Did anyone read the Techline article by Donny Petersen? On the TC96 engines, the cam support plate doesn't even have a bearing for the rear cam journals! The rear cam journals just rotate in the aluminum holes in the support plate! Are the 110's like this also? :-\I can't believe the engineers for the MoCo would sell the public a motorcycle built like this. There are pictures on page 44 of this issue of Am. Iron. -Steve
Steve,
That has been true since the introduction of the new chain and tensioner system on the '06 Dyna. As of the '07 model it is true of all Big Twins, including the CVO 110. If you follow Donny's articles on a regular basis you'll find that he has been politely "bitching" about H-D's design changes for quite some time, at least the ones like this that turn what used to be easy repairs on the older models into major part changes on the new ones. Read what he has to say about the lifter bores in the right crankcase.
H-D has been steadily cheapening the basic engine for many years now. Donny Petersen claims it is planned obsolescence, designed to make rebuilds so expensive that folks just buy new instead. Actually, in my opinion, it is a little more short term than that. These kinds of changes reduce Harley's production costs immediately, both parts costs and labor. The same was true of the change from the Timken bearing set on the drive side of the crankshaft, replaced by a simple ball bearing and thrust washer. Their new engineering philosophy appears to be "design it to be just good enough, but not too good". This doesn't bode well for anyone doing performance upgrades, unless they also spend additional money to
upgrade all the Harley
downgrades.
Harley could have easily used a replaceable plain bearing for the outer cam journals, but why add the expense? As long as you maintain proper oil flow and pressure, the "parent material" bearing surface in the cam plate should survive just as well as a plain bearing insert. The rub comes when you lose oil pressure and almost immediately gall the bearing surface. Now instead of just replacing a bearing insert, you will have to replace the entire cam support plate. Cheaper to produce, but much more expensive to repair.
To be fair, H-D isn't the only manufacturer doing these sorts of things. We have pretty much become a throwaway society; the manufacturer's are just making it easier to throw their stuff away rather than repair it.
Jerry
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Topic: October Issue American Rider (Read 1111 times)