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[ltank]

Spokes only on front wheel. Rear wheel has a Harley cast aluminum solid rear rim. standard 16" rim

[spydglide]

Spokes only on front wheel. Rear wheel has a Harley cast aluminum solid rear rim. standard 16" rim

My bad... ........old eyes  har.  spyder

[HUBBARD]

Back in the day, my Cylinder-Base gasket problems were the result of not letting the Engine warm up before mountin' up and throwing the fuel to it.  May not be your situation, but sure was mine.  Lot of work to replace those bitc*es, too.  Always gave me an excuse to spend more money, too.  Like in, "I hate to have this Motor down this far, and just replace these gaskets!"  Later--HUBBARD

[Shovelhead]

i went from shovel to twin cam, never had a evo [kids] the twin cam with all its trouble is way way wayyyyyy better than the shovel.

i also remember guys with problems with case porosity and transmission shafts and clutches - but i had all those problems on the shovel too.

both twin cams have been so much less work and so much faster than the shovel that i keep wondering what the complaining is all about? 40k on a top end 80k per crank - MAX. real often guys i knew had to do the entire engine at less than 30k. as soon as i had to leave the choke on a bit to run decent it was time for a valve job pronto - every year the heads were off - i have all the special home made bent wrenches to get shovel heads off - every other year the crank, rod ends mainly. and a trans main shaft seal and main gear bushing while you were at it - oh and a chain every thousand miles or so. and oh i forgot the heads could only take guides to a certain size over - so new castings every 4 years or so - and the left side of the crank case would get to where the bearings would not press in. i have heard that there are now ways around this and ways to salvage those old cases and heads - but in 1980 it was "throw it away and get new cases and heads"

from all the complaining - id think my twin cams should need a total overhaul every 10k? ill check the cam bearings and lifters - those seem genuinely a issue. but were evo's that much better than twin cams are? if so would it pay to put a evo and evo trans in a twin cam bike [should fit phisically] ?

Well , actually the later Evos were a rock solid 100k mile engine, even with performance upgrades. My S&S Shovel is more dependable than my 110" twin cam has been and and my Shovel would smoke the TC 110 off the line until a lot of $$$ was spent on it.

[Thermodyne]

Early EVO's had case issues.  Cracks from stress risers mostly.  Around the lifter blocks, rear motor mount, primary oring boss.  Later cases suffered from thin castings. 

Late 80's early 90's had INA cam bearings.  Wallowed out bearing holes and chewed up breather bores are often found after a failure.

And there were more than a few silent recalls for loose bearing races and such. 

By the late 90's they were mostly sound.

As a rule 89-94 are cases are scrap.  The rest are fine if crack free.  Mid 90's cases must be carefully checked before boring for oversize jugs.  95 on are the cases to look for. 

If your cases are good then that leaves just a few issues, like base gaskets and worn oil pumps causing sumping.

The MoCo replaces EVO cases on the rebuilt engines they install.  They don't fool with trying to sift out the usable ones.  New matched numbered cases are <$800, and Delcron's can be had for just a little more.     

[tennisman]

Well, since I started this thread prior to buying an EVO, I have since bought a 96 Heritage Softail Classic and love it as a day rider.  I bought it with 10K on the clock and have added 15K more with only one small failure, I managed to break the plastic "Enrichener".  I do notice a slight seepage at the base gasket on the left side of the motor, but it's so minor, I can live with it.  It's been a great addition to my "stable".