After debating all winter and getting a lot of people's opinions, I have decided on my next mod..

I have been debating on whether to change exhaust to a 2-1 system or do cams. Would love to do both, but can't spend the money on both right now, so it's one or the other.

Talked to several forum members, tuners, did research, and finally talked to my tuner last weekend about what would be my best bang for the money and options for best gain in performance...doing a 2-1 exhaust, or doing cams.

After looking at many dyno sheets and comparing numbers with different exhaust and cams, and talking to my tuner and other guys at the shop, my best bet is going to be doing cams. 2-1 exhaust by itself would help a little, but not going to do what a good set of cams will do alone.

So....what cams? Again, looking at many dyno sheets my tuner has done with different set-ups and different cams, the Woods cams just make better numbers and the curves look real good. The Woods TW-222 cams are going to give me the best gains for bolt in cams, and were recommended by everyone in the shop over everything else. My tuner explained what each cam would give me and what he could achieve with them on the dyno & how they would feel on the street. Again, the 222s were by far the most impressive.

For reference I was looking at the SE-204, SE-255, Andrews 48H, Andrews 57H, S&S-551, S&S-583, TW-222 & TW-555.

The curve on the 222 is just awesome and puts the torque in a perfect range. The 555 is a great cam too, but on a bike with stock heads, the 222 actually makes more HP & TQ below 4,500 rpms than the 555 do. The curve on the 555 shows it's making its power & torque higher in the rpm range than the 222.

My 96" is currently making 74hp/88tq on the dyno with my current breather, pipes and dyno tune with SEPST.
After just changing cams to the TW-222, looks like I can expect 86-88hp/102-105tq with the exhaust I have. If I had a 2-1 the numbers would be even better...especially hp.
That's a gain of 12-14hp & 14-17tq just by changing cams & nothing else.

My dealer is doing the $999.95 cam swap special until March 31st and that includes the dyno tune. I have the SE Pro Super Tuner, so I am all set there. They will honor the deal with any cams I choose, I just have to pay the difference in $ between the Woods cams, and the SE cams, which is about $100. So, I can get it done for $1,100 with dyno tune. Good thing is I also have a $100 coupon to use, so now I'm back to $1,000 for the deal.

Something else of interest for those thinking about exhaust...he's done a bunch of dyno runs with many different exhaust systems & the best gains are achieved with the D&D Fat Cat over anything else including the Pro Pipe, Thunderheader & Bassani.

Now, time to close the deal on convincing the wife I need to do the cam swap & spend $1,000.

Even at the lowest end of what is expected, a gain of 12hp & 14tq is huge....that will make my bike a whole different animal...Hope I can get it done soon before the weather gets nicer in a month or so..

 

See if you can get a "before" dyno run for comparison.

 

You'll be pleased with the results. Good choice.

I love my Pro-Pipe but the FatCat is really nice. Start saving for it!

 

Cams will make a huge difference. I put the TW555's in last fall and am very happy with them in an otherwise stock 96". If you don't plan on doing any other mods to the engine, or revving to the limiter I think you'll be happy with the 222's, or the 48H. I knew I'd eventually want more (which I'm already doing...103" and ported heads) so I went 555.

And I definitely agree with doing cams before you do the exhaust. Bigger gains for $ spent.

 

Nice man. Hope to hear how it turns out. I wasn't planning on doing cams but I got a pair of 255 off fleabay for less than $100. So I couldnt pass it up. Including tools I'm in it close to $300. So I figured at least if I'm not happy, I can pay retail for another set and that would be the only real cost, excluding gaskets, o ring and bearing. I'd prob also do quickee push rods too so another $150.

 

I've had it on the dyno already...when I had the 1,000 break in done I had it dyno tuned with SEPST
74hp/88tq
I'm still running the same set-up, so #s should be that.
Baseline before stage 1 & tune was 64/78, so I gained 10/10 just with the stage 1 & dyno tune.

I have the SE stage 1 breather, V&H 3" twin slash slip-ons & SEPST.

Dyno sheets he showed me with the EXACT same breather, exhaust & tuner as I have on 96", only changing cams to the TW-222 were:
86hp/102tq
86hp/103tq
88hp/105tq

Based on this, I expect to gain 12-14hp & 14-17tq with the TW-222. He can tune based on the owners preferences...in other words do you care about fuel economy at all. I'm going to have him tune it to get the most out of it & forget about economy. This can make small differences, which can explain the small differences in the 3 bikes above, as well as the particular bike.

Very impressive #s for just a cam swap!

Before someone recommends this...I'm having the cam bearings swapped out to Torrington bearings with the new cams...it's included in the price along with the SE adjustable push-rods & all the gaskets.

Was going to do the 5,000 mile service myself, but it's gonna be due about the same time so I'm going to have that done at the dealer before they do the cam swap. Gonna go with Amsoil in all 3 holes this time..

 

Wife said go for it....gonna get it done this month.
TW-222s & back on the dyno with my SE Pro Super Tuner.
Can't freaking wait!

 

Your#'s are really close to the #'s I got with my cam swap on my 103 all be it some differences in curve according to my builder, Drew of Firebreathing Here is what I did:
30T
Dave Mackie 575L (lower bottom end and flatter longer curve with an upward sweep to 5800 before beginning to drop off)
SE Stage 1 AC
Bassani Roadrage II
(New bearings and adjustable push rods of course)
SEPRT (he prefers this version).
The results completely changed the personality of the bike as it is much easier to ride now and 6th gear is useable down to 50MPH.
On curves where I was screaming in 2nd gear In order to power out of the apex I can now enter in faster in 3rd and simply open the throttle to power out at a good 10MPH faster.
Cruising is a definite pleasure without lugging.
Yes it will smoke the tire at will and lift the front end without effort.
Bob

 

Sounds like a good setup!
This is likely as far as I will go with internal changes...I doubt I will get into the engine any further or change heads, etc. However, someday I would like to change my exhaust to a 2-1 system & I would consider the 30T pulley swap.

 

Doing cam swap is the best way to get more power that is really usable.
At 30,000 miles I went to the SE255 came on my Ultra and it really made a difference. The 255 are a great touring cam. I like tq. Lots of it. I like my bike useable for street use. Don't like high
Rpm on a street bike. If you check around in the.classifieds you might find a deal on.some 2-1 pipes.
dd