BREAKING NEWS:Harley Davidson closing a plant due to declining sales.

TriumPhil said:

Just my own personal opinion, Mike, but I find virtually all Harleys to be significantly overpriced, underpowered slugs, which do not, again, just my own 2 cents worth here, do not justify their pricetags. Every time I've ridden a Harley, other than their late V-Rod, I find myself looking at the motor to determine why it feels broken with all their shaking and distinct lack of giddyup.

Beautiful to behold, love their distinct potato-potato exhaust note, however such cosmetic or topical attributes hardly overcome their largely antiquated and anemic motors or their overpricing.

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I do agree. I have had 3 new Harleys to date and all were excellent & reliable but yes overpriced. I have a 2003 Road king twin cam (bought new in 2003) & only had to do the timing chain tensioners. It still runs good.
Not sure about the Milwaukee Eight yet. Been looking at the 2018 Road King Special in blacked out paint scheme with the M8 engine. It's a hard decision for me.

Mike Rocket said:

I do agree. I have had 3 new Harleys to date and all were excellent & reliable but yes overpriced. I have a 2003 Road king twin cam (bought new in 2003) & only had to do the timing chain tensioners. It still runs good.
Not sure about the Milwaukee Eight yet. Been looking at the 2018 Road King Special in blacked out paint scheme with the M8 engine. It's a hard decision for me.

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How many miles on each bike? Usually the spring cam tensioners had to be replaced around or under 10,000 miles. That is why Harley started to install Hydraulic tensioners after 2009. Next stater would #rap out at under 20,000. Next motor compensater with any upgrades at all would take A #rap around the same. Primary chain tensioners (automatic) resulted in a primary chain that ran way to tight and would eat the bearings after 30,000 miles. Know a thing or two about the twin cam. Been there done that. Work a bit on the side on Harley's. Easy money. Can charge just about half of the Dealerships labor because we are not paying for there advertisements. Just a dumb Okie with a wrench.

sonny said:

How many miles on each bike? Usually the spring cam tensioners had to be replaced around or under 10,000 miles. That is why Harley started to install Hydraulic tensioners after 2009. Next stater would #rap out at under 20,000. Next motor compensater with any upgrades at all would take A #rap around the same. Primary chain tensioners (automatic) resulted in a primary chain that ran way to tight and would eat the bearings after 30,000 miles. Know a thing or two about the twin cam. Been there done that. Work a bit on the side on Harley's. Easy money. Can charge just about half of the Dealerships labor because we are not paying for there advertisements. Just a dumb Okie with a wrench.

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Mine was done at 25000 miles

Mike Rocket said:

This don't look good does it? I wonder how old this video is.

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only 2 months old

It don't matter. If it is a Milwaukee Eight engine your looking at a #rap throw. Three out of five will be screwed up. Harley will not recall the motor officially until they have a fix. At the present they can only replace with what was originally installed.

Mike Rocket said:

Mine was done at 25000 miles

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You were lucky. Did you upgrade or just replace?

sonny said:

You were lucky. Did you upgrade or just replace?

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Replaced

sonny said:

How many miles on each bike? Usually the spring cam tensioners had to be replaced around or under 10,000 miles. That is why Harley started to install Hydraulic tensioners after 2009. Next stater would #rap out at under 20,000. Next motor compensater with any upgrades at all would take A #rap around the same. Primary chain tensioners (automatic) resulted in a primary chain that ran way to tight and would eat the bearings after 30,000 miles. Know a thing or two about the twin cam. Been there done that. Work a bit on the side on Harley's. Easy money. Can charge just about half of the Dealerships labor because we are not paying for there advertisements. Just a dumb Okie with a wrench.

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sonny said:

How many miles on each bike? Usually the spring cam tensioners had to be replaced around or under 10,000 miles. That is why Harley started to install Hydraulic tensioners after 2009. Next stater would #rap out at under 20,000. Next motor compensater with any upgrades at all would take A #rap around the same. Primary chain tensioners (automatic) resulted in a primary chain that ran way to tight and would eat the bearings after 30,000 miles. Know a thing or two about the twin cam. Been there done that. Work a bit on the side on Harley's. Easy money. Can charge just about half of the Dealerships labor because we are not paying for there advertisements. Just a dumb Okie with a wrench.

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Are you talking about primary chain or cam chain bearings?l

The EVO had bad problems when it came out...but ended up being quite stout. The twin cams had their issues but they also can be remedied. Harley like many manufacturers beta tests its new products in the marketplace. Really they have no choice, if things are completely debugged in house the development costs would be absurd and the asking prices beyond absurd. What matters is that they acknowledge the issues and provide a fix. They can do it anyway they want, a recall, a service campaign, a warranty extension...whatever...but they can't give the appearance of ignoring a problem.

Cam tensioners started out with spring tensioners. Then the aftermarket folks introduced gear driven. Which is Ok but the run out on the pinions ate the gears. Harley came out with the hydraulic system which works rather well but still requires a check at or around 40,000 miles. Inner pad wears first for some reason. The primary automatic tensioner on the Twin cam has been a problem since day one. Way to tight. Primary chain tension ends up eating the bearings. I believe Harley quit using the automatic tensioner on the newer modals but did not leave a window in the primary case to make adjustments on manual tensioners. This results in removal of primary case to make adjustments to primary chain tensioners. Unlike the older models that had a window for such adjustments. 103 models had a real problem with there stators. Harley up graded the stators quickly due to the fact that they were going out while the bikes were still under warranty and was costing them money. The motor compensater was a left over from the 88 cubic inch and worked well on the 96 cubic inch but when they went to the 103 it did not. Later model 103 cubic inch acquired the Screaming eagle compensater but just by design was not getting the proper oil coverage. Harley redesigned and still had problems. Baker an aftermarket company that deals with Motor compenstater and primary tensioners for Harley's makes some quality products that work. Very expensive but American made. Don't get me wrong. Not bashing Harley's but do know the weak points of the twin cam. I work on them a lot. Every new engine design from Harley has resulted in problems. Starting to get folks showing up wanting work done on there Milwaukee eights. So we are still in a learning curb but it has become very apparent that this motor is no exception. It has it's problems. Knowing what I know I tell them sorry take her to the dealership. If I were in the market for a new Harley I would wait a year or two and let the company work the bugs out. I'm sure that once Harley has the chance to figure it out and make the Necessary changes the Milwaukee eight will be a engine that shines.