[FLTRI]

I picked up my bike last night around midnight (It's a L.V. thing. Shift work is the norm, 8-5 jobs are the oddity here) and after hanging out with the mechanic for a bit, I gave them a quick test.

All I can say is I am very impressed. I still have to throw on the tour-pac and wife, and do the critical to me passing-the-semi-from-60-mph-while-loaded test, but I think I got what I'm looking for. Idle is ever so slightly lumpier, but I can still rodeo the bike and not have it surge at idle like my 2003 R/G did with the SE 203 cams.

Power appears to come on strong just over 2000 and by the time I hit 3000 or so I better be pointed in the direction I planned, because it builds rapidly after that, all the way to 6200.

I did a couple of freeway on ramps, and was at 100 when I hit the end of one. On another, I had to back out of it at the top of the ramp as there is a slight bend, and I was carrying too much speed.

I'm positive that my 96" R/G would now seriously spank my stock 103" work bike...

I didn't dyno it, and the mechanic used a map for the SE 255 cams. He said he tweaked the map a bit, and after I ride it a bit to bring it back and he can play with it some more. He is the dyno-guy at the shop, and said that while a dyno would help, he's pretty confident that he is very close. He dynos tons of bikes, so I trust his opinion.

He did say, however, that if I was to go to a 103" it would really run. Gotta get my wife the P&A catalouge, Christmas is coming...

I'll see if I can get a longer ride in tomorrow, and maybe attach an audio file.

 

[Lama]

I'm in Vegas also, we should do a shark ride.

 

[FLTRI]

I'm in Vegas also, we should do a shark ride.

Works for me.

Shoot me your phone number via PM, and we can meet up somewhere. I'll be riding tomorrow with my wife...

 

[akjeff]

Thanks for the first impression. Hope the two up ride is a good one!

Jeff

 

[Neano62]

Sounds cool!, and I'm not gonna read anymore. Reminds me of my Scream-n-Eagle 103 Mo-tar.

 

[FLTRI]

I got a chance to put another 150 or so on the bike today, with and without the wife.

These cams are really what I wanted. Passing power is much better, no more struggling to get from 60 up to 80-90, and around a truck. Also, the bike just feels like it's not working as hard. There are lots of wide open stretches of interstate in the Southwest with posted 75 MPH speed limits, average traffic speed is around 80.

Obviously, it would go 80 before the cams, but it always felt like it was really working at that speed. Now, it cruises nicely at 80-85 and doesn't feel like it's working as hard. Twist the throttle in 6th at 85 now, and it climbs briskly.

Kinda hard to describe, but I feel like the cams were great bang for the horsepower buck!

 

[akjeff]

Sounds great, thanks for the report! Did you have anything else replaced/upgraded when they did the install i.e. inner bearing, cam plate? Sounds like I need to start working some more OT! I just ordered a set of contrast chrome Agitator wheels & new shoes(Dunlop) for mine, so my upgrade fund is pretty well tapped out...but it's a long winter!

Jeff

 

[FLTRI]

Sounds great, thanks for the report! Did you have anything else replaced/upgraded when they did the install i.e. inner bearing, cam plate? Sounds like I need to start working some more OT! I just ordered a set of contrast chrome Agitator wheels & new shoes(Dunlop) for mine, so my upgrade fund is pretty well tapped out...but it's a long winter!

Jeff

Yeah, I did the inner cam bearings. The tech said he was glad I did, and he won't do cams without new bearings. I have ~11,500 on the bike, and you can already see wear on the old cams where they ride in the stock bearings, kinda scary... I used the stock pushrods, I've had one adjustable pushrod fail, and another loosen up on me in the past.

I know what you mean, seems like there is always one more thing the bike needs. Love or hate Harley Davidson, you have to admire their marketing plan. They sell you a bike and give you a phone book size catalog full of other things you didn't know you needed, until you start looking...

I like those Agitator wheels, should look nice! I keep trying to find a set of take off Limited Chrome wheels, no luck yet...

 

[akjeff]

Yeah, I did the inner cam bearings. The tech said he was glad I did, and he won't do cams without new bearings. I have ~11,500 on the bike, and you can already see wear on the old cams where they ride in the stock bearings, kinda scary... I used the stock pushrods, I've had one adjustable pushrod fail, and another loosen up on me in the past.

I know what you mean, seems like there is always one more thing the bike needs. Love or hate Harley Davidson, you have to admire their marketing plan. They sell you a bike and give you a phone book size catalog full of other things you didn't know you needed, until you start looking...

I like those Agitator wheels, should look nice! I keep trying to find a set of take off Limited Chrome wheels, no luck yet...

Wish Andrews made a gear drive version of the 48H. I'm a big fan of getting rid of as many moving/adjustable parts as possible, and the simplicity of a gear drive really appeals to me. The 48H grind seems so right for a bagger, that I'll likely buy one, even if they are chain drive. Like you, I'm a solid pushrod fan. It takes 5 minutes to pull the gas tank off a new FL, and the rocker boxes aren't near the headache they used to be. I doubt the added labor to use solid rods, is much more than the cost of the adjustable rods. Unless someone is a member of the cam of the month club, I just don't see the point. What intake/exhaust are you running? How about a tuner/PC-V? Thanks again for the hands on review of this cam.

Jeff

 

[FLTRI]

I considered going to a gear drive cam for the same reasons you mention, but after talking to a few knowledgeable folks, they convinced me that there is really nothing wrong with the new and improved hydraulic cam chain adjusters. While the old spring loaded ones were only good for 30-40,000 miles, the new ones should last much longer.

I have the Screamin' Eagle air cleaner (the one that uses the stock cover) and a set of Jackpot Dyno Tuned slip on mufflers. I was impressed with the Jackpots as they make a separate right and left muffler with different baffles for each side. The left muffler is largely cosmetic, anyway. I'm using the S/E Super Tuner Pro for tuning. I went with this tuner as I liked the idea of not having to leave it on the bike. Also, my tech is HD trained, and very familiar with this tuner and software.

I used a PC III usb on my 2003 95" build, 203 cams, same air cleaner, Rinehart True Duals and S/E heads. I had it dyno tuned and was making ~88 HP 96 TQ. My seat of the pants dyno on the 09 feels pretty close to this now, maybe slightly less.

The tech said he recently did a 2009 103" with the 255 cams. He dynoed it at 91/103 and said he is confident he can get more than that out of the 48H cams, when I go 103" and some dyno time.

The only negative thing I have to say about these cams is that at idle I can no longer just let the clutch out and go. From 1000 to 1300 or so they bog down, and unless you feed it some throttle it would stall. It's not that big of a deal, 5% throttle gets you moving. It just requires a slightly different technique starting from a dead stop. I know this is a very minor nit to pick, but it's there.

 

[akjeff]

FLTRI,

Thanks again for the great info. I feel a little better about the chain drive cam, now. My aversion is probably irrational anyway, as I know no one personally, that has had a problem with a chain drive cam....I'm just a bit of a Luddite! I do believe I'll be going with the 48H. My Stage I setup is a S&S intake, a BUB7 2:1 exhaust, and a PC-V w/Autotune. Really happy with the whole bit, thus far.

My previous bike(FLHS) had an 80" Evo with a Sifton Interstate cam(great Evo cam, BTW), and I had to goose it a little off idle, like you're talking about. So it'll be easy to get back in that habit.

Regards,

Jeff

 

[CHAINSAW]

How much did the sound of your idle change? Im still cam shopping, but want my idle to just sound nasty as all hell. I liked the 37G's I had in my Ultra, but don't want to have to mess with hi-lift springs and stuff for cams like a 54G.

 

[Bluzmn59]

There is another issue about switching to gear drives in the new motors and that is runout. It is now common for brand-new motors to have .005 runout, which used to be cause for concern. Now it is not considered a problem until .015 or so. That is not a good situation for running gear drive cams. Basically, I have been told my extremely knowledgeable people that there is no reason to switch on motors 2007 or later, and you may end up damaging things as well.

 

[akjeff]

Good point Bluzman. It would be wise to check your runout, before even ordering a gear drive!

Jeff

 

[FLTRI]

How much did the sound of your idle change? Im still cam shopping, but want my idle to just sound nasty as all hell. I liked the 37G's I had in my Ultra, but don't want to have to mess with hi-lift springs and stuff for cams like a 54G.

It changed a little bit, has a lope at idle that wasn't there before. It's far from nasty as hell, but you can tell the engine has a cam.

If your looking for the Evo Potato-Potato idle, this cam probably ain't gonna do it for you...

 

[CHAINSAW]

It changed a little bit, has a lope at idle that wasn't there before. It's far from nasty as hell, but you can tell the engine has a cam.

If your looking for the Evo Potato-Potato idle, this cam probably ain't gonna do it for you...

Im looking for the shovelhead potato-potato style

 

[BDMastiff]

Im looking for the shovelhead potato-potato style

Good luck with that. I'll be curious how you achieve it. Perhaps you can burn a CD of an old shovelhead and play it full blast through your stereo.

To the OP, you're going to love the new cams. It may not be a 103 but you'll be fairly close when it comes to the seat-of-the-pants feel. Good thing you changed the barings. The stock barings are awful and can cause a lot of damage to your engine if they go bad. The guy who did your work is smart! Enjoy your ride.

 

[Corrupted]

How much did the sound of your idle change? Im still cam shopping, but want my idle to just sound nasty as all hell. I liked the 37G's I had in my Ultra, but don't want to have to mess with hi-lift springs and stuff for cams like a 54G.

Your 2010 stock springs will handle the 54, I'm running an 06 95 ci with stock springs an the 54, just need to bump compression to make the best of them.

 

[akjeff]

I just heard back from Andrews tech support, as I had explained that I was looking for a bolt in cam, with good low/mid range torque, that would also grow with a 103 jug/performance head addition later on down the road. He said while the 48H will work with a 103" motor, he cautioned me to keep the compression ration to 9.5:1 or less. He thought for a 103 at 10:1 compression, a 54 would be a better choice. Since I am not a fan of adjustable pushrods, no matter what I choose, the rocker box covers are coming off. While they're off, it wouldn't take much time to put in new springs. Decisions, decisions!

Jeff

 

[FLTRI]

I just heard back from Andrews tech support, as I had explained that I was looking for a bolt in cam, with good low/mid range torque, that would also grow with a 103 jug/performance head addition later on down the road. He said while the 48H will work with a 103" motor, he cautioned me to keep the compression ration to 9.5:1 or less. He thought for a 103 at 10:1 compression, a 54 would be a better choice. Since I am not a fan of adjustable pushrods, no matter what I choose, the rocker box covers are coming off. While they're off, it wouldn't take much time to put in new springs. Decisions, decisions!

Jeff

Interesting. What I told them was that a 103 was likely in my future, but I was sticking with stock heads and compression ratio. They recomended the 48H.

I just checked HD's page and they show a stock 96" motor at 9.2:1 and a stock 103" at 9.7:1

What kind of head work are you considering? I wonder if that is why they are suggesting the 54 for your build...