Intruders-Alert

Tired of the slight rattle while the bike is idling?

Worried the auto tensioner you have will ratchet up too tight and cause more damage than it's worth?

Sick of the clunk into first gear?

Switch to a Hayden auto tensioner. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

So you're saying that Hayden Enterprises makes a better auto tensioner than the Harley factory? How so? Just curious.

NE_FL wrote:So you're saying that Hayden Enterprises makes a better auto tensioner than the Harley factory? How so? Just curious.

The Harley style tensioner is setup so that when there's slack in the chain it automatically ratchets up to take up the slack. Problem being, there need to be a sight amount of slack in the chain to compensate for heat expansion. What happens is it becomes too tight and translates that stress to either the compensator or the press fit crank.
That causes eventual destruction or one or both, usually the compensator.

What the Hayden does differently, in all Harley models by the way, is remove the ratchet. It uses a spring. You preload the tension and it keeps it tight while still allowing for expansion. It also compensates for wear on the nylon shoe. While it still needs adjusted from time to time, it's far less than a manual adjuster without the issues of the HD auto adjuster. I did extensive research before I made my mind up in changing it.

The only thing I found as a flaw is sometimes the spring breaks. If it does, you get excessive rattling. Call up Hayden and they'll send a new one free.

enforcer wrote:

NE_FL wrote:So you're saying that Hayden Enterprises makes a better auto tensioner than the Harley factory? How so? Just curious.

The Harley style tensioner is setup so that when there's slack in the chain it automatically ratchets up to take up the slack. Problem being, there need to be a sight amount of slack in the chain to compensate for heat expansion. What happens is it becomes too tight and translates that stress to either the compensator or the press fit crank.
That causes eventual destruction or one or both, usually the compensator.

What the Hayden does differently, in all Harley models by the way, is remove the ratchet. It uses a spring. You preload the tension and it keeps it tight while still allowing for expansion. It also compensates for wear on the nylon shoe. While it still needs adjusted from time to time, it's far less than a manual adjuster without the issues of the HD auto adjuster. I did extensive research before I made my mind up in changing it.

The only thing I found as a flaw is sometimes the spring breaks. If it does, you get excessive rattling. Call up Hayden and they'll send a new one free.

13 Harleys.. Hard to figure out exact mileage on them bikes...some I put more miles than others... but I'm figuring about 50K miles each so that rounds out to be somewhere in the neighbor hood of 600,000 total miles give or take a few thousand and not once...… not once in that entire 56 years of riding Harley's did I ever have to change a chain tensioner.....

Holy Necropost Batman.

If it ain't broke, fix it till it is.

Suzuki Johnny wrote:

enforcer wrote:

NE_FL wrote:So you're saying that Hayden Enterprises makes a better auto tensioner than the Harley factory? How so? Just curious.

The Harley style tensioner is setup so that when there's slack in the chain it automatically ratchets up to take up the slack. Problem being, there need to be a sight amount of slack in the chain to compensate for heat expansion. What happens is it becomes too tight and translates that stress to either the compensator or the press fit crank.
That causes eventual destruction or one or both, usually the compensator.

What the Hayden does differently, in all Harley models by the way, is remove the ratchet. It uses a spring. You preload the tension and it keeps it tight while still allowing for expansion. It also compensates for wear on the nylon shoe. While it still needs adjusted from time to time, it's far less than a manual adjuster without the issues of the HD auto adjuster. I did extensive research before I made my mind up in changing it.

The only thing I found as a flaw is sometimes the spring breaks. If it does, you get excessive rattling. Call up Hayden and they'll send a new one free.

13 Harleys.. Hard to figure out exact mileage on them bikes...some I put more miles than others... but I'm figuring about 50K miles each so that rounds out to be somewhere in the neighbor hood of 600,000 total miles give or take a few thousand and not once...… not once in that entire 56 years of riding Harley's did I ever have to change a chain tensioner.....

Do you have a TC? Just curious. Because I have heard of TC that went 60k or more with no issues then I have heard of some with 20k that had issues.

I have a compensator going bad on mine right now at 40,000 miles.

I was going to use the Baker brand replacement. HD knows about this and the cam tensioner issue. They throw Band Aids at it from everything I have seen.

Why not just use a good quality part from the start? Makes no sense to me.

From what I can gather the TC cam tensioner issue was prior to 07. They went to hyd actuated and a roller chain. (I hope, I have a 07)

Primary tensioner seems to be a main't issue, shoe replacement from time to time.

I know for sure the 06 had the issue with the tensioner that wore down from anywhere after 20k miles. My buddy got about 70k miles out of his before he rebuilt it. It was on borrowed time at that point.

IMO, opening an engine, any engine, to replace internal parts, is NOT simply a "maintenance issue".
When internals break, that's called a failure.

You are right breaking is failure. Wear items, not so much.

Here's how the spring loaded tensioners wear:





If / when they wear down to the pin then the whole thing grenades.

Planned Obsolescence.

navigator wrote:Planned Obsolescence.

Probably more like they were not expecting anyone to put those sort of miles on one of their bikes so it would never be a problem.....

Just build it up with JB Weld, and slap it back together.
20K, 40K, or even 60K is not a lot of miles.

Ya know, I wonder now.

We never split cases on the 14s so I don't recall anyone talking about chain tensioners. They have to have a shoe of some sort I would think. I remember several scoots over 200k on the purple board with no engine issues.

Travlin wrote:Ya know, I wonder now.

We never split cases on the 14s so I don't recall anyone talking about chain tensioners. They have to have a shoe of some sort I would think. I remember several scoots over 200k on the purple board with no engine issues.

If you mean the Intruder 1400's then the cam chain arrangement is totally different.

I just looked and yes they are different, of course but are still shoes that the chain runs against. After 33 years I wonder about the integrity of the material on mine.

Most Jap bikes run overhead cams which means the cam chains are far longer and the tensioners are slipper types that tension the chain over a 6 to 8 inch stretch. The HD tensioner in the pics above is only about an inch and a half so it's going to wear down pretty quick.

Travlin wrote:From what I can gather the TC cam tensioner issue was prior to 07. They went to hyd actuated and a roller chain. (I hope, I have a 07)

Primary tensioner seems to be a main't issue, shoe replacement from time to time.

Depends on your definition of prior.

Yes in 07 they went to hydraulic but they STILL have problems. It just delays it a little longer. Now you start checking them around 60k instead of 20k as before.

So is that really fixed? Not in my book it isnt.

If the gear drive that is sold aftermarket is so much better that should be what HD puts in at the factory.

Maybe I am spoiled after decades of "jap bikes" but tearing into an engine with less than 100k is not a good thing. And its certainly not a bike that you would pay premium price for.

franktiregod wrote:

Travlin wrote:From what I can gather the TC cam tensioner issue was prior to 07. They went to hyd actuated and a roller chain.8 (I hope, I have a 07)

Primary tensioner seems to be a main't issue, shoe replacement from time to time.

Depends on your definition of prior.

Yes in 07 they went to hydraulic but they STILL have problems. It just delays it a little longer. Now you start checking them around 60k instead of 20k as before.

So is that really fixed? Not in my book it isnt.

If the gear drive that is sold aftermarket is so much better that should be what HD puts in at the factory.

Maybe I am spoiled after decades of "jap bikes" but tearing into an engine with less than 100k is not a good thing. And its certainly not a bike that you would pay premium price for.

First off, changing the tensioner is not really tearing into the engine as such. Yes, there's a bit of stuff to remove to get to it but it's not like ripping off the heads or splitting the cases.

Second about the gear drive is that if the crank flexes they can bind and destroy themselves. It's unlikely in a stock motor, but if you go for a bigger bore (like my buddy did) then it can become an issue.

The biggest problem with the spring loaded tensioner in the HD is you have no way to check it other than taking it out. You don't know how much its worn or when it will need replacement.