Quick question. I am looking to do an upgrade for my 2001 FLHTCI from the stock 88 cu to the 95 cu big bore kit. I already have true dual Vance and Hines pipes, a screaming eagle air cleaner and a power commander. I am looking at the basic stage 1 kit and am wondering how much better my pickup and top end speed will be as opposed to my stock 88 I am running now. I dont have the bucks to go crazy and have cams and all the other goodies that come with the stage 2 or 3 kits right now. Is it a bad mov not to have a cam installed with the big bore kit? Im not looking to pull wheelies, just a bit more pickup.

Any ideas and tips from those of you that have done the big bore kit appreciated.

 

If your doing the big bore kit you will be putting cams in it's part of the kit. As far as performance goes if tuned right you will be pleased.

 

I didn't have it done on on my bike, but some guys I ride with had it done on their bikes (2 Road Kings and 1 Ultra Classic)

The indy that did the work highly recommended cams and head work to getthe full effect of the bore.

They did and were pleased with the results.

Sammi

 

From where you are now I doubt you'll pick up anything noticible. I'd either bite the bullet and go stage II or just wait until you can.

 

My Dealer told me the stage 1 kit did not include the cam. The price of the stage 1 upgrade is around $1500, add another $900 or so for the cam. He promises me I will feel a hell of a difference in performance with just the stage 1 kit. If I do decide to go with the cam, any ideas which one works best for this bike? I do alot of highway riding, but want some pickup off the line as well. Nothing to crazy though.

 

The heads and cams is where the power comes from.If You can't do that right now,I'd wait till You can.If done right,You'll be very happy.

 

It would help if you listed a budget you had in mind and whether that budget needs to include shop labor or if you are doing the work yourself.

A very nice and cheap 95" build would be:
Bore existing cylinders
Cast SE 95" pistons for similar (KB are good also)
Andrews 26 cams (gear drive if you can swing it, chain drive if you can't and replace tensioners and inner bearings)

The Andrews cams are designed to work with stock heads and stock compression. I money was really tight, I would consider adding those cams to a stock 88. You will pick up some power.

There is a dyno chart on page 10 of the Dyno numbers for Baggers thread on this forum from Allen.M that has the build I described above. Very good results. I would expect a little less from your build due to your pipes and M&M injection.

 

One more thought. I just noticed you have an '01 injected bike, which means you have the old style Magnetti Marelli injection system. I would caution you against doing too much performance work with this injection set-up. They can be very difficult to tune. There are some out there that have good luck, but the majority are dissapointed in the results. The Andrews 26 build I described would be fine, but a bigger cam and better heads could lead to problems on an M&M bike. I'm speaking from experience on this.

 

The 95" big bore kit with the SE203 cams is a good setup until you can open your wallet for higher lift cams and headwork. It's a kick in the pants and I was happy with the kit.
As far as the MM injection system, I have one and If I were you I wouldn't have any reservations about any mods whatsover. It's as tunable as the Delphi system out there and I haven't seen any amoung fellow riders that wasn't flawless. The only problems you'll find (unless you live in a cabin in Alaska) with a MM injection system is not enough money to do all the mods you want. A DFO or PCIII will do the job as an alternative to the dealer Stage II download for the Big Bore kit. Magneti-Marelli is one of the worlds largest producers of motorcycle parts.

 

Firetender - I respectfully disagree, and I think the vast majorty of HD performance minds will agree with me. The overall design of the MM throttle body is inferior to the Delphi unit. The Delphi also has a better injector angle. That is why the SE throttle body for MM injection changed the injector angle to match the Delphi unit. The only way I have heard to make the MM bikes close to Delphi in performance is to go with the SE unit and a SERT (now available for MM bikes).

My old '99 RKC had a mild 95" build as well. BC Gerolamy heads, KB pistons, SS 510G cams, etc. 87hp and 95tq was the best it could get with a PCIII and one of the best tuners (Latus Motors) building a custom map for each cylinder. That same combo will get higher results and have better drvieability with a Delphi system.