Hello all,

2008 FLHX with a 96", going on 75k miles on OEM engine. Started using a little oil (about 1/2 quart per 5k miles). I think the top end is due for a freshening up. Should I bore it out to a 103"? Or should I just "re-ring" the pistons and maybe change cams?

I'm not necessary after more power, but if either make sense, I'm not oppose to either. Longevity is my primary goal. I ride solo and never rev above 4500rpm. I'm the type that keep a vehicle, or bike till it die die. Case in point, my 3 vehicles are 1984 Impala, 94 Caprice, and 97 Caravan.

As always I welcome your inputs. Ride safe.

 

if the heads are off- then swapping pistons and cylinders is slight cost- time/money.
you'll want to get comp releases added to the heads

the 103 has more torque than the 96"--- not gobs more power, but it is there and usable in city or canyon riding...bike is a little more comfy in 6th at 65.
103 parts can be super cheap from teh guys who are chasing more power...watch the classifieds

you could do cams at the same time.

do you have a tuner which will deal with these changes or will that be an added cost?

mike
( happily riding a stage 1 96")

 

I'm running a Power Commander 5, along with a dyno at 77.95hp and 88.30 torque. Not particularly great numbers but it's adequate for me.

 

In alot of cases Cubic Inches is hard to beat. Cams ma

 

If your planning on keeping the bike then I'd do a 107" engine kit. Fuel-Moto offers a great kit and at a fair price. I'd then get my heads done and run a cam and compression where I did not have to use the push button comp. release's, been there & done with that. If I had to go to comp release's I'd install the electric ones from HD. Again this is all depending on whether you keep the bike or not. Honestly if I had one with that many miles on it I'd seriously think of trading.

 

I'm a relative newbie so maybe this is more of a question than an answer but; my impression of cams is that mainly, they're used to move your usable power up or down the RPM range. So,, if I wanted more absolute power I'd go for the 103 cu in. If I wanted that power to kick in at the "Low" end, I'd install a 255 cam. If I wanted to shift more power toward the higher RPM's for better 6th gear performance, I'd install a 204 cam, (as I'm currently doing), taking some power from the low end and moving it to the upper end (RPM's).

Hopefully tech savvy guys will excuse my hokey explanation here, but this is my basic understanding of the relationships. The OP will want to confirm these ideas with his tech before making a decision, of course.

 

If ya want longevity, boring to 103 with new Pistons is better than throwing rings on the old ones. Then ya still got another rebore to 107 down the road, too. Good idea to freshen the heads and add compression releases. Might be able to find some low mile take-off 103 heads with them already. Ya don't have to do cams but it would be hard for me not to at least do cam bearings and lifters along with the top end,

 

If your truly happy with your 96" I would rebuild it and leave it alone. Once you start getting into mods that increase the power more issues start coming up. After I added cams to my 96" my clutch started to go and then the comp went. Fixed those and decided to do the S&S 106 big bore kit and my crank went out.

If you start to add more power the chance of other issues coming up start to increase.

 

Made sense, I understand the 3 rules: Go fast, Reliable, and Inexpensive. Can have any 2, can't have all 3. Don't want to deal with compression release, I feel it's a BandAid, no reason to make the starter work harder than necessary.

That being said, what say you if I bore it out to a 103", keep compression low for stock head, and no cam?

 

Really it's up to you on the compression releases. If you have the heads off anyways to bore your cylinders it's cheap insurance to have them installed. You don't have to use them even if they're installed. Worse case you decide to add cams and compression later, at least they would be done?

I wouldn't say they are needed though just for a 103 upgrade.