Taking a break from Guzzi - Bought slightly used Harley

[N.Y.zee10]

Kev M, not to bicker or correct...but...ear ly EVO engines (big twin) came out sooner than the late 80's. The early EVO engine was in the Softail of 1984. That engine had the new EVO top end sitting on a nose cone shovel bottom end. 4 speed with kick and the button. The prices on this combo is going up. Wish I still had mine! Glad this topic was started. Motorcycle related for sure. Nice to know why some people choose another ride. Members often post non- Guzzi stuff: dead rock stars, fancy wrist watches, guns and such. No one tries to drive them to another forum. I own 2 Harleys and they are both great machines, though quite different from one another and my Guzzi.

[oldbike54]

 What's a Harley ?

 Let's play nice here , Goose is still part of our family , he helped support the JN Smyth Okie camp out last year , and didn't even get to attend . 

 Dusty

[Kev m]

Kev M, not to bicker or correct...but...ear ly EVO engines (big twin) came out sooner than the late 80's. The early EVO engine was in the Softail of 1984. That engine had the new EVO top end sitting on a nose cone shovel bottom end. 4 speed with kick and the button. The prices on this combo is going up. Wish I still had mine! Glad this topic was started. Motorcycle related for sure. Nice to know why some people choose another ride. Members often post non- Guzzi stuff: dead rock stars, fancy wrist watches, guns and such. No one tries to drive them to another forum. I own 2 Harleys and they are both great machines, though quite different from one another and my Guzzi.

True and correct of course. My world has always been very FLH and XL centric. I've always spurned the STs. So that shifts the EVOs I care about to the mid-to-late 80s. But point taken.

[jumpmaster]

I don't know if they upgraded the spring loaded tensioners at some point.

 :1: to all you said.  Just to clarify what I said before, Harley's "upgrade" solution was to simply use a somewhat more durable coating on the tensioner slide that pushed against the timing chain.  As far as I know, they didn't do any other design changes/improvements until, as you said, they converted to a hydraulic system...  As far as I remember, the TC88 motor, at least once it got the initial kinks worked out, doesn't have any other ticking time bomb issues.

[LowRyter]

didn't those bikes have oil pump problems too?

[Kev m]

Jump - YUP - and I wasn't sure but thought that's what you might have been referring to (the upgraded material).

didn't those bikes have oil pump problems too?

The TC88's?

I could be wrong, but I thought the only oil pump problems were caused by fragging timing chain tensioners which would then take out the pump (and the motor) in short order if ignored.

[jcctx]

I am down about half an inch from my youth's 5' 12" and am riding my little Wolf just fine. Don't know how exactly, but just fine. 

5' 12", heck, that be almost 6'   ???????

[rboe]

Being more clueless on HD stuff than I'm on other things, just how hard is it (and expensive) to simply replace the tensioner bits?

I used to be very close to 5 foot 14 inches, but after a get off, down to 5-11. Alas, the legs are still very long and must be folded up like a grass hopper to fit many bikes.  This makes the Africa Twin seem much desirable, fitment wise, than a 1400 Eldorado. Even if the Eldo looks better. Sigh.

[mach1mustang351]

I recently added a Harley to my fleet. Nothing wrong with a Harley. As everyone said, the tensioner update should be done. Usually between 30-45k miles they act up. They typically dont just fall apart and cause trouble. They usually start with making some noise... dont ignore the noise.

Enjoy your new bike!!

[Kev m]

Being more clueless on HD stuff than I'm on other things, just how hard is it (and expensive) to simply replace the tensioner bits?

I used to be very close to 5 foot 14 inches, but after a get off, down to 5-11. Alas, the legs are still very long and must be folded up like a grass hopper to fit many bikes.  This makes the Africa Twin seem much desirable, fitment wise, than a 1400 Eldorado. Even if the Eldo looks better. Sigh.

Inspection is pretty easy. One side cover, though the rear tensioner is pretty obscured.

Just to replace the tensioners looks like a little more work.

The upgrades are involved, but they're long term solutions.

I recently added a Harley to my fleet. Nothing wrong with a Harley. As everyone said, the tensioner update should be done. Usually between 30-45k miles they act up. They typically dont just fall apart and cause trouble. They usually start with making some noise... dont ignore the noise.

Enjoy your new bike!!

True, but a lot of riders (especially the loud pipe guys) may not be able to hear the noise.

A couple of summers ago a bike that was traveling with us started making the noise, and could have fragged before it made it home if we hadn't side tracked to a dealer and watched him pay for an expensive fix.

Totally the rider's fault. Considering the mileage it could have been easily inspected once or twice before it got to that point. And the rider is an ASE certified mechanic for Acura, but was blissfully unaware of the potential problem on his bike until he heard the noise and I asked him when was the last time he'd checked them (answer, uh, never).

[Muzz]

Enjoy the ride Goose. At least there will always be a dealer close by.

To the Harley guys, does this tensioner problem only apply to the big block or does a 2002 Sporty have the same problem? The son has one with 19000kms on. Fore warned is fore armed as they say.

[Kev m]

Enjoy the ride Goose. At least there will always be a dealer close by.

To the Harley guys, does this tensioner problem only apply to the big block or does a 2002 Sporty have the same problem? The son has one with 19000kms on. Fore warned is fore armed as they say.

Only the Twin Cam (Big Block) motors (the ones that came after the single cam EVO)

Sportsters have used 4 gear-driven cams (no chains, no tensioners) forever... well, it seems like forever...

[Muzz]

Thanks Kev.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Congrats Gary..you'll look good on it.
Gotta love WG..

[Cool Runnings]

Was looking at Harley's before buying the Norge. 

[HardAspie]

5' 12", heck, that be almost 6'   ???????

Ja! I come from a family of nephelim or Valkyries or such. But it is okay. I'm oogly too!

[jbell]

Obi Wan: I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.

C3PO: We're doomed.

Hilarious, twowings!!  And I don't think you had to change a single word.   

[BRIO]

Something about replacing engine parts on a twentysomething thousand dollar bike with less than fifty thousand miles is wrong. If it was a racing engine I would understand. However, Harley engines are as far removed from racing as is possible. I like the looks and sounds but couldn't imagine wanting to replace my Guzzi with one of those.

[Cool Runnings]

Something about replacing engine parts on a twentysomething thousand dollar bike with less than fifty thousand miles is wrong. If it was a racing engine I would understand. However, Harley engines are as far removed from racing as is possible. I like the looks and sounds but couldn't imagine wanting to replace my Guzzi with one of those.

You can find a really nice Evo with low miles for $5k.

[Kev m]

Something about replacing engine parts on a twentysomething thousand dollar bike with less than fifty thousand miles is wrong. If it was a racing engine I would understand. However, Harley engines are as far removed from racing as is possible. I like the looks and sounds but couldn't imagine wanting to replace my Guzzi with one of those.

Yeah, it was a huge turn off to me about the early TC motors.

But fwiw, most were not all that much more than Guzzis and it was no different than having to rollerize an 8V CARC, or no worse than having to replace an $800 dash, or spend $500 on a Guzzitech reflash to get a bike to run right in the first place.

I'm still waiting for the Guzzi I can just buy and ride and not have to replace a fuel filter and vintage regulator just to keep it from breaking.

Oh well, maybe I'll try a Triumph next time.

Or actually, come to think of it, Jenn's Duc has needed NOTHING but maintenance or accessories.

<shrugs>

[fotoguzzi]

You can find a really nice Evo with low miles for $5k.

where? locally they mostly go for $8-9k

I did see this..w/35k miles, think the tensioner has been addressed?
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/csw/mcy/5473967193.html

[Kev m]

where? locally they mostly go for $8-9k

I did see this..w/35k miles, think the tensioner has been addressed?
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/csw/mcy/5473967193.html

Well, since it's an EVO, there was no tensioner issue.

But I hate that they put a TC air cleaner on it.

[MadMike]

Just some first hand experience regarding the Twin Cam 88. I bought my Road Glide new in 2004. At the time there was no update to a hydraulic option so I had to go with gear drive in order to get rid of the tensioner pads. At the time, S&S were the only ones offering the gear drives. There was no such thing as a gear driven cam with a stock grind. You were gettin' perfoormance whetha ya liked it er not. This meant I had to accept a slightly hotter cam which threw my fueling a bit off. Not enough to warrant a new map but enough to notice a rougher idle. On the flip side a slight increase in...wait wait here comes that word : performance! These early Twin Cam motors had no O2 sensors so the injection was really blind as to what was happening in the combustion chamber. Map Sensor, Crank Sensor, Temp Sensor, Throttle Position and away you go.

Anyways, bikes been good to me, never any issues. Other than the gear drive everything else is stock. Exhaust rotted out so I went with a SuperTrapp and makes less noise than stock pipes....bike has 92k miles...still going strong. I ride Guzzi's for fun but when I need a two wheeled Buick, I go for Harley.

[arveno]

Evo is the best engine the moco has ever done.
I am a sucker for pre evo engines but i have to recognize evo are bullet proof engines, hands down.
Yes, depending on the year they had few little "thing" like rear base cylinder gasket seeping oil( pigtail gaskets fixed the issue there )
Some early evo had bad case cast ( porous ) but the moco took care of them.
and few little issues but in the end Evo are great engines.
They are also very simple and very easy to work on. Timing a harley and set the carb is a breeze.
A Evo engine with regular maintenance and love can last as long as a guzzi.

Goose, if you are 6.7 , there is no guzzi you can fit in.... i would have done the same you did, enjoy you bike... haters will be haters lol

[kingoffleece]

Well, I go slightly off topic here, but just a touch.
I had the first year SoftTail-4 speed chain drive kick start-and rode the crap out of it.  Wish every day I didn't sell it!

[elvisboy77]

So many used Harleys out there with less than 30,000 miles. Found a 2002 ElectraGlide Ultra Classic with under 24k. Slightly more than a few used Guzzi's of he same year or newer, but I know that parts are available for the Harley. I will have another Guzzi later on, but it will be an Ambo/Edo and maybe a Mille.  Only space and time for one bike.

and why exactly is buying a Harley news on a Guzzi site???

[Gliderjohn]

Quote from BRIO:

Something about replacing engine parts on a twentysomething thousand dollar bike with less than fifty thousand miles is wrong. If it was a racing engine I would understand. However, Harley engines are as far removed from racing as is possible. I like the looks and sounds but couldn't imagine wanting to replace my Guzzi with one of those.

I have never had any interest in H-Ds but the above now rings hollow after dropping a good hunk of change on my Norge with 13K miles getting "rollerized".
GliderJohn

[leafman60]

 

[mach1mustang351]

Not that anyone at all cares about my story but here it is.

I was raised in a house hold that wasn't quite anti-harley, but they weren't accepted. My dad has a 1941 Indian Chief and my first bike was a Mini Bambino Indian. My dad explained to me later that back in his day, you bought your bike from the dealer closest to you. In his case, Indian. Which had the natural Harley rivalry.

Last year, I went to work at a Harley dealership. I mostly needed out of my current job and saw the job posting and thought "why not?" I was around the bikes for a while and rode my first one. It was like nothing out. They have character, they are fun and I bought one after my first ride.

I still maintain 3 other bikes. I dont wear a vest or chaps, I dont ride in groups. I just enjoy my Harley for the job I got it for.

[HardAspie]

Not that anyone at all cares about my story but here it is.

I was raised in a house hold that wasn't quite anti-harley, but they weren't accepted. My dad has a 1941 Indian Chief and my first bike was a Mini Bambino Indian. My dad explained to me later that back in his day, you bought your bike from the dealer closest to you. In his case, Indian. Which had the natural Harley rivalry.

Last year, I went to work at a Harley dealership. I mostly needed out of my current job and saw the job posting and thought "why not?" I was around the bikes for a while and rode my first one. It was like nothing out. They have character, they are fun and I bought one after my first ride.

I still maintain 3 other bikes. I dont wear a vest or chaps, I dont ride in groups. I just enjoy my Harley for the job I got it for.

Sounds reasonable to me. Ride on dude!
It's the ride, not the machine anyway. Get out of the cage and into the world and bank into a turn and set the horizon on its ear. Yeah baby!