cam chain

[fxbd07]

sitten up here in the cold north waiting for the snow to melt looking in the manual for my 07 street bob and i see that it has a roller chain runing the cams whereas my buddys 05 softtail has a flat link chain. Any advantage to one or the other?

 

[kemo]

A lot of people are starting to do roller chain conversion. The tensioners are a big issue with the silent chain spring loaded tensioner. Unpredicuable life span of spring tensioners. People are starting to prefer the roller chain hydralic tensioner system because of crank shaft runout against the old gear drive systems. Check TQ's threads about conversion.

 

[fxbd07]

soooo dose that mean that the roler chain and oil tensioners are better and will last longer if so how much longer? or is the gear drive the best way to go?

 

[kemo]

Roller chain and hydralic tensioners are the future.Silent chain and spring tensioners reported fail around 40000 miles but they are known to go at 20000. Gear drives are great if your crankshaft runout is in spec but can still get gear whine. If you are concerned to do anything go with the roller chain and hydralc tensioners

 

[fxbd07]

my 07 fxdb has the roler chain and the oil tenseoners stock that was why i was asken if they are a good setup that will last without tenseomers giving me any problem

 

[glider]

The roller chains started in 07 and it appears to be a lot better than the past cam chain and tensioners. In the future I think this setup will make the geared cams obsolete. It's more forgiving than the geared cams for the crankshaft runout that will cause a lot of noise in geared cams. The 96 engines in the 07 and later do have considerable more runout and also runout problems than the cranks of past years.

 

[06SuperG]

Glider,
I think the 06 Dyna has the roller cam chains also. Or am I mistaken?

 

[TQuentin1]

Glider,
I think the 06 Dyna has the roller cam chains also. Or am I mistaken?

You are correct, Sir. The '06 Dyna was the first model to get the roller chain and hydraulic tensioners. Broader application starting in '07.

TQ

 

[jonny oz]

simply put, yes, the roller chains and hydraulic tensioners are better and will last longer. how much longer? we don't really know yet, since they are still relatively new. they will eventually wear out, though, so regular inspection/maintenance will still be required, but perhaps not as frequently.

as a side note, above it was mentioned that the spring loaded tensioners can fail as early as 20000 - i've read about them failing well before 10000, just so you all know.