or tentioners must have been changed already??Anything I should ask or look out for?It is suposed to run real well and he says it is fast for such a big bike.Please do not be shy if it is a piece of crap by reputation let me know.
Viking

What's 4000 KM
Who tole ya.
Its a Harley. Twin cams are good motors. Noisy. What a Harley.
Comon man.

I agree, who told you a Harley too loud... sweetest sound I know. You can tone it down if you like, but... all the rest a little purr!

When I come home, wife tells me she knows the sound before I get there.

Potato, Potato, Potato ...

Nevermind, I done forgot the question by now.
Numbers ain't gonnna help.
If they United States has any, we would go back to the way we used to measure and not conform to the rest of the world.
32nd and 64th measured just as good .

The early TC's are good bikes....there were cam bearing problems in 99-01 but was done under warranty buy the MOCO....the spring loaded tensioners are a weak link,some lasted 20,000 miles,some 60,000 miles...check them, I'd recommend the Hybrid tensioner upgrade when the spring loaded ones wear out...just have to keep an eye on them....
Since it has the big bore kit,Id assume the bearings were changed to Torrington's and tensioners at least changed or upgraded...they're the only 2 downsides I can think of and an upside is they have stronger bottom ends than '03-up...I wouldn't hesitate picking up an '01 for the right price...the only issues were minor and probably taken care of on it already ....

On the 11 bikes HD went to like over 50,000 lbs of power to press the crank together. That is a good improvment.
Their new frame, new multi compound tires. Brembo brakes, TBW.
Easy pull clutch. All the gears in the tranny the same direction.
The heads on the new bikes flow better too and have automatic compression releases.
The 103 engines produce some good torque from the factory.
There are some good things that HD has done.
After lookin at the new HD parts catalog, It looks like on the 11 bikes and up that HD went with a SE compensator as stock equiptment.

And if you are lookin to upgrade the cam plate on a older bike.
Bob Woods has one. And to my understanding ,it is like the cam plate on the 07 and up bikes. No bearings in the outter part of the cam plate.
And I like Bob Woods Directional lifters when changing the cam plate.

When I said noisy I was not talking about exhaust I was talking about bottom end noise.The problem is My brother and I were all impressed with the bike then he stopped at a small shop where he asked what they thought about the twin cams and they sort of burst his balloon and said they were a piece of crap and they all have problems and none of them are any good .So this is just to reassure him as he is going to buy the bike anyway.I geuss he will not be going to that shop in the future.
Viking

I just bought an 01 Road Glide that I am really happy with. As Lucifer said that the only real issues with the that year Twin Cam is the cam tensioners. My bike was upgraded to gear drives. I have test ridden many twin cams and I do not notice a heck a lot of noise from them. I do however notice gear drive noise that my bike is equipped with. that noise is something that I will tolerate over bad cam tensioners. Hope this helps.

:roflmao:Show me a generation of HD's that didn't have some problems,or any internal combustion engine for that matter...you look after it,it'll look after you for a long time... last time I'd go there too....Good Luck with the bike

Some folks thought the gear drive was the way to go. Old Redneck Chucktx went gear drive cams on his 06 bike about 3 yrs ago. I was sayin go to the new cam plate.
After he has been riding with the gear drive and he has done a couple friends bikes and converted the spring loated tensioners to the new chain drive, I think he has changed his mind.
But listen to this, Bob Woods came out with a cam plate for the conversion that used no bearings n the outside of the cam plate like found on the newer bikes.
You will have to use his cams in the cam plate oh.

Man ain't it great with technology change.... Makin like easier

As for any twin-cam problems, I would have to say they are practcally non-existent anymore. I don't think the occasional problem means it was a bad design or an on-going problem. Lucifer said it right: anything man-made is gonna break sometime, no matter who or what country made it.

My '08 has 89,000 totally trouble-free miles. Never been in a shop once nor had any of it's covers off (I do need to adjust the primary chain sometime though). I'd have to say my experiences are more usual than the one who had a problem. Can ANY motorcycle manufacturer make that same statement?

I got a 01 Twin Cam, by noisy I assume your NOT talking about exhaust noise? Mine's a tad noisy at 10k miles, yes 10K miles, stole that bike for $8000. USD this past August. Great motor from everyone I know, just don't put Screamin' Eagles on it, unless you like quiet......hate my exhaust.......Good luck with it!

Thank-you all it is good to have a place to go ask questions from people who are not just trying to make a buck off of you.I will pass your good wihes along to my Bro.
Viking

go for it,if the cams havnt been replaced with a gear drive set up,do it.the earlier lower ends are MUCH better than the junk lower ends they have in the newer twin cams

With the exception of the lower bearings, I don't see any difference. Besides, H-D isn't building a road bike to take to the drag races. In it's current state, it's by far the most durable design for a motorcycle out there when judged for it's intended mission. If you want a race bike--get a Yamahonki.