I had a catastrophic failure (dealer term) of both my chain tensioners over the holiday last week (39.4k mi. on 99 ulltra). Engine still ran, but boy was it loud in the cam case...long story short I decided to change to the gear drive. After a week, got it back this last weekend. Seems to run great, a little gear noise, sounds more machine like in the cam case.
Anyway, my Q is...
I noticed on the drive home (140mi) the oil pressure seemed to run between normal (32) and a little under (approx 24). Before the change it was rock steady at 32. Is this normal with the new system or should I be concerned?
Second, I'm reading an awful lot about crank run out. I would think the dealer would have checked this during the upgrade, however now I'm wondering!? anyone know, is checking the runout part of the normal procedure the dealer would use as part of the upgrade, or should I question them on it?
Catastrophic failure is an appropriate term for it, the debris generated is likely to get into the oil pump as well as travel elsewhere to do damage. Hopefully the dealer looked around and retrieved it as well as examining the support plate which is also the oil pump housing that the gearotor runs against. That is not a drastic drop in pressure, there is certainly sufficient pressure to do the job but it could indicate that that surface is no longer pristine. If all the debris was removed it may not worsen.
Regarding pinion runout: It is standard operating practice to check it, which they probably did.
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Did mine last winter. Also upgraded to Fueling oil pump and cam plate. Not a hard job at all with the proper tools. Already had a small press and a puller to remove the cam bearings from the engine case. Bought a cam press and an inner cam bearing installer from Georges Garage and the installation went very smooth. Specialty tools aren't cheap, but way less expensive than paying someone else to do it, and I know all my runouts and backlashes are within specs.
ButchWI, I wonder if they used the same oil that you normally use when they re-assembled the engine. Different brands and viscosities will act slightly different on pressures. Just a thought. With the failure, hopefully they got all the particles out and nothing sticking a check valve. With the Fueling pump and plate, my hot pressures went to @ 15psi hot idle and @ 40psi hot cruise. They were near 0psi hot idle (no oil light) and @ 32psi hot cruise before. I did have 2 lifters get weak on me before and start ticking at hot idle. Hopefully this problem solved also.
Here's something for you guys to think about, instead of gear drive swap to the new chain and tensioneer setup like the 07 models and up, heard nothing but good about this setup, wish I'd done the same instead of gear drive, my crank had 3 thous runout which is considered the limit, I have to much gear noise to my liken, might go to a 1 under gear or do the swap to the new setup, hd offers a complete deal minus the cams for $429 and that is with a SE camplate, just another option.
I wish I read about this problem earlier . I thought I took very good care of my Bike . Regular oil changes etc .
Riding home from Sturgis this year I started hearing a lot of new noises from my engine . Turns out the cam tensioner shoes were totaly gone .
Debries went throughout the engine . I needed a complete rebuild .
So I thought why not turn a bad thing into a good thing .
I went with a 103 forged crank , 103+ heads , forged 10.5-1 forged 103+ pistons , fueling oil pump and cam plate and S/S 585G gear drive cams .
Just like getting a new bike at way less than the cost of a new one .
I did have 118,000 kms on the bike . Loved every mile .
I've got a stock '02 flht and my stock tensioners went 65,000 miles before wearing out. If they went out any sooner I would've went gear-drive. That one time replacement will last the life of the motor as I doubt engine will last another 65,000 anyway. So from a cost point of view....was cheaper to go stock tensioners than gear drive.
Re: twin cam gear drives 
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Re: twin cam gear drives 
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