Note: I am not the author of the original article.
This article, after reconsidering the content, has been edited to remove some unnecessary comments that were considered irrelevant.
Part Four.....
19. Breather problems! The 96 and more so the 103ci (cubic inch) Twin-Cam engines do have a breathing blow-by problem where oil is pumped out of the engine's breather vent and is sent to the intake manifold to be burned. At high engine revolutions and load this oil pumping become worse. This has always been a problem with big twin Harley's, but controllable to a degree. Excess oil will dribble down under the air cleaner element making a mess of the engine. The newer big CVO 110ci Twin-Cam engine has a much more serious breathing problem to the point that riders are being told to lower the oil level by 1/2 to an entire quart of oil to help stop the oil leaks. Problem is, less oil means less cooling for the engine! This problem is serious and not yet resolved entirely, but you can install a Baker larger oil pan to the engine which will allow more oil cooling and get the oil quantity back to normal or higher as it is rated for 5.5 and 4.5 quarts of oil. If the engine piston rings are worn you will notice an increase of oil blow-by as crankcase pressure increases so the original breathing problem become awful and severe. You will have to overhaul the top end of the motor or install an aftermarket racing compatible breather (such as an S&S cam cover) that can catch this blow-by oil or both. http://bakerdrivetrain.com/plus-1-5-oil-pan
20. Electrical problems! The Twin-Cam bikes 3-phase 45 and 48 amp alternators burn up or they will burn up other electrical components. There is a cure. Replace the entire alternator with a new 50 amp unit manufactured by Cycle Electric.
http://www.cycleelectricinc.com/
21. Harley's have a high theft rate, but so do other motorcycle brands. In fact, sport bikes are stolen at a higher rate than Harley-Davidsons, but still you need to be careful as there is a huge market for Harley-Davidson parts and lots of chop-shops are operating to fulfill the need. This is why you may pay more for theft insurance.
22 More bad news: The Twin-Cam "stock" engines are being bored, ported and stroked for more power and this is bad news. The air-cooled engines can't get rid of the heat and internal engine damage is taking place. Even larger oil pans and oil coolers won't cure the intense heat problem. Maybe, the new H-D formula Syn-3 synthetic oil will help, maybe not, but worth a try. Heat kills air-cooled engines and more power generates more heat. The rear cylinder is especially susceptible to heat-related failure. The intake facing side of the piston scuffs against the cylinder wall real bad due to heat boiling away lubricant wearing out the piston and cylinder prematurely. And if you modify the engine to obtain more power than stock you are going to run into trouble with excessive heat, fast component wear and tear and a screaming bank account crying for more funds to replenish your savings.
23. Did you know the Sportster engine is near perfect and has none of these Twin-Cam engine problems? It is true. The Sportster engine is near bulletproof with superior engineering design and workmanship and should have been duplicated and made larger for the big bikes instead of using the Twin-Cam engine. Harley-Davidson has the wrong engine in those big V-twin cruisers! The new Sportster's (2004 and newer) have rubber mounted engines and the frames and wheels are being beefed up with better accessories to make this bike a serious consideration. It's no longer a "girl's bike" especially the XL Custom 1200 and the new models. The Custom 1200 has a larger 4.5 gallon gas tank, superb engine reliability, no nagging engine defects whatsoever, good ride quality, economical fuel mileage, so check them out! With mini-ape handle bars, fat 16" tires and a wide touring seat with stronger front forks these Sportster's are not at tiny as the old models were. It is also easier to change the oil as there are only two oil compartments to drain and fill. If you want a reliable Harley-Davidson you really need to consider the new Sportster models. You'll save a ton of money with the Sportster from price of purchase, insurance, maintenance and fuel economy.
24. Remember the cam chain tensioners problems mentioned above? Well, the "B" Twin-Cam engine is internally balanced with spinning counterweights and more chains are buried deep inside the engine cases that drive those weights. The chains have more durable tensioners but they can still wear out and will need to be replaced. But to do so it requires a complete engine disassembly. Imagine the cost and the bill you will get for this! Stay away from "B" motors. Buy a Twin-Cam engine that is rubber mounted to the motorcycle's frame. Better yet, buy a Sportster 1200 as they have zero defects, a perfect engine design!
25. Primary Chain Adjustments. Remember when we used to manually adjust the primary chain? Well, the new models have hydraulic primary chain adjusters which uses oil pressure to keep the chain taught. Sounds great, except there is one problem. Never should the primary chain ever run tight as it can cause damage to the transmission and crankshaft bearings. The hydraulic primary chain adjuster is not an adjuster it is a "tightener" which does not loosen so it is not adjusting, it just keeps ratcheting the chain tighter and tighter. Time will tell, but I believe you will be seeing bearing, chain and gear teeth failures due to this innovation. If you get on the throttle hard then back it off briskly this will trigger the automatic chain adjuster to adjust tightening the primary chain and this is bad news. It will cause seal and bearing shaft wear and premature chain and sprocket wear and even outright breakage! There is a fix, but it will cost you some money. Baker has a Bully style primary cover with an inspection cover so you can manually adjust their Attitude brand name chain adjuster. Now you can manually adjust the primary chain like the good old days. Harley-Davidson is advertising and selling automatic chain adjusters for the older Twin-Cam models. Don't buy it. Keep your manually adjusted system just as it is. One more thing, those automatic primary chain tensioners are failing in another way... they wear out and need to be replaced around 40,000 miles. A lot of riders do not know about this weak part defect! The old manually adjusted system was way better for us riders. The new system makes money for dealers!
26. Shaft Flexing. Take a good look at the H-D Twin-Cam engine. Notice how far away the end of the primary cover extends on the left side of the engine. It is hanging way out there in space and so are the abnormally long crankshaft and transmission shafts and here is the danger as those shafts can not be supported by a bearing so the shafts bend, flex and break not on the shafts, but the bearings and cases and also the transmission gears are twisted. This is due to a poor engine design. If you look at the H-D Sportster engine it has none of these problems, the shafts are short and the transmission is reversed so the output drive pulley is on the right side of the engine curing the shaft length problem. I told you the Sportster engine is a perfect, perfected engine, and it is way advanced over the archaic, defective plagued Twin-Cam engine/transmission/primary design. The shaft flexing is a serious problem on a stock engine. If you add power you add more breakage, simple as that. There is no real cure except to convert to a belt drive primary with a Baker 6-speed transmission that will put the drive belt on the right side like the Sportster engine. You will need a new rear wheel too. The fix is not cheap, it will cost you less than $10,000. The shaft flexing is a problem, so don't ride hard, don't take off fast from stops, don't speed-shift through the gears. If you want to do these things buy a brand new Sportster for it can handle abuse because the engine is sound, solid and strong due to a superior engine and transmission design.
When the shafts flex they load up the engine and transmission bearings and that creates a bearing failure load on them and the engine/transmission cases which causes them to stress and crack. Eventually the small cracks migrate to form larger cracks and the shafts will destroy the bearings and/or the cases with no warning. Catastrophic engine/transmission failure occurs. Now, if you have a stock bike under warranty you are covered for the repair bill, but that's if you survive the risk of a crash as cracked cases blow oil on the rear tire. If that does not happen, you may be out of luck if you are out of town on a long trip. It can take a month to get the bike fixed depending on the season.
You may get luck with just bearing pitting loading failure. It means each time the shaft flexes it take a tiny pit out of the bearing eventually causing the bearing to fail. It will make a rattling noise and shifting will be jerky and not as smooth. If you have loud pipes you may not hear the bearing failing until it totally fails, so you need to rely on feel. You can place your ear on a screwdriver near the bearing to hear the bearings if you are skilled to know what a bad or good bearing sounds like. You can't inspect these bearings easily. You must measure shaft run-out with a dial indicator and it requires primary system removal which the average rider does not do. However, most riders are totally unaware of this shaft flex problem and ignore it until it becomes a major repair.
"Break a clutch cable and you are tow truck bait and forget about fixing it yourself... most riders can't do the job."
27. You better hope you never break a clutch cable on your Twin-Cam Harley-Davidson especially when out of town. You can't replace the cable with ease. Believe it or not, you need to remove the exhaust pipes, right side floorboard, drain the transmission of oil and remove the transmission trap door just to replace a clutch cable on the engine side. Then you have to reinstall all these items you removed. On the other hand, you can easily replace a clutch cable on the Sportster without this grief and you can fix it on the side of the road, but the Twin-Cam models it is absolute hell (heavenly if you own a repair shop) for what should be a simple procedure. It can easily cost you a couple hundred dollars and we are only talking shop costs, not the cable cost, towing, motel, lost time from work, etc., if your cable breaks when you are out of town. Even carrying a spare clutch cable will do you no good. And, clutch cables can fail without notice and without showing any signs of fraying or wear. Ask your H-D dealer how much they charge to replace a clutch cable. It may surprise you.
28. There is a helical gear in the new transmissions and now that is causing problems. Why? Simply because a helical gear creates thrust, a thrusting of the transmission shaft to exit out of the transmission case! While the transmission shaft won't push out the case, it will terribly stress the bearing in the case and cause bearing failure. If you start riding from a low rpm in third gear then go to wide open throttle you will see the clutch lever on the handlebar flipping back and forth. This is the thrust acting on the output shaft to the clutch plate assembly. No cure. Just wait until bearing fails or overhaul the transmission occasionally. I know, not great advice, but defective component design make it hard on all riders/owners. The six speed transmission also are making noise riders complain about. It won't hurt anything, just your mood as you ride.
29. The "compensator" in the Twin-Cam primary case is a shock absorber fixed to the engine crankshaft to smooth out the erratic power pulses a 45 degree crankshaft produces. Problem is, they are failing. Find out if you should upgrade yours to a Screaming Eagle racing compensator or aftermarket sprocket. Some new H-D models already have the upgrade. If so, you may want to consider changing the size of your compensator sprocket to a one or two tooth smaller (more acceleration) or larger (lower cruising engine rpm). The latter saves fuel and reduces engine heat at highway speed.
30. The starter gear has a tendency to wear out a bit too soon due to a soft metal. If it fails it will not permit you to start your engine or if partially fails it can wreck your primary chain system. Chances are the gear will just wear itself smooth over time and begin to slip and make a grinding noise, but it can fail and create thousands of dollars in repair cost as that broken gear thrashes everything inside the primary case. This sort of failure can break engine and transmission cases, bend crankshaft, etc. You can buy a stronger starter gear on the aftermarket. The V-Twin magazines have advertisements for this part. Van Bergen and Greener, Inc., makes a heavy duty unit.
http://www.starterdrives.com/
http://www.paisanopub.com/vtwin/
31. The air cooled Twin-Cam engine runs hot. Even the 88 cubic inch engines run hot. The 96, 103 and 110 run even hotter. You must buy an oil cooler for these big motors. Yes, even the 883 and 1200 Sportster's should have oil coolers even though they have huge fins as large as the big Twin-Cam engines to shed heat. Some newer Harley's with the 103 engine come with an oil cooler, but it looks too small to really be of much use. Aftermarket oil coolers are much larger and will shed more heat from the engine. Here's a good one for big engines; Jagg fan-assisted oil cooler. This is important as engine failure can come on just one hot day or a day stuck in traffic. The cylinder can get so hot the cylinder walls warp out of round and the piston will scuff the wall and seize or bend your connecting rods and the valve guide seals can bake and crack or melt. Now you got big trouble! Now you have a huge repair bill even if you fix it yourself (if you know how) it will cost you a bundle. Get an oil cooler if you Harley does not have one. It should be thermostatically controlled as cold oil can also damage your engine from oil starvation (high viscosity oil) allowing internal metal to metal contact. You can see valve guide seals fail at 10,000 to 20,000 miles. To fix the valve seals right, the cylinder heads should be removed, but there are methods some mechanics will use to replace the seals without dismantling the head from the cylinder. Sealed Power makes valve seals for Harley-Davidson so check them out. Cold or too hot oil can wipe out bearings and seals fast. Go to a motorcycle rally and guess what you will see? Yep, few bikes with oil coolers! Those engines will fail soon, and you can bet on it.
http://www.jagg.com/
Stay tuned for Part Five......
Happy Trails.....
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