Oil Pump Drive Gear--Oil Pump Driven Gear stats and answers:
The Driven gear is mounted to the oil pump itself...The Driving gear is under the cam cover. Identical layout for all tube frame Buells and 2003-2007 inclusive all XB models.
Factory and dealership records of failures are spotty at best, but "on average"...10% of Tube-framed Buells suffered driven gear failure...5% of XB's suffered driven gear failure. The XB has the oil pump mounted slightly differently than Tuber models, hence the significantly lower failure rate. 2008 to end of production ALL XB's have a completely different system to drive the pump unit for oil circulation and pressure.
Replacement Driven gear is H-D part # 26391-06 and is a beryllium bronze alloy, developed for XL "Battle of the Twins" duty and retrofits all Buells.
Pic shows Driver gear....Driven gear on end of pump shaft and shown in SM "oiling" section.
NOTE: the rampant gear failure internet hysteria from the past decade consistently failed to mention the one common denominator, which was owner/operator induced failure.
How? Three simple faults directly attributable to ownership:
1-Constantly bouncing the motor off the rev-limiter which had a propensity to cause pump cavitation
2-Incorrect oil viscosity (read too thick) used for cold weather riding conditions
3-Failure to allow the motor to come up to operating temp before loading the motor with heavy throttle demands and high revs.
#3 was most always the culprit.
buell XB case.jpg