Excuse me for being technology challenged. The Harley-Davidson dealer told me if I wanted to go with gear driven cams I would need to balance the crankshaft and decrease the endplay on the crankshaft. I am not sure if all this is neccessary I just wanted to do away with the need for chain tensioners and shoes and tighten up the cam drive. Are there advantages or disadvantages to chain drive vs. gear drive cam systems? Out of simplicity I will probably stick to the stock chain drive with the hydraulic tensioners. Your input will be greatly appreciated!

The chain that comes stock from the factory will last for a long time. Gear drives are better the sportsters come with it. I think that it is more of a high performance upgrade.

WOW .... you say a long time but that is if you trailer ur bike...haha ive heard that the plastic chain tentioners start to fall apart after about 40-60 thousand miles... and while some people ive met will never put those kind of miles on a bike they own others could easily put 40-60 K on their bike in 3-5 yrs.... so i guess the real question was more like when mine wear out do i just replace or do i upgrade to geardrive cams or do i .... oh yeah... go full throttle and build my 88ci to a 95ci... ? or maybe i missed the point all together