Question I have a 95 Heritage I bought new; it now has almost 50,000 miles on it. It has been ridden easily, mostly touring, about half those miles solo, half with the wife onboard. I keep the drive belt & primary chain adjusted properly, with primary oil changed every 5,000 miles.
Only mods it has are dyno-jet kit, Crane ignition, Andrews EV-13 cam & H-D S/E exhaust. Oh, and a Hayden M-6 chain tensioner put in when the bike had 5,000 miles on it.
Last week, I pulled the primary cover to look at everything & check the M-6 tensioner. I added one shim to make up for chain stretch. But I noticed the the chain upper run has grooved the aluminum boss that sticks out of the inner primary. That's why I re-shimmed the tensioner to bring it back into spec--looked like too much slack in the upper chain run on deceleration.
My question: Under these conditions, at what mileage would you recommend primary chain replacement? How about the drive belt? I'd probably do both at the same time, along with clutch discs. Anything else I should do while in there, when the time comes to pull the chain & belt?
My plan was to do this at 60,000 miles, unless you rcommend otherwise.
Thanks for your advice.
Jim in Philly
AnswerOn the primary chain and drive belt. I have seen both last over 100,000 miles. The chain can be removed and twist it. It shouldn't have alot of flex. Inspect it for wear in the links. On the belt, lift the rear tire and slowly spin it checking the belt. Look for tears, holes or missing teeth. If they are both ok, then you dont need to replace them.
As to the clutches, when you remove the chain you can inspect the clutches. Look for wear down on the friction disks. Personnely, sice you are tearing it apart, I would go ahead and replace them, since its apart anyway and due to the milage.
Good luck and happy riding
Mike
