Supposedly, replacing gears with cam chains was also partly noise-reduction driven.
And the combustion chamber design on the twin cam is better for power production, economy and emissions. But Harley has never been big on admitting when changes are done for compliance reasons. Got to maintain that rebellious image.

Water cooling will need to come next. But they've got to sneak up on this, water cooling just part of the cylinder head on some models first, and not calling it "water cooling".

 

Seems they could easily cast the engine & tranny cases as unit, ala the XL & still keep the "traditional" look.

 

No need to do that Chase. Just rebuild that Evo from the cases up. When I was rebuilding my '93 FXR, I bought a brand new set of cases from Surdyke Harley. They had some big sale going on, and I got them for a great price ($600 and something). I had to send in my old cases to the dealership, but I got the new cases with the same (original) engine number stamped on them.

Built a nasty little 89" stroker with all S&S parts (except the cases, of course) that will embarrass most any Twinkie out there, and scare the **** out of you at the same time. If you rode my bike, you wouldn't even consider a crate motor. The Evo is just a great base motor, whether you keep it stock, or trick her out a little bit. The Baker OD6 tranny makes this bike a great high speed cruiser on the freeway too.

 

OMG, I knew it was bad but I didn't know it was that bad, I thought it was pretty stupid to liquid cool the heads but now I know why. they cant keep their hands off of anything. as if oxygen sensors, & catalytic converters, & quiet mufflers weren't enough, now it's this.

 

I knew about the factory rebuild, but, not just the cases. I'll look into it. That would solve the weak case areas.

I've been eyeballing something in the 111-113 range, and HOT street. Only thing I know about my current engine, is it has an EV3 and S&S pushrods. It's snotty, and quicker than my 96".... But, I want a more square engine.

Sorry for the hijack...

My first TwinCam adventure about 12 years ago, didn't go so well. Stayed clear of them for a long time. Stuck with Evo, and XL. XL is bulletproof, and set up to make power much better.

This one hasn't been problematic, but I'm still leary. However, there are plenty on TwinCams with a lot of miles on them,

Chase

 

I'd love to take that challenge. I'll even run a throttle stop to make it fair. My stock case, stock head casting, ride it anywhere twinkie still makes 120/120 at around 1/2 throttle. I love fxrs, but imo a twin cam swap is pretty much required to make the big, reliable power. Just bustin on ya though, that's a sweet looking fxr and I'm sure it's a blast.

 

Why,yes,yes,no

 

The EVO is like a small block Chevy 350...reliable, and just works.


The Twin Cams are better in every single measurable way, but there is still that attraction to the EVO...or the old small block.


The Vortec 5.3 and 6.0 are far superior engines to the 350....but I sure do miss the 350. IMO there is no way to justify saying one is better than the other, ride the one that puts the biggest smile on your face.

 

Thanks for the compliment.

Your twinkie isn't exactly an "average" build that you run into every day...in fact I'd call it a pretty extreme build, or a racing build.

That being said, I'd love to take that Pepsi challenge with you on some nice twisty roads. Personally, I don't think all that extra HP and torque are going to do you much good, or give you any real advantage.

I'm a firm believer that you don't need a huge displacement and triple digit HP/torque numbers to have a lightweight, fast, and very nimble Harley. Just give me a FXR or a Sportster with a few choice mods, and a vast majority of weekend warriors on their new twin cam bikes are going to have a tough time keeping up with me, not the other way around.

 

That's a pretty good way to put it. The old sbc are still capable of big displacement and big power pretty easily.
You're absolutely right on that. I do love the power on corner exit though. Took a lot of work to get the bike to put it to the ground though.

I agree that mine is a little above average but definitely not extreme or a race motor. It's almost all off the shelf parts, most of them out of the Harley catalog. Same cranking compression as a stock 110. Chain drive hd cams, stock hd lifters, beehive springs, production heads with basic port work and average valve sizes, off the shelf pipe. Nothing crazy at all, just a good combo of parts and tuning. I'll ride it anywhere, runs cool, never pings, even when I was up in NH in traffic and could only find 89 octane. That's what I love about twin cams.