Cams

I have a 2006 Ultra Classic with Vance & Hines slip ons, SE high flow air cleaner and Direct Link download to manange the fuel. I'm looking for more snap and throttle response when running through the gears without compromising top end performance. i want to feel this bike pull seeing I do ride two up 50 % of the time. Would changing the cams help me out? I'm not looking to do anymore work other than that. Looking for a "bolt on" cam to perform at the 2000 - 5000 rpm range. Looking for suggestions, pros and cons as to which cam best suits my needs.

Thanks in advance

With an 06 dont even look at gear drive cams, maybe consider upgrading to the hydraulic tensioner setup, I would look at andrews 26 or headquarters 0034. Hotroadking will be on here any minute now and his suggestion will be a woods 6 which is also a good cam but without a little more compression they will be a touch weaker down low and they cost like 150 bucks more for the set, like I said good cam but not 150 dollars better in my opinion. Todd

Gentlemen, I appreciate your input and suggestions. What a hard choice to make but I have narrowed it down to either the Andrews 26G or the 37G.......and yes you saw right "G"! I decided to switch over to gear driven cams. Have read in a few place that this alone can pick you up 5 extra horses...not sure if that's a big fish story though.

John S

I was told that gear drive gives more accurate valve timing First I heard about gear drive giving 5 more ponies. Don't believe everything you hear and only half of what you read
If you're gonna spend the extra bux to convert away from the stock chain setup, go with the hydraulic conversion.
A lot more risk running gear drive with knocking your crank run out outta spec IMO.
Guy's here with a lot more knowledge than me, (2 of em posted before me) will be able to give you straight up advice on the subject and not hearsay.:devil: yeah man ....big fish

I wouldnt even think about gear drive with an 06, Im betting your crank isnt even in spec for gear drive, you should check that first, the spec is max runout .003 but some start to make noise a lot less than that, Harleys crank runout spec is like .010-.012 plus just because it is good today doesnt mean it will stay in spec, 1 quick stop and it can be knocked out,then it will bust the gears and you will have major issues, plus the new hydraulic tensioners wont take any more hp than the gears, If you are dead set to put gear drives in then you should take the motor apart and have the crank trued and welded then the gear drives would be alright. Most Harley motors before 03 the cranks were mostly all in spec and that is when the gear drives became very popular but now in the last couple of years after Harley increased there spec for runout an switched from a forge to cast crank there are all sorts of people having issues with gear drives, hope this helps some Todd

Todd, are the '03's the end of the forged cranks or the 1st year of cast??

Alright finally something HRK and I agree on, Also HRK is spot on with if you are leaving it 88 inch go with the 26 the 37 will be soft on the bottom end, Lucifer I am pretty sure most if not all of the 03s had a forged crank, they probably kept using forged until they ran out of them so that is only an estimate to when they switched,02 was the last year for the timken bearing If I am remembering all of this correctly, I cant answer if you are talking a balanced b assembly for softails, Todd

But then they wouldn't have the kits to sell HRK and if your not mechanically inclined or don't have the tools then they can nail ya for shop time to get it the way it should have been done first

Thanks for the info Todd, its an 03 RK I have. :devil:

HRK, I was just reading this thread because I have a cam question.
I just bought a '98 RKC that had a 95 inch heads and jugs put on it last year.
Just quoting what they told me. If that were done, did the cam in that EVO have to be changed in any way or not? What benefit is the bigger bore if no cam change were done? And, is there any way one can tell what kind of cam setup is in an engine after is has been tinkered with?
Bones

Todd, I just posed a bunch of questions to HRK and would like to ask you the same questions. Both you guys seem to be purdy smartz about this stuff.
Please read my reply to HRK.

your bike is a 98 that means it is a evo and I havent heard of a 95 inch kits for evos but then again I am not up on evos like I am twin cams, so I cant really answer your question, as to your question on displacement, more cubes always means more power so yes there is a benefit, as to your question on knowing what cam you have, you would have to take it apart and ususally the manufacturers put the model number on one side of the shaft, so really the only way you would know is if you took it out, As to your question if they had to use a different cam for a big bore kit, no they dont some people just put in the big bore kit and not mess with the cams, If you are thinking about a cam for an Evo I would reccommend the Andrews 27, hope this helps you out some, Todd

Thanks Todd for your reply.
As far as the 95" kit for the EVO, the guy told me that it had S&S jugs and SE heads put on it making it a 95. I don't know enough to argue or even question his info although, he is a HD shop owner. I may not have anymore than an EVO engine that has had SE heads put on it if that's possible. But, the cam question is the answer that I thought. I'm not messin' with it.

I have an 02' Heritage Classic and dyno'd the bike before and after the changes. I wanted more low end torque as I do a lot of 2 up riding also.

Stock TC88, carbureted with Hi-Flo breather: 59 HP at rear wheel and 70 ft lbs torque.

Changes: S&S Andrews gear driven 26G cams, V&H True Duals with quiet baffles, 67 HP at rear wheel and 84 ft lbs of torque. I maintain 84 ft lbs of torque from 1800 - 4300 rpm. I loose a little with the true duals, but I like the look of them. Pinion shaft runout was .0015".

Like a few others have said, you can't go with gear drive if you pinion shaft runout is over .003".

my opinion

Back in sturgis ??? 2001??

I checked out a table that had a gear drive cam set-up to compare with a twin-cam CHAIN drive set up.... YOU cranked the cams which were gear drives then you compaired with YOU cranking the chain drive.... WAS I AMAZED ,,,, the amount of force it took to turn the chain drives was a LOT MORE than I imagined...... YOU could feel every chain BUMP and FORCE that wasn't involved with the gear drives.........

I became a true believer and later changed my 2000 dyna over to 570 SS gear drives....95" 10.25/1** ported-flowed heads**manly valves**adjustable electronics**python3 exhaust**intake upgrades**big air with 42 mikuni.. even addes a 6 speed tranny.....

TOO BAD with the NEWER designs of the bearings and cranks that make it dangerous and expensive for the simple change over of my 00 year...

ME??......simplest way

I would raise the compression ratio to give the added BOOST you are asking for...... doubt if changing the cams would be as necessary........ DON"T get me wrong with the other FINE suggestions that are correct from the above and probably below......
but I feel the compression ratio UP would be the simplest and LEAST evasive..... shave heads,,,, pistons and or bore.... but by then you might just as well go all out.

just my way signed....REDHEAD