Warning! All you folks watching do not forget to do the Oil Pump alignment procedure, check the run out on the crank and verify the cam plate alignment/spacer width. Otherwise great video guys. -Certified Harley Technician.

My vintage Airhead BMW motorcycles from the 70s all have Cam chains with automatically properly tension as soon as you start up the bike attraction air fills up with oil from the pressure of the bike running and it adjust the change in the proper tension and my BMW 100 / 7 1977 what is on the verge of hitting 500,000 miles with the original cam chain until the car pulled out in front of me and my motorcycle went right to her passenger door. I could not imagine going through what you guys would twin-cam go through. My vintage 1970s motorcycles are much more reliable than Harleys made 50 years later. My100 / 7 had a factory approved all day speed of 125 miles an hour. That was 1250 RPM short of Redline. But of course any of my Airhead BMWs running at Redline are still smoother than a Harley at idle. My gear drive Harley Sportster air cooled has about three hundred and seventy thousand miles on her. She was my first Harley and I was surprised at how reliable she was and how good a trekking up the miles. I wish I could reopen a Kansas City plant and make air-cooled sportsters with carburetors and V-Rod motors for people to put and whatever fights they want to put into. Plus I would love putting all those people back to work. At Triumph in the old days on Sunday people could not wait to get back to work on Monday so they can build more Triumph. In the 50s and 60s Triumph had almost nothing for warranty claims because people just get fast because they loved going to work everyday. That's why they fought so hard against the closure and they were right because they should have closed the Wolverhampton plants that built Norton's and transferred the protection to Norton's to the BS a plant. Now just like BS a Triumph did in the 70s they consider their customers to be unpaid test drivers to find out what problems they have with their motorcycles after they've spent $25,000 on a motorcycle. My dad had a knucklehead that he bought for $500 out the door before World War and it came with a certificate that it was 110 miles an hour right off the factory floor. He had that certificate on the wall in the hallway to the day he died. It is such a sorry State of Affairs that Harley-Davidson makes such crap nowadays when they used to make such great fights and to tell you the truth they embarrass themselves so much they should really just admit everything and just go out of business. You could buy any type of motor from a flathead to an Eeveelution motor from S&S aticha great motor and you could get the frame you want to seat medley you want everything that you want powder-coated to color you want put it all together and it would be much less than what you pay for the crap that Harley-Davidson puts out today. All Harley twin cam should have come out with the gear drive straight from the factory. They should have addressed any and all problems before the engine was put out on the market. AMF spent seven years developing the Evolution motor. It's not something you do overnight. And no oil cooler or extended fins on the cylinder and has to Aid in cooling because the styling Department didn't like it that's in our styling Department should not overrule engineering. Thank God I never had the money to be able to afford an expensive Harley that has all of these major problems that are built-in from the cheapest of the construction of the engine. Norton put cheap parts in critical areas of their motor and the warranty claims killed them. Like the British say Pennywise and pound-foolish.

Great job ! I'm a Video Guy and been working on HDs for 40 years... 71 Shovel and '03 & '10 Twin Cams... PERFECT Video for a DIY guy who just wants to get it done himself... Enjoyed watching right through to the end !

I love your video the loud music is distracting. Just a thought. For next time.

Turn down the music!

Nice video. I know it’s intended as cheap repair for close to home bike, but as much debris that one lost… I’d suggest buying one more gasket and taking the oil pan down to clean it, along with the passages to the pan and to the filter. Would also be good to inspect the oil pump.

Thanks so much for this. Not only am I budget conscious I dislike the idea of destroying and throwing away perfectly good parts.

Hey Guys !! I can't thank you enough for this video !! I've just finished the tear down phase on my '05 WG. My first big project on a bike, pretty handy around cars, but this... this is all new to me. Just order the inner bearings as you suggested, order the install plate for those, just need to find the puller to get them out on the straight. So, we'll see. Every time I start to think I'm in over my head, I just watch some key parts of your video until I hear that voice telling me " You can do this !" 😀 Got one tip, I'll post in a separate comment. Thanks again guys .. this video was awesome !

I have 09 fxd w/50k but I put 30k on myself, so Rather than trade in, I'm gonna keep Rhonda, & do the work myself, your video inspired that decision, great video, my first Harley at 48 yrs old, I'm in love! GREAT American motorcycles!

Thanks for the video guys! I have a 2000 Electra Glide with 48,000 miles and a 2001 Night Train with 34,000 miles... no problems yet but I’ll be doing this to both motors really soon. I’ve been inside Evos and Shovels (I have a ‘72 FLH) but never a TC, so this video was very helpful and much appreciated.

I am a twin cam guy. My 2000 FXDWG chews up tensioners like dog toys. Hell I ran it once 25,000 miles with both tensioners in the pan . And it ran until i overheated it and had to break it down. Now with new pistons and tensioner's it ate another one in break in , I don't think my bike wants them in there, because it will run fine without them. Yea, the machine shop guys who do my heads and cylinders cant believe i will run it loose, and not be worrying about it. This time im going to go with a S&S cam-plate, and go with the newer tensioners that are not such a pain to install, if it eats those its gonna be a loose bike forever. The twin cam is a great engine if you know how to tune your Mikuni, I have 80'000 miles on mine and it has never left me stranded, and usually runs when others don't.. Nice video, you take it apart enough times you can do it in a hour. Nothing wrong with the music either

Good job guys I was hesitant about doing this until I seen your video.

very helpful thanks.. theres the o-ring/filter in the rocker box top too,nice job

I JUST did my 2006 Nightrain and went the same route you guys did with just replacing the tensioners and reusing the stock pushrods. I got 50K on the bike so changing the breather made sense. I wish I had that tensioner remover / installer tool- I had to press out - press in my cams. Anyway, good job guys; a couple of things: you had a hard time getting the cam chest back in because you left the inside tensioner 'loaded' - don't unload the tensioners until your cam chest and cam gears are all torqued. My only other critique, judging form all the pieces of the broken tensioner; I would have remove the oil pump and checked it thoroughly. Other than the aforementioned - excellent vid and I'm so glad you got to this before all hell broke loose. That little metal rod floating around in there was freakin scary. Again- great job--- ride safe.

Thanks guys! Cracked open the cam cover on my 02 fxdwg and sure enough... I’ll be doing this next weekend

Had to get rid of my shovel because my knees won't let me kick it anymore. I decided to move out of the stone age and buy an Evo. After watching your video (well done) I decided to save the problem and buy something newer then '06.

This was on my recommended to watch list. That is funny because I just bought a new (to me) Street Glide because my 1999 Road King has this same problem (along with a bunch of other issues). Didnt want to be without a bike for a while so now I can take my time and fix the Road King over the winter.

1Appreciate you, fellas - nice up front talk and then descriptions. Got me an '01 fxst - bought it new in ''01 - that now has 20k miles on it so I am about to get into this

Best video for the older models!

The twin cam 88 is a great bike, except the chain tensioners. I like my Harley, hate this design/engineered failure. A very good dyi video, good explanations on the critical parts. I installed a S&S 509g on my 2004 FXSTD with 9,400 miles. I bought the bike a year ago with 5,000 miles, cheap. No worries now, plus more power from performance cams. I concidered replacement of tensioners, replace inside cam bearings for a pair of torrington bearings. The S&S gear cams are a budget buster. I kept my stock cams and chains as spares, in great shape for maybe my next twin or a friend. I have a table top press and inner case bearing rem/instl tool.

That ironing board trick was nice with the paper as well.

Yeah.... Those famous chain tensioners. The secret that made Harley big bucks for so many years. Well done job guy's.

Dude what a straight no bs video thanks

I have one of those inner tensioner tools. Worked great. Replaced second st at 92,000 miles

Really good video, I recently got a good deal on a low mileage 03 Dyna so I’ll be doing this at some point myself, definitely answered a lot of questions

Thanks for the info. I’m familiar with the twin cam and will be rebuilding a 2002 touring model. I’m going back with all OEM parts from the year model because the owner is only gonna ride about 3000 miles a year

Thanks for the vid! The music actually paired with the work quite nice. Thanks so much for the info!

I'm like you, don't want to spend a ton...thank you for this down to earth, caring, sharing video. I subscribed....wish you would have cranked it up for us !!! Anyway, I'm contemplating the shorter cut, by cutting out the old pushrods, and installing new adjustable ones. I haven't yet priced them, so, I'm not sure, but it seems to me it will cut out a bunch of extra work. I know S&S makes them...who knows to I may not do that if they are way too expensive.... Thanks again...loved it

Good information, music way to loud

Excellent job on the video guys. The only thing I would like to mention though is while the genuine Harley C clips and O-rings are probably the best ones to use, the actual tensioner shoes are much better aftermarket. The orange Harley shoes are known to crumble over time where the white plastic shoes by suppliers like Twin Power last much longer and don't crumble. By the way they all have the C clips but I guess the guys that made the previous videos did not include that in their video. I have reused the C clips with success as long as I don't damage them but they are cheap enough that you can replace them anyway.

This was excellent!! Thank you for sharing.

Excellent video, lots of help, thanks. Couple of trips to the dealership for service and you can buy another motorcycle. Thanks

Very well done. You guys pretty much covered it.

I did the exact same thing to my 2000 fxdwg. Cheap easy and lasts for a good while. Just take cam chest cover off every spring and inspect.

Great video. Best one I have seen yet.

Would be great to see that thing riding around. You know, end of success story kinda thing. Nice job on getting that ridiculously low price

Very good video and great details for every step

Thanks for the video! Do you have to align the oil pump? Or you don't, because you didn't remove it from the cam plate? The hole on the lifters go positioned towards the engine? Thanks!

Nice job gentlemen.

The video was nice and informative, but the music was a bit to loud, lower the music would make it easer to watch.

Had a primary tensioner come apart last week,Harley quoted me $3000 or more depending on labor and parts needing replacement to change over to a sreaming eagle hydraulic tensioner setup.Fuck that,after seeing your great video, i’m going OE and doing it myself.Thanks,love the parts about the clips and o-rings needed,I live 1 1/2 hr drive from closest Harley dealer so great heads up.

Yup did my 03 ‘ softail; bit the bullitt and ripped into it . Bolt cutters to pushrods 😁. Well did se hyd tensioners and high vol oil pump . Turned out good ; even threw in cvo 103 used cams while in there . Should changed that epa cam way back . What a diff in torque and mpg no change . Maybe even better mpg ???

Nice job! Good explanations! Thanks

Thanks for the video!

Great video, guys!

Excellent but I did not see where you replaced the bearings for the cam shafts

Best damn video I've seen in awhile. Great job guys 👍✌

Great informative video guys , What about the pressed together crank ? I have heard nightmare stories of them slowly separating and causing catastrophic damage ? Tunes are a bit loud. Thanks for your time

Where did you get that sprocket holder and also how many ft pound you tighten those 2 sprocket bolts/nuts?

Gold! Thank you very much!

NIce job I'm really interested in renting out the tensioner wrench and sprocket lock , if they are still available. I wrench on all my vehicles not by choice but necessity, who knew huh

Great video. Just bought a 99 road king and it has the crank sensor and cam sensor codes. It has 50000 mile and it makes me think the tensioners may be worn. I would like to purchase the tool you used to compress the tensioners.

Thank you for sharing.

Recently put in set #3 at 99200 miles. Bike now has 99600. Swapped sets befor 1/4 wear

I am interested on renting the tensioner wrench and sprocket lock if it might still be possible. I need to change my tensioners out but trying to keep it all the same.

Hi guys. Great video. I’m looking to do exactly the same job on my FXDX. Are you still able to rent out the specialist tools? Thanks guys.

Super video well done thanks for upload and share.

Can you please procide part numbers, and maybe a link or exact name of the tool? Might make this your one stop shop for the fix video. great job.

Im thinking adjustable push rods and bolt cutters im on my third set of tensioners

Good job.

I've done this repair several times on several bikes; 2001 T-Sport, 2006 Road Kind and 2005 Softail Springer and each time I upgraded the cam plate replacing the OEM Bypass Valve with the Axtell Oil Bypass valve. The reason I did the Bypass upgrade was to ensure the mechanical chain tensioners get as much oil as possible. The Axtell upgrade increases you oil pressure to 2.8 - 3.2 BAR at full operating temp and 3200 RPM which delivers almost double the oil through put! In conjunction with the Bypass upgrade I do a full "Scavenger" oil changes which clears all the old oil from the journals (Google Scavenger Oil Change for info). I recommend this to all my friends that have gotten into their cam chests 88ci, 96ci, 103ci and 110ci TC engines and they have all reported great results.

Awesome video. Fixing to try and tackle this project. Y’all still renting out the tools?

You did a great job with this video. Clear and concise. You didn't mention any concern over debris that might have gotten into the oil pump or engine. My Harley has 85000 miles on it, unless the dealer changed those shoes at the 40,000 mile check up, they are the factory originals. I'm worried what I'm going to find in there. It appears to me the oil pump is right there and might have picked up shards of metal. Does the oil immediately go to the oil pump where the shrapnel would have been caught? I'm thinking I should replace the oil pump as well while I'm in there.

Do you have the part numbers for the 3 o-rings, thanks

looking for the tool to release the tension in the inner shoe ? can't find the supplier, any info would be great! Thanks

Any links to the parts you purchased? Thanks

Great video, but one question. On the lifters you point out that the oil pressure hole points inboard, as to another video by a professional, says they go on outboard side. Not sure it matters, just pointing that out.

great job...but why the loud music...dude

I am interested in renting the tool for the tensioner removal I can not find one to buy anywhere

I know these twin cams will start with the outside cam tensioner shoe missing I have an 05 FLSTC in my shop right now (05-2022) a guy brought me who thought it was his carburetor making it backfire. I've worked on enough Twin Cams to make my sell both mine. I'll stick with my 72 FLH and 98 Evo FLSTF plus they have no computer to screw up on ya. Good video thanks.

Спасибо. Хорошее видео. Скоро буду свой харлей разбирать

Great video guys, just wondering how the motor is going, always worried about any broken metal getting in there. 👍

Awsome video. Just one tip. Turn down the music or turn up voice audio. Had to keep turning down the music then turning up the volume to hear him speak.

Great video but man, you're killing me with that music.

thanks ,about time for us poor harley owners

I have always known those "c clips" by the term external snap ring.

I have a 2005 88 twin cam. It has the cam plate with the relief valve. I got the split pin and spring out, but the plunger is stuck. A magnet isn't strong enough to pull it out. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can get that plunger out?

If your still open to renting the tensioner tool I’m interested I bought the sprocket lock already

I can't imagine having to do so much work every 40,000 miles. One of the independent shops I used to hang out with the wrench showed me the cam chain and the adjuster system and he said that Harley did this just so we can work on a Harley every 40,000 miles. I would rather have an evolution powered Harley anything because it was the last good motor that Harley made. Maybe next time the tensioners go out your engine will go boom. And the engine is a hundred something degrees hotter than an Evolution motor. Evo forever forever evos!

What mileage resulted in the tensioner failure

I went into my 03 & changed mine and installed hl psi old pump And cam's with( Andrews .50 s that had been installed earlier ) But it doesn't seam to have quite the power than before . And seams to have a little more vibration at highway speed . Could be My Imagination . But if not does anyone know what it might could be

Thanks for posting. I am facing this work in the near future and am considering the budget approach. I have heard Cyco shoes are the best shoe from HD forums. What shoes did you use?

Thank God, I was puking after I just bought an 04 and heard about a 2000 dollar bill replacing shit!

With that outer shoe gone. It's a GOOD idea to check the oil pump.

I wonder if it's worth trying to change the system to a gear drive if you're run out is in spec. I have an 09' street glide with a 96ci and I'm thinking of this option. I do have the hydraulic tensioner, I'm just wondering if it's worth it for me.

love it guys. im a poor bastard too. i have many older vehicles that have continued to reliably roll for us. same approach. and to go cheap on parts will save you nothing. in fact could end up costing more. but what about those old inner cam bearings?

Where did you get that tool to remove the inner tension spring that’s a great tool especially having to use it as often as every 20 thousand miles maintenance great video

Would like some info on tool rental where are you guys located im in Moody AL, and kits you used are they from harley ?

Hi folks ! The music is way too loud ! And when I put the volume down, almost to zero, I can' t hear you anymore.

Can I rent the tools for this job please? Let me know what I need to do...thank you.

Is it ok for not replacing the inner cam bearing after you pull out the cam plate?

Good video. Also loved the music. Please reference the music artists.

I would really love a parts list

While I was that far in I dumped the tensioners and went hydraulic. Wasn't built big enough for a gear drive.

So how the hell did you get the 2 bolts out of the left side of the rear cyl. rocker plate on the rear cyl? I had to unbolt the cover under the rocker brackets ad it was a total struggle to get it all back together. The rocker bracket bolts pull up and run into the bottom of the frame before they clear the hole on the bottom plate. Mine is an 06 road king.

cant remember where i read it but there was a person who said they run fine with out the shoes in place. and when you really think about it the only clue is the poor idle and the noise from the slop. as long as you done idle it low it wont stall and i would not attempt it with my machine. but i will be checking crank run out to determine if a gear drive is viable. mines a early 99 low 9020s under the back order bikes range. had the chest open at 18 looked new. 34 im breaking her down ...cant take the chance for the low cost of the parts compared to the engine. the time kinda blows but its paying dues for all those years of rides i guess..

Only thing Id’ve done different is use Cyco tensioner pads, supposed to last longer and wear better.

I am having the same thing done at a shop, how many hours do you have in this job? I did replace my outer Chain and the needle bearing. Just wondering about the hours cause the shop where my 04 Harley Davidson Electra Glide Classic flhtci is at they charge $110.00 per hour. Ranman

Getting ready to do this to my 2005 FLHT. Gonna need to rent the tools. Also, where's the best place to get the parts?

Nice.. and very informative but I was watching wearing headphones so I would not wake my family,, but the music was way to loud and I would have to continually have to adjust volume to save my eardrums.