Are SE Heads worth it....?
Are they good heads....?
Our just take the money and have my stock ones worked on....?

 

Re work the stock heads for sure. Many builders can do this. GMR, HQ, T-Man, Hillside etc and you will get much better performance.

 

Rework stock heads are much better if done by good shop. 2012UltraLimited has listed some very good choices.

 

What are your goals and are you doing any other work to the motor other than head work? I think talking to a shop that has actually bench flowed both a ported stock head and compare it to a SE head to see the differance. Sometimes stock heads can gain great results, sometimes it is worth it to start with a better design. To me I wouldn't even consider head work unless you are upgrading to more CI on the bottom end.

 

SE heads are not worth the money they are stock heads with heavy duty springs....rework your own for probably the same or cheaper and get some serious power out of them..... SE vs your heads(worked) no comparison

 

I'm using SE MCR heads. looking back I wasted dough on these. for what I'm in them (I had them ported locally, new springs, locks, retainers and labor) I could have my stockers done up much nicer from Baisley, DME, Big Boyz or any other of the big names..live and learn i guess. If I was doing it again I'd pimp out a set of stockers and save money for elsewhere on the motor.

 

A good porter can work magic. Any motor can benefit from a good set of heads. It is not necessary to increase cubic inches. Cams would definately be the other key to the equation.

 

Been reading the Fuel Moto 107 thread in the touring section and it seems like you can get to 100/115ish with their kit using stock heads with no mods for $1300 and its something that can be a moderately skilled DIY'r can manage.

 

Shiftace ... I got the MCR as well ... not knocking them as much as you, though apparently ...

... I didn't pay retail (don't know that you did) ... they are what they are ...

... but, I am of the opinion they are a definite improvement ... (and in my case, worth it) ...

Also, I readily acknowledge any of a goodly number of head porters who can do as well for the same money (maybe less ... maybe more) than SE ... in my case the MCR have served a purpose ...

The combustion chamber is 81cc so they increase the compression ratio with the abillity to use flat-top pistons ... they do flow considerably better than stock heads ...

... also, you may or may not get equivalent benefit from a independent shop ... as I admit, there are a number of legit operations with excellent results ... but, are the flow bench numbers comparable (a lot of variables ... as with dynos) ... and some shops that might talk a good game but not really know V-Twin motorcycle performance as well as they let on ...

... another fact to acknowledge ... you will end up with a bottleneck in the CFM flow rate somewhere whether it is the air cleaner, throttle body, manifold, port or exhaust ... you may end up 'wasting' the huge flow rate you get from the ported heads ... or, you may actually suffer from too great a flow rate (over the optimal rate) given your displacement and cam characteristics ...

R/
'Chop

p.s. Shiftace ... I mentally have a propensity to transpose the letters "f" and "t" in your forum name ... making me think of Inebriation ... LoL

 

I went with the SE-CNC heads when I installed the SE 259E cams. Although I did not take them out of the box and do a straight-on bolt up. They still needed to be polished and ported a bit more to suit me. Then I shaved the mounting surface to give me the optimum amount of compression with flattops.

I, like SURFOR Chop, did not pay retail on these either.........

So all said and done, I ended up with a 96cu.in. motor displacing triple digits in Hp & TQ.. Yes I could probably add a bigger TB and larger injectors to squeeze more out of the motor, I just don't see the feasibility of that at this time.

I know that the motor has the power to get out of its own way. Although with that power. The need to change the pulleys (Ratios), was needed in order place that power at the rear wheel and make it useful power.