Cam chain tensioner shoes from CYCO

[xlfan]

Has anyone tried how the CYCO replacement cam chain tensioner shoes hold up in  99-06 TC's?

[xlfan]

Anyone familiar with the Falcon Cycle cam chain tensioner brand?

[rigidthumper]

I've Cycos, no issues.

The replacement units I got from V-Twin manufacturing didn't last 1000 miles.

[Coyote]

There are 8 pages of topics on cyco. Use the search funtion.

[xlfan]

How on earth do you find 8 pages regarding longevity of these shoes? What search criteria did you use?

I was able to find one for 6K, still good, one for 8K, still good and one for 20K, still good.

[cheech]

Anyone familiar with the Falcon Cycle cam chain tensioner brand?

If you're referring to the Falcon that has them on Ebay. As far as I know they are just marketing the Cyco shoes alone and in kits with gaskets and such.

[cheech]

How on earth do you find 8 pages regarding longevity of these shoes? What search criteria did you use?

I was able to find one for 6K, still good, one for 8K, still good and one for 20K, still good.

You might of missed this one in your search. This guy wasn't to happy with the Cyco at 40K.

[PoorUB]

Personally I would not run the OEM tensioners or the Cycos.

[motorhogman]

Personally I would not run the OEM tensioners or the Cycos.

What would you run ?  Gear drive.. ?   Newer hydraulic version 07 and up ? Is there another choice ?

[cheech]

What would you run ?   

While we are waiting on him. 

Gear drive.. ?

If the crank allows, Hell Yes!

Newer hydraulic version 07 and up ?

Perfect choice and allows for crank runout.

Is there another choice ?

Buy a 06 Dyna or 07 up other model.
Other than that none that I'M aware of.

Just the fact you have to remove the camplate, which means pushrods, raise lifters to do the inner tensioner makes it even more unacceptable.
If it just had the outer. Remove cam cover, pop a new one in with out having to remove chain or sprockets. That'd be somewhat OK. But even then with the OEM those particles are getting spread, unless the revised ones are different material.

[MikeL]

All of my pre 2006 bikes are gear drive. my 2007 ultra is hydraulic stock Harley which should be good for a longer time compared to the spring loaded shoes. Gear drive is install and forget. Also not a fan of suspended plastic from the shoes getting in the oil pump and piston coolers. I suppose the 2007 will have plastic in suspension but not as extreme as spring loaded.                 

[motorhogman]

What would you run ?   

While we are waiting on him. 

Gear drive.. ?

If the crank allows, Hell Yes!

Newer hydraulic version 07 and up ?

Perfect choice and allows for crank runout.

Is there another choice ?

Buy a 06 Dyna or 07 up other model.
Other than that none that I'M aware of.

Just the fact you have to remove the camplate, which means pushrods, raise lifters to do the inner tensioner makes it even more unacceptable.
If it just had the outer. Remove cam cover, pop a new one in with out having to remove chain or sprockets. That'd be somewhat OK. But even then with the OEM those particles are getting spread, unless the revised ones are different material.

Yes.. agree with what you say there.. was just curious what PoorUB was thinking ?   I just replaced my shoes with Cyco, chains are polished.   My yearly miles are pretty low these days.  been under 5,000.  Not even thinking about a newer model bike.  I bought this 01 new and it will most likely be my last bike. It' coming up on 20 YO and I'm turning 69 in July.. 52 years riding.. This old iron will keep me happy for a while to come. 

[PoorUB]

The newer OEM hydraulic setup and conversion cams.

[motorhogman]

The newer OEM hydraulic setup and conversion cams.

That is something I probably should have done long ago, or the gear drive if crank wobble isn't bad.. I've never checked that. Again though, with the miles i put on these days it's not really something I'd get into. 

[PoorUB]

The newer hydraulic tensioners are darned near  bullet proof. Very few failures.  They should  run 100,000 + miles. Well worth it if you ride a fair amount or plan on keeping your motorcycle.

[motorhogman]

The newer hydraulic tensioners are darned near  bullet proof. Very few failures.  They should  run 100,000 + miles. Well worth it if you ride a fair amount or plan on keeping your motorcycle.

I don't ride much any more.. under 5,000 a year.. Got close to 50,000 out of the original tensioners. Dealer replaced everything in the cam chest under extended warranty. The past 8 months or so my average is even lower. Think I've got less than 2,000 since last August..

[scootertrash1]

Attached is a photo of my tensioners from 2010 96 inch Ultra with about 54K miles. Does the wear look typical, worse or better than most?   

[motorhogman]

Attached is a photo of my tensioners from 2010 96 inch Ultra with about 54K miles. Does the wear look typical, worse or better than most?

They don't look much different than my outer did with close to 50,000. inner was worse..  01 FLHT..

Looks like even those late model shoes are pitting to..

[scootertrash1]

The outter is starting to flake and probably soon start chipping off chunks. Both have the little balls rolled up where the chain travels. Do the those balls actually get soft every time the bikes good and hot? I didn't find any of that in the oil pump. I had drained the oil already and chucked the filter in the garbage. The filter was long gone and now wished I had cut it open to have a peak in there. Maybe nothing as I change my oil all the time anyway! I wish I had looked in here well before I did. Crank runout is .00025 (digital). Gear drive going in the Ultra. Next up is my 2003 Fatboy with 35K to have a look at those tensioners! Thanks!

[motorhogman]

The outter is starting to flake and probably soon start chipping off chunks. Both have the little balls rolled up where the chain travels. Do the those balls actually get soft every time the bikes good and hot? I didn't find any of that in the oil pump. I had drained the oil already and chucked the filter in the garbage. The filter was long gone and now wished I had cut it open to have a peak in there. Maybe nothing as I change my oil all the time anyway! I wish I had looked in here well before I did. Crank runout is .00025 (digital). Gear drive going in the Ultra. Next up is my 2003 Fatboy with 35K to have a look at those tensioners! Thanks!

I don't know if those balls soften up or not.. I do know those shoes would never make 100,000 mi.  I'd say 35,000 on the Fat Boy is time to pull that apart to. 

My experience with the early system is you never know how long those shoes are going to last.  I changed a set of Twin Power shoes with about 7.000 mi on mine. Both shoes were pitting a little.  Guys on here didn't think they looked bad but I found material in the filter.  I was changing my lifters anyway so figured I'd have a look.  I replaced them with CYCO shoes. 

[scootertrash1]

I'll be looking at the CYCO units instead of the stock. Thanks!

[Hossamania]

Get a hold of California Phil, he will set you up.

[CVOThunder]

Can the chains for the cams be polished? Think it was Small Block Charlie on a rebuild video where he said to polish the B motor balancer chain but it might be a totally different type of chain than the chains for the cams. Wondered how in the world they were able to rinse out all the grit but I guess rinse, blow, repeat as needed.

[smoserx1]

My experience was they tended to get polished from use, but they also got stretched, especially my inside chain.  After 130000 miles the chain was so stretched the amount of "indentation" (for lack of a better term) of the tensioner was clearly visible, and this made the tensioner ware more unevenly than normal along one edge of the shoe, and probably affected the cam timing.  I got rid of what I had and put in a set of 21N conversion cams.  Yes the chain can be polished.  Maybe wash it real good with Kerosene afterwards?

[motorhogman]

Can the chains for the cams be polished? Think it was Small Block Charlie on a rebuild video where he said to polish the B motor balancer chain but it might be a totally different type of chain than the chains for the cams. Wondered how in the world they were able to rinse out all the grit but I guess rinse, blow, repeat as needed.

yes My chains were polished by Hippo (rip)  Not sure how much difference it makes..I think used chains have a certain amount of polishing done just from running..

[prodrag1320]

used more CYCO shoes than i can count in the past couple years,very nice product

[scootertrash1]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread about opening up my 2003 Fatty to have a look in the cam chest, if I wanted to do an upgrade, could I use a 2007/later cam support plate? Is this just a bolt in? It would have to be a new oil pump to, correct?

[hattitude]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread about opening up my 2003 Fatty to have a look in the cam chest, if I wanted to do an upgrade, could I use a 2007/later cam support plate? Is this just a bolt in? It would have to be a new oil pump to, correct?

Yes.....  the cam plate just bolts in.... but...

You need to switch to conversion cams.... they fit the new style cam plate and old, smaller inner cam journal size...

You will also need the oil pump for the '07+ cam plate... the older (pre '07) oil pump won't work with the new style cam plate

You'll need new o-ring inner and outer cam chains as well as new chain sprockets

And of course you'll need to buy the hydraulic cam tensioners for the new style cam plate.

I don't have it handy, but there is a list of the parts needed... maybe find it in a search.. I believe Andrews has the list of parts in their catalog near their conversion cams...

[scootertrash1]

This is a project I'll probably hit next winter. I've got time to study up on what I want to do. Bike has 36K miles on it. Really, the only thing I need to do is put new tensioner shoes on it, but what I'd like to do is put a set of different cams and jugs on it! If I go the cam route, I'd rather up grade it to hydraulic or possible gear drive if the crank runout isn't to bad. I just put a gear drive in my 2010 bagger and have some of that hardware that came out of it. But what you gave me gives me a lot to research for and I thank you for that!

[PoorUB]

https://www.andrewsproducts.com/sites/www.andrewsproducts.com/files/catalog_pdfs/page_07_0.pdf

[scootertrash1]

Thanks PoorUB! Great list!

[FLFBRider]

Replaced my shoes at 20,000 miles when I did the new cam. The inner OEM shoe looked almost new and the outer looked almost as good. They say the outer shoe will show more wear due to runout.

I went ahead and replaced them with new Fueling shoes and polished the chains on a buffing wheel and Flitz until they looked like chrome. I'm going to check them in another 20,000 to see how their doing.

[JDhog211]

I just wanted to respond to say that Cyco pads are the same as on the V-Twin ones.

[motorhogman]

I just wanted to respond to say that Cyco pads are the same as on the V-Twin ones.

V- Twin or Twin Power.. I'm always mixing the two up..?

[Johnwesley]

I run the originals for 15,000 miles and then swapped to cyco they have been in the bike for 25,000 miles if you like I can shoot some pics for you. Mine maybe the exception since at 15,000 the stock ones didn't look bad. 

[motorhogman]

I run the originals for 15,000 miles and then swapped to cyco they have been in the bike for 25,000 miles if you like I can shoot some pics for you. Mine maybe the exception since at 15,000 the stock ones didn't look bad.

I found the info on packaging I got from CA Phil.  TWINPOWER.. made in USA. CYCO shoes.  I went well over 40,000 on my first set of OEM shoes (01 FLHT) at which point everything in the cam chest was replaced under extended warranty..

[jamminhd2000]

Pulled this out of a 2007 street bob today....60,500 miles...fyi....jimmy

[PoorUB]

And I had the tensioners out of my 2010 at 60,000 and put them back in.

Some, actually very few will fail before their time, but the hydraulic tensioners in the Twin Cams have been very good, no reason to worry about them.

The hydraulic TC tensioners are not even on my list of things to be concerned about.