Last weekend we rode to Ruidoso, NM with 3 other couples. one bike had a stock 103" 2 others had stock 96" . my 88" has a power commander, air filter and V&H true duals. seems like I was down shifting more than others through the hills. I would like to keep it reliable with plenty of torque. what are my option on a $1500 to 2K budget. Also, my bike only has 18k miles on the clock.

 

Big jugs, come on, you know you love 'em!
Seriously, pump it up to 95" and you'll be happy. I have a 95" RG and a 96" EGC, I like the shorter stroke 95" better. There's nothing wrong with the 96, I just prefer the 95.

 

That's enough for big bore and cams. Then you may be down shifting but it will be to fly by your buddy's bikes.
Go as big as you can. A 107 piston will make your bike a 99 I think. A 103 piston can turn your bike into a 95.
Your not gonna have the torque your friends have without more cubes.
Finding a used 103 piston is easy and cheap,then bore your jugs out. Cams are going up for sale for 200 bucks pretty regularly in this forum.
Parts,used will come in under 600-700 bucks and labour maybe 1000 so your going to be under budget and happy as hell

 

Sometimes too much can be just that too much. I beefed mine up to keep up with a buddies 110 CVO. I have 10.5:1 forged pistons, 211 cams, performance heads and the PC USB3 which provides plenty of torque. This summer I have managed to smoke the clutches, trashed the mainshaft and bearings in the tranny, pulled my primary drive belt in 1/2 and ripped every other spoke out of my back rim.

Hind site is 20/20 and I agree with the suggestion for big bore cylinders. take it 95" and just ride it.

 

Wow, that sounds like a really long summer of repair work?

 

Drop in a Andrews 26 first and see how it goes.......then if need be go to a 95" build and you can still use the 26's...I did that with my TC88...noticeable difference with just the cam change....then big difference with the 95 build......just sayin'

 

GOOGLE - Joe Minton 95 Build

 

Sounds like a summer of beating the tar out of it.

 

My TC88 does the speed limit just fine. I hope to get around to cams for more high end torque but would just as soon add a 6th gear.

 

big bore kit and cams easily can be done for 2k, Revolution performance makes a good big bore kit, thats what i run. Brings your TC88 to 98 inches. Run that with a good gear drive cam and you'll be climbing the mountain in the high gear no problem.

Take a look at their website, they have a lot of info about their big bore kits.

http://www.revperf.com/TwinCam/twinCamPerformKits.html

Hope this helps