I'm posting this because a week ago I was looking for similar postings, and maybe someone else might find it of interest now to read mine. I am not one who does any of his own mechanical work, other than some chrome, just so you know where I come from. The bike is an '09 Heritage, 20 months old with close to 27K miles.

I just took my first 80 miles tonight on the bike fresh from my dealer's installation of a 103 inch big bore kit plus SE 255 cams. No porting or changes to the heads at all. I already had a stage 1 air plus SE super tuner and V&H double barrel long Q series exhausts. I had the stage 1 air and exhausts for 16 months (about 18000 miles), but never felt like they did much, performance-wise (different dealer did the install and tune). My "before" dyno proved that out - it was barely as good as stock (or so they tell me). I'm told and am not surprised that I could do better with performance with a less constricting exhaust, but I like the looks and sound of what I have (and beside, new ones aren't free!).

The "after" dyno chart is pending a good break-in period, but I'm told based on the tuning work so far I picked up about 20 ft lbs of torque, from a 77 starting point (max at about 3300 rpm). My "before" power was 63.7 hp at about 5600 rpm. Time will tell on the power gain.

So far I'm very pleased with my choice. Tomorrow I'll ride a very familiar route and get a better sense of the differences from "before", but tonight's ride was impressive. It wasn't exactly a kick in the pants, but a nice steady reassuring pull. I was looking to find a way to get some use out of 6th gear, and with this build, 6th gear seems actually useful. I found it pulled fine all the way from 55 to 85 and didn't seem at all finished when I had to let off for an exit. 6th never seemed to hold it on a hill in that 58 to 65 range before.

I haven't run across a downside yet. Acceleration off a stop was very good, it sounds great and I'm rid of the deceleration pop I've lived with for over a year. I can't wait to get past the break-in period and really let her rip.

Here's a question, if anyone with an answer gets this far in my post: my next project is to have some work done on my wife's Triglide. We'll change out the head pipes, but probably stay with the stock mufflers for now. We'll add a stage 1 breather and tune it with TTS. The question is the cams. The current recommendation from someone whose opinion I am coming to respect (Mr. Wizard) is to go with the Woods 555. Does anyone have any experience comparing the SE 255 with the Woods 555? What would be differences in feel, or any other criteria, for that matter? I've tried to compare them on the internet, even studied some articles on cam theory, but it just isn't coming into focus.

 

I ran a set of 255's in my 2010 Triglide for 7,000 miles. The SE255 does bite pretty hard on the bottom end but peters out around 4,200 rpm, in a 103 its particular about fuel quality. While out west this past July I had to run octane booster several times due to pinging and the ambient temperature wasn't very hot. The SE255 is still a EPA compliant cam so the engine will still hold a lot of heat. I just installed the Wood TW-555 in my Triglide and will also be installing them in my dads 09 Triglide. I'm expecting they will pull a little longer, help cool the engine some more, make it less particular on fuel quality and if some of the dyno charts I've seen are correct they will still hit pretty good on the bottom end. I'll know more come April when we take both Trikes and have them put on a Dyno.

 

IMHO, you are going bass akwards on the exhaust, keep the stockl head pipes and install some Rush or Cyclel Shack slipons. The stock head pipes are quite good. If they have the cat, have the cat removed. The below link will bring up a slide that was previously posted somewhere on this forum; check it out for cat removal.

http://albums.phanfare.com/slideshow...3&a_id=4945184

I haven't run either of the two cams you mention but have seen the dyno results for many. As a general statement, the Woods or TMan 555 would be a better choice than the SE255 but I am not sure if the extra weight of the trike might make the SE255 a good choice. Another cam option is the Andrews 48; new this year specifically for cam only upgrades to the 96" motor.

 

I would tend to agree on the bass-akwards comment, but in this case the headpipe switch IS to remove the cat, but at the same time go with a ceramic coated headpipe to try to cool down the trike. The cam change is for additional torque, but sticking with the exhausts, if we can, is because it's my wife's trike and she doesn't want loud pipes!

 

Removing the cat would be much cheaper than new head pipes. With the cat removed, you remove some of the heat. The lean condition from the factory is the real heat generator. If you had the bike tuned, you would remove the heat and cool down the bike; throw in the cam and you have the added torque. Run the V tune feature and after three cycles, you will be amazed how much better/cooler the bike runs. In the trike, the Andrews 21 or 26 or the SE203 for the low end; not much after 4000 but does your wife spend much time above 4000? The power band or the "mouse" cams might be more useful for your wife than that of the SE255 or the Woods 555 but I don't know how she rides.