I have changed my cam many times and its a piece of cake...Once you have done it once you will be way more confidant working on your engine, PLUS you get to learn a bit more about how it all works. DO NOT try without a FACTORY manual. Notes are:

• Make sure you have a new set of gaskets ready (I order 5 packs just in case) and make damn sure they are the right ones for your year as they made two types of Gear Cover and they are not interchangable. If you get it wrong you puke oil everywhere.
• When removing the Cam Cover bolts stick them into a piece of polystyrene in the order and layout that they come out in.  I have three different length bolts in my setup and its a pain the butt when you get them mixed up and have to remeasure the hole depths to get them in the right hole.
• Are you swapping the Cam Gear or are you measuring and perhaps buying a new breather/oil gear? (I prefer to swap the gear as you end up with one that you KNOW works)
• Invest $20 in a set of gear shims as you will have to check the Cam end play and 9 times out of 10 you will need to re-shim.
• Get the tool to align the tappet blocks when you reattach them - its cheap and makes the job easier. You can get by useing one of the bolts but i do not think they are accurate enough to do a good job.
• You can also do the job without removing the tappet blocks - its just tricky as you need rubber bands and a bit of TIG rod to hold the rollers in place while you remove/insert the cam.  I suggest you remove them for your first try and then try with them attached the second time around.
• Buy some good assembly lube and use it when installing everything
• Check the cheap plastic Breather Gear and replace if it is worn as its cheap insurance. I have installed an S&S Reed Breather and love it!
• Be bloody careful tightening up the Gear cover bolts...over the years I have stripped 4 of them on my engine and had to invest in a TimeSert setup to fix them (damn good piece of kit though).  Its not just over tightening them its also the heat cycling from having an exhaust bracket attached to 2 of them on the FXR that does not help.
• You do NOT have to drain the Transmission or Engine oil per the Nightrider instructions.
• One pain thing is that once apart, on the left side of the case about 1/2 way up where the cover goes WILL start to weep oil.  I plug the hole with a small piece of cloth and then just before I put on the new Gasket I use a syringe to suck all the oil out of it so that it does not get all over the new gasket surface.  You still have to be quick getting it back together - I'm a little OCD at times.  Some folks probabley do not worry about the seepage; I just hate it when it gets into the bolt holes as thats going to bugger up any torque settings etc.

I'll add more if I think of anything....

ev27 Camy mentioned

I always thought the EV46 was a bit lumpy....I ran a EV3 (actually a EV35) for 15 years and loved it. It sort of sits between the EV27 and EV46.

hi would be a very good idea to replace the inner cam bearing @least , use torrington B138  there are curtian tools needed , but can use your old cam for install  the bearing if can not put hands on the right tool,    ( talk about the right hand on the tool  )

the bike will go good as long as the job is done proper

 + while i'am in there i always replace the plactic breather gear with a S&S or jims steel breather gear as the plastic one wears out the case bore hole that it spin's in , give it the side & up & down shake test pre evo's were all steel stock

The one thing I'm not that sure on is the bearing change...I'm not convinced its needed unless the bike is very high mileage or there is a known clearance issue. I have just changed out my cam twice and have not touched the bearing at all - it would certainly add some more complexity to the entire job.

So prior to this they are all Torrington bearings?

Should be yes... It should be easy to tell once you have things apart. What year is your ride again?

85 FLHTC and an 87 FXSTC

i would change the bearing no matter how old it is when you install a new cam  , do not do 1/2 a job there is only 1 way to do a job & thats the best way you know how , you can tell a lot by going into the cam chest on & EVO it's the main stress parts of the engine , new cam new bearing no matter what motor

Good advice fellas thanks and will heed whats written. Cheers Burnzi

I have EVO cam bearing removal and replacement tools from georges garage to sell if interested,,,

 Doing cam change myself soon and would be very interested in the tools,

cheers

paulie