I have a 2010 Fat Bob that I purchased as my first bike at the end of July. It had 4520 miles on it when I bought it and I just went over 9500 miles yesterday. It is currently a stock 96ci engine with some type of unmarked slip ons (Dealer thought they might be Rush).

I had already planned on doing a Stage 1 over the winter and was leaning towards the new HD Billet Extreme A/C (still debating the A/C), V&H Pro Pipe in Black and the SE Pro Super Tuner.

The service manager at the dealer was trying to talk me into a SE Stage IV kit with the 103ci conversion and 259e cams, and for a while I was considering it because he said I'd be around 115 or so for both TQ and HP. However, after reality sunk in I realized I'm not going to be able to or wanting to sink around $4-5K into the bike to do that right and it's not something I even need.

Right now I am thinking I'd like to leave it a 96ci and maybe do the cams to pick up the numbers a little bit over the Stage 1 I already plan on doing. I am reading and searching cams on here and all over and I'm getting more confused, the more I read. Lift, duration, advance or not, pushrods or pure bolt in... my head is spinning.

From what I've read and "think" I understand, I am leaning towards either the SE204 cam or the Andrews 48H. I had also thought about the SE255, but I get the impression that the 255 falls off a bit earlier in the rpm band than the other two do. I don't ride hard or wind it out very often. I'm looking for more than the stock cams provide for passing, getting out of the way, usable 6th gear, reduce downshifting as much etc... I don't have a tach yet, but I think I'm usually in the 2000-4500 rpm range for most of my riding. Occasional 2-up riding.

I know there are different cams out there, and while I welcome any alternate suggestions I'd rather it not turn into "the wide world of cams debate" that will just add to my confusion.

Here are my questions:
1) Are the SE204 and Andrews 48H "bolt in" cams where that's all you need to do is remove old cams and replace with new and then tune, or is there other work that needs to be done? pushrods, clutch spring, etc...?

2) From experience, how will those cams perform? When will they come on? When will they fall off? When they fall off, does the bike feel like it's dying or does it still pull, just not as hard?

3) From charts in the HD catalogs, it shows a stock 96ci has around 78TQ and 64HP, roughly... Is that accurate? On an otherwise stock 96ci, and realizing that every engine will tune differently due to intake, pipes and skill of the person tuning it, among other things, what is an acceptable set of numbers I could expect to see for TQ and HP? How much will the cams add over just doing the Stage 1?

4) If you are recommending a different cam, please indicate why you are suggesting that particular cam backed up with your personal experience.

5) If you have suggestions for A/C or pipes, I welcome those also. I've looked and listened to a ton of pipes on youtube. Bassani, D&D Fat Cat, Thunderheader, Drago's... Heard about finish concerns on Thunderheader. Wasn't crazy about the Fat Cats I've heard. Not enough out there on the Drago's to form a good opinion. I like the sound, fit, finish of the V&H Pro Pipe from what I've read and heard.

I will probably have the dealer do the work, as I have a good relationship with everyone there and also have an ESP.

 

I recently spent a fair amount of time shopping for cams, so I'll share the conclusions I came up with. I'm sure someone with more experience with the specific cams you mentioned will chime in.

The Andrews 48H seems to be universally loved in the 96" motors, but maybe not the best choice if you're doing more mods (heads, displacement) down the road. Good low end torque and doesn't die off at higher RPM. The Wood TW-222 is similar in specs, so consider that as well. I haven't found a dyno chart for the 222 in a 96, only in a 103 (it's a relatively new cam)

The SE255 makes a huge amount of low RPM torque, but dies off in the upper RPMs, The SE204 gives up some low RPM torque in exchange for more on the upper end. There's a dyno chart in the SE catalog, but I'm pretty sure its on a 103" motor.

Any of these cams are going to give you more torque than stock at lower RPMs.
I ended up going with the Wood TW-555 cams, as I was more interested in midrange and upper RPM power, and something friendly to future mods.

You'll need new pushrods in any case.

The only thing negative I ever hear about the ProPipe is it hangs down kinda low.

 

Here's a little reading for you...

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...o-results.html

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...-and-dyno.html

 

One good reason to go with the SE204s (as well as being an excellent all-rounder cam): the SEPST you are planning on will have a canned map ready to go for it. Go with any non-Harley cam and you'll be guessing at the settings you need.

 

Reindeer thanks for the great info. Leaning a bit further towards the 204 now. Had not heard that about the pro pipe, but I have some time to decide, as I'm probably not doing these mods until around tax season.

Foxster - Excellent point. I had considered that, also.

One other thing I've heard mentioned in a lot of these threads, but never saw it explained. What the heck is "lope" ? Does anyone know what that means? Never heard it before.

 

"Lope" refers to the sound the cam makes when idling. Generally a 'bigger' cam will have more of a lope, or rougher, idle. Some people like that, cause it makes it sound like a hot rod. My bike definitely sounds different at idle than it did stock, but you're never going to get a real choppy idle with an EFI twin cam unless its really heavily modified. Listen to a Youtube clip of a modified shovelhead idling and you'll understand what lope is.

I used to have an Impala with a big cam and it would idle really rough. People who didn't know about cars asked me what was wrong with it, but people in the know asked me what cam it had.

 

I have the Andrews 48h and am very happy with them. But thats me, you might like your power more down low in the RPM range. You dont need new push rods. you can reuse the stock push rods it just requires more labor.

 

most people change the stock cam bearings for better quality bearings while there in the there.

 

I run the SE259e cams in a 96ci, with modified head work, and it is a great choice in cams....I am at work now, when at home I'll jive you stats on the mods....

 

I've done a lot of research also on this topic for my '96 Dyna.
I have V&H slip-ons, SE stage 1 breather and SE Pro Super Tuner and have had it dyno tuned.
64/78 is about right on a stock 96" Dyna. After my stage 1 & dyno I'm at 74/88....gained 10hp & 10tq with just that.

Most of the recommendations I have had have said to get rid of the slip-ons and go with the Pro Pipe before I do anything else. Dealer told me this also, so your choice of pipe is a good one, if not the best.

As far as cams go, from me asking this question not long ago on here....the Andrews 48H, SE-204 and SE-255 cams were the most recommended for a "bolt in" application, meaning the valve springs do not need to be upgraded and no head work is required. The SE-255 is a low end grunt cam, the Andrews 48H is a lower end grunt cam also, but runs better in higher rpms than the SE-255. The SE-204 will come on a bit later than the other 2, but still makes good low end torque and will stay with you through the entire rpm range. If you look at the SE catalog at cam dyno charts, you will see that the SE-204 is the strongest cam overall comparing it to the SE-255, 254e, and 259e. It will also make your bike have a nice lope to it and they sound awesome. Most under-rated cam IMO. If I do cams in my '96, it will be the SE-204.