I'm rebuilding my friends 79 FLH top end. He wants a little more power without sacrificing reliability. Bike already has an S&S super e carb. I was thinkin about a new cam and maybe bumping the compression up a little bit. Any ideas on what cam would be good? how about piston, Keith Black, wiesco? Compression ratio? i was thinkin no higher than 9:1. any suggestions on what you have done as far as what works well together or what doesn't would be greatly appreciated.

 

Skip the hi comp. forged pistons , they are a pain in shovels because of the tighter fit and heat issues particularly during break in doesn't take much in overheat to scuff the skirts and by by $350 pistons . I changed a bunch of them . Go 8 8.5-1 on comp. cast pistons and you have a long lived reliable motor that will use the crap they call gas anymore without knocking or other ignorance .

I like Vthunder cams for shovels , they use hyd. lifters and start making power at low RPM like 1200 and up to 6000 on a couple . Most other name cams like Andrews and Crane don't come till over 2200 to 2500 rpm so your shifting and revving a lot more . 55mph is around 2500 to 2800 on a stock geared shovel so you haven't hit the power band yet . I've used the Vthunder cams in my 88 & 93" HiPo shovel motors for yrs with great results .

Best bang for the money on a shovel is some head work , a set of the new late model type hydraulic lifters and a decent cam . You'd be surprised how well a shovel responds to that without going big bore .

 

thanks for the info, i was leaning to the vthunder cams just for that reason. What type of cast pistons should i go with? from HD? drag specialty?

 

Doubt HD has anything to fit the older bikes anymore , most all the regular cast piston sets are imported any more and the quality is good I've never had any problems with them in any of the rebuilds I've done the last 15 yrs . Try this place for parts they are about the cheapest around and the hard parts are all good quality been using them for years .

http://www.jirehcycles.com/


Also you can order from here too if needed , I've used their stuff also sometimes the new cylinders are a bit rough looking with casting flash but they clean up nice with a bit of work and the prices are right . I've run the 88" shovel kits over 100,000 no problems .

http://www.dragonmans.com/dragonman/.../the_shop.html

Good Luck , PM me if you've got questions I do a LOT of shovel work .

 

I run 10-1 comp pistons ,Andrews B-Grind Cam with solid lifters. Like TWISTED said it doesn't kick in later, but with a larger tranny sprocket. Crack the throttle at 55 and hold on! She's geared for the highway.