2000 RK tensioner question

[ftd]

I obtained a '00 RK with 91K miles that had the tensioners replaced at ~65K miles.  I read about the chain polishing theory that the second set should last longer.  I plan on keeping this bike for the long haul so should I keep the stock setup or go gears and if I keep the tensioners any suggestions as to when I should replace them...120K or sooner/later??  I apologize for my ignorance, first TC for me.

[Karl H.]

My statistics about dozens of TCs indicates that the first (99, 00) and last (05, 06) TC88 model years had less tensioner wear. Obviously the TC88 started and ended its production period with good quality control (chain). The 65k lifetime of the firs set of your tensioners indicates a good chain quality. I would check the second set of tensioners at 120k.

Karl

[motorhogman]

01 FLHT.. Original tensioners replaced at close to 50,000 mi. Have 114,000 on the bike now. Over the past 64,000 I've replaced them with less than 10,000 mi once due to debris I found in the oil filter pleats. I think there are several variables here beyond chain surface finish quality. Chain stretch causing the chains to slap.. Spring tension..to strong or to little..  How often the oil is changed, Type of rider.. I've used OEM shoes, twin Power shoes and Cyco shoes. The chains I am currently running are polished. I thought about gear drive cams but never got around to it. Have about 3,000 mi on the Cyco shoes now.  I don't ride any where as much as I used to and i ride like the old guy I am.. lol.. I expect the shoes will be fine for me.  If I had it apart and the crank run out was within spec for gear drive and if I was still riding 10,000 to 15,000 mi a year I would probably go to gears.

[smoserx1]

I have a 99 FLHT with 217450 miles on it and the tensioners have been addressed I guess 3 times now.  The first time was about 34000 miles I had a cam bearing failure that was common then.  The repair "kit" should have come with new tensioners, or so I was told.  That repair was provided under a special warranty Harley offered back then because of this bearing problem.  At about 104000 I installed 203 cams and new stock tensioners, meaning the tensioners in there would have had about 70000 on them.  The next time was about 154000, when I installed an Andrews 21N cam and hydraulic tensioners.  As for the second set of tensioners and the now "polished" chains the outside was not quite as bad but the inner one was far worse, plus the mileage had been only about 50000 instead of 70000.  The chains were stretched badly, especially the inside one.  I would not count on the chain polishing theory or that the second set should last any longer.  That was not my experience.  Since you only have about 26000 on the tensioners now you are probably good for a while, but if it were my bike the very next time I went into that cam chest those spring loaded tensioners  would be coming out and nothing but either gear cams or conversion cams (with the entire 07 plate, ROLLER chains and oil pump) would go back in.  No stock tensioners, no Cyco shoes and no hybrid conversion kit for me.

[ftd]

Thanks guys for all the info!

[jsachs1]

I just finished a build on an 05' Springer with 16,000 legit miles on it. The outer tensioner was passable, and the inner one wouldn't have made another 1000 miles.
John

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[autoworker]

No way in hell would I reuse those chains with that mileage.Grear Drive cams are nice if your crank is true and you get the backlash correct.

[smoserx1]

 

[PC_Hater]

I suppose the questions becomes 'how long do you intend to keep the bike'.
If you are keeping it fit gear drive cams and never go in that cam chest again.

[Ratfade]

Here's another vote for gear drive; because your bike is a 2000, the crank runout should be well within spec for gears.
I had a 2000 FLHT, and I replaced the tensioners twice in the first 50,000 miles before switching to gears. I found the tensioner wear to be almost random in terms of the amount of wear over time.

[Pirsch Fire Wagon]

Personally, I wouldn't go to Gear Drive because you have Spring Loaded Tensioners. I would consider it if you had a problem with Tensioners.

Further, I would give consideration to a Hybrid Plate and Hydraulic Tensioners (price had dropped dramatically since they came out).

I have ridden to many Gear Drives in the TC that wine horrendously for some reason. But, there is nothing wrong with Gear Drives if that's your preference.

[Hossamania]

I had a whine with my gear drive, changed the pinion gear, no whine.
I have been quite happy with them, no tensioner worries, ever.
The other bike with tensioners has to be opened up pretty soon, not looking forward to it. It won't get gears, but it would be nice if it did. At least it's the hydropic tensioners, a little less maintenance needed on them than the spring tensioners. If they were spring tensioners, I would have to seriously consider gears.

[smoserx1]

You didn't mention if your 00 RK was fuel injected or not but all baggers made from 99-01 with fuel injection had cam position sensors, and some early carbureted models had them as well.  You can tell if yours has one by looking at the front of the cam cover about 2/3 of the way down toward the bottom and see if there is a wire coming through the cover.  If there is and you have a cam sensor, any sprocket or gear you use to drive the rear cam will have to have a trigger ring built into it.  These items have a 180° raised protrusion, as illustrated here:

https://www.denniskirk.com/andrews/roller-conversion-cam-sprocket-216015.p140050.prd/140050.sku

Gears and sprockets like this may be getting hard to find so make sure you can get your hands on them first before committing to anything.  This would really dissuade me from using gears in this application because sometimes over/under size gears have to be substituted to get the gear backlash correct and you would need to ascertain they would be available with this feature.  You could always use the Harley hybrid kit to get hydraulic tensioners even using a cam sensor equipped bike but you would be stuck with using both old style chains (inner and outer) unless you can find the sprocket in the above link.  Gets complicated, doesn't it?