I am 25 years and I purchased my 98 fxds-conv dyna lowrider brand new as soon as I graduated high school. I have been to sturgis 4 times and I rode every time. I prefer harley but as you may guess my friends all have a honda sportbike for speed. As much as I love to just cruise around and enjoy the terrain I am tired of them having more speed off the start as well as in the long run. Of course my bike is all stock so my question is this; What modifications/Alterations/part replacements can I perform to get the best performance. I have an entire winter of vacation to work on my bike and I have done a lot of car mechanics but never on my bike other than general maintenance. I would like to keep the cost down as much as possible with out compromising reliability. I am a do-it-yourselfer with a lot of time on my hands but i need instruction and directionl (i.e. a manual of somekind that tells me the steps to the upgrades).

My goal is that next spring I will have one hell of a street bike that can roast the competition (i.e. my friends)

Any suggestions?

Nitrus?, Screamin Eagle Cams? I really don't know How or where to start.

Thanks.

 

Street Rod.

 

In my opinion if you get an EVO engine to run with a crotch rocket you are going to sacrifice a lot of reliability. Why try to make you bike something that it isn't? You can kick it to 88 inches and get more performance, but it still is not going to run with what your buddies are riding. If you go bigger that 88 and use nitrous, you are going to kill reliability.

If you are dead set on keeping up, and staying with HD, you need to look at the Buell or the V-Rod.

Keep in mind that the crotch rockets might be the king of speed, but with a HARLEY DAVIDSON, you are the king of cool.

Regards,

Bill

 

I agree with billnourse, your bike also weighs alot more than a crotch rocket. At really high speeds, your bike would probably handle like garbage too.

 

Thanks for the insight, Mom always said I was a dreamer....

How about if I just want to increase the performance to its ability. Any suggestions for a guy with a lot of time on his hands. Keep in mind I don't have any experience with motorcycle know how. Just a lot of comon sence and the ability to learn as I go. I like instruction (manuals,etc).

 

Black Jack:

Check out the link below. This site has lots of good tips on evo performance. To get big HP numbers you are going to need head work done and should probably seek assistance from a knowlegable mechanic. You may be able to handle the Stage 1 and Stage 2 upgrades yourself. Other sources of information are back issues of American Iron and anything Joe Minton writes in American Rider magazine. Hope this helps. Be careful out there.

Steve

http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/index.htm

 

Not to sound stupid but I am not aware of the difference between my 1998 engine and the new engines that harley is using now. Should I look out for anything while I am browsing for mods. Are there things that are specific only to the new engine and not compatable with mine? I just want to cover my rear before I make any purchases or plans to do the work.

 

Black Jack,

Your engine is almost 100% different than the new engines. Yours is a single cam EVO 80 inch engine. The new ones are 88 inch twin cam engines. I heard that when the twin cam came out there were only about 10 things on the bikes that were intercangeable.

There are a lot ot things you can do to it and maintain reliability, but there are limits.

Regards,

Bill

 

Ya wanna run with the crotch rockets get a Buell or a Street Rod.

And that is a Street Rod, not a V-Rod.

Ride safe.

Crow

 

Your bike stands at a whopping 650+ pounds without rider and will max out at 6500 or so rpms regardless of your mods and has no aero dynamics. Your friends are riding 375 pounds of uncomfortable plastic and have great aero dynamics to boot and some of them red line up towards 12000 rpms its a completely different world that has no comparison. Its great to hear of a younger guy thats interested in a real bike.

steve

o ya did I mention that you ride in style and they ride incogneto!