Hey everyone, i've been playing with the idea of some upgrades for a few years now and I'm gunna pull the trigger this late summer. My 05 Deuce TC88 currently has stage 1 with V&H Big Radius 2into2 pipes and Arlen Ness Big Sucker intake. Now ive never been into this motor and I'm new to v-twin 4-strokes, ive always been a 2-stroke and other small engines guy so bare with me, but I know my next step is cams and dealing with my tensioner if it hasn't been already, I wont know til I take a peak next weekend before I order my parts.

If my tensioners have never been touched then I'm thinking either S&S gear drive kits 509's or 510's or going with either Andrews 21N or 26N cams and piecing their roller chain kit together, or going with the full Woods kit with either T5-6 or T6-6 cams. The Woods kit seems the most expensive by far but also seems to be the most complete for a roller chain kit.

Just some more info I don't rev my bike out too often I'm a low end torque kind of guy, I keep it fairly low rpm whether I'm 2-up or alone. And I'm about 50/50 in town and highway so I'm thinking I need a low-mid cam but it confuses me cause ive also got a pretty light bike. And I don't plan on anymore work in the future, I'll probly end up getting a newer and bigger bike within the next couple years anyways. If I did tho it will be 95'' with some head work, so choosing a cam that can work with both options would be right on.

 

Make sure you check you crank run out before installing gear drive. I have an 01 road glide with 80k plus on the clock and it has the stock style tensioners. I bought it used so I dont know if they were ever changed. I have checked them but they are ok. I have all the parts needed to change the shoes out. I bought CYCO shoes. I have not decided to put cams in or not. But when I was looking I was looking at the 509's and lots of members on here recommend them for a stock 88" motor.

 

No disrespect but taking little bites at upgrading the TC88" motor will be an expensive and, unless you just like taking apart stuff and putting it back together, very time consuming. Being on the fence about trading up will also get in your way; you need to decide now whether or not you plan to keep the bike or trade up at some point in the future. For example, if you now you are going to keep the bike, the smart move would be to go as far as your mechanical skills and budget will allow now, i.e., geared cams, big bore, head, fuel management and tune. However, if your plans are to trade up or sell the bike in another year or so, don't spend the money on geared cams and address the tensioner issue with CYCO hardware, install a set of cams, fuel management, tune and go.

One of my bikes is a 2005 Deuce. I built the 95" motor shortly after I took delivery; 104TQ/94HP which was respectable 10 years ago. However, I have the parts on the shelf for a 98" motor that I expect will make 115TQ/110HP which was not possible 10 years ago. So I can tell you a few things about the '05 TC88" motor.

The '05 heads were the worst HD has put on a motor ever; however, '05 was the year HD introduced the beehive springs and the 7mm valve stems. The valves were a bit smaller than previous years and the new guide seals were prone to leak and oil consumption was a problem; many, mine included were replaced under warranty. The beehive springs increased the max cam lift from previous years from .510" to .570" so the cams you have listed are worth another look as none have lifts above .510". Having said that, having even mild head work done to take advantage of higher lift cams and remove the bottle neck at the heads is probably the best thing you can do for that motor.

So, you need to give some thought to a build plan based on how long you intend to keep the bike, the amount of work you are confident you can do yourself and how much money you are willing to spend; then you can develop a plan. You could go from addressing the tensioner issue and set of cams to the bolt on 110" kit; gotta pay to play, you just need to decide how hard you want to play......

 

Thanks Lunchbox, I'm aware of checking crank run-out before gears, just didn't wanna go all the way in their to check it and not have the parts to put back together, another reason why I'm leaning toward the Andrews or Woods roller chain upgrade. I've also contemplated on just upgrading my cams and keeping the stock style tensioners and replacing with cyco shoes, it would be by far my cheapest option and possibly the best option considering I cant see myself putting on more then 30,000 miles from now until I re-sell and upgrade to a newer bike.

 

No disrespect taken, constructive criticism is the only way to learn IMHO. I think its pretty safe to say the bike will be traded up within around 20-30,000miles. I'd love to upgrade to a newer Dyna or something with just some more comfort and options for more travelling, the Deuce is beautiful but its more of an in town bike. With that being said budget always comes into play as well considering I only get to ride 4 months out of the year up here in Canada.

With taking your suggestions into consideration what would you say to just upgrading to CYCO shoes, putting in a set of cams and pushrods, fuel mapping and just riding her til I trade-up?

 

Just a couple of comments before answering your question. Don't think a Dyna will be more comfortable or better suited for travel. My brother and I both bought new bikes in '05, he a Dyna and me the Deuce. We live in south Texas and have family near Denver so we make that trip, usually in July but not every year; two 500 mile days. My brother got rid of the Dyna before the '06 models were released, traded for a '05 standard softail, put a Saddleman seat on it and was much more comfortable on the softail than the Dyna. If you are thinking of trading for a bike to tour and travel, cut to the chase and get a touring model; you will not regret it. I rode the Deuce for about three years before picking up a 2002 FLHT; what a difference on a long trip. Can carry plenty, comfortable and handles much better than a softail; just food for thought.

If you only ride 4 months out of the year, how long will it take you to roll up 20K to 30K miles? By the time you get ready to trade, HD will have introduced the new four valve, liquid cooled, three cam, 120" motor as the new standard The point I was making in my previous post was that your situation it typical. You have done Stage I and now thinking about a bit more performance, so naturally cams are considered. So, you install a set of cams and get a sense of the new power and the next thing you know, you are thinking big bore or head work; it's addictive.

My advice would be to spend as much as you are comfortable spending now. Increasing displacement to 95"/98", a set of mild cams and mild headwork will get you to 100TQ/100HP and then some really easy, even with those poor performing BR pipes.

The easiest and cheapest way to get your foot in the water would be to address the tensioner issue by replacing the tensioner shoes with the CYCO pieces, upgrading the inner cam bearings to B148s, and installing a set of S&S 509, Andrews 26 or SE204 cams; take your pick. With a cam only upgrade, you could get by with a less sophisticated fuel management system like the V&H FP3 which offers a library of mapped tunes but also has an auto tune feature to fine tune a map. Or you can spend a bit more for the TTS Mastertune or DJ Powervision and dyno tune. Best bet would be to seek out your local dyno tuner and see what he/she recommends for fuel management.

Once you do that and find yourself wanting more power, going bigger bore, head work and most likely a different cam set would be the next logical step.

 

Thanks for all the info djl. I know the topic has been beaten to death and nobody likes repeating answers but you helped me out. I'll take your info into huge consideration, maybe save up for a winter build instead of picking away at it, really it all comes down to if I'm going to trade up.

I'll be honest I love my deuce and I'm comfy doing long hauls by myself, the only thing it lacks is storage and comfort for the old lady(I have a custom rear fender) and that's the whole reason I wanted to trade up, the reason I thought Dyna was because newer model Softails don't appeal to me and I really like the look of the newer StreetBobs and WideGlides(heavy touring bikes just don't appeal to me since I like to bar hop and town ride a lot) and I'm seeing what the cheaper option is(new bike with the new tensioner style and bigger motor/6-speed tranny or do some custom work to the deuce to achieve those options, mainly custom build seat for the custom fender instead of the lick-n-stick passenger seat and replace the aftermarket tie down saddle bags). I have a feeling upgrading to the newer bike would be the better option at this point considering my bike is worth within 2-3000$ difference of a newer Dyna.

Maybe back to the drawing board for me then. I'm gunna either shop around for a new bike this fall or do the full winter build I think. I appreciate your help man, the closest indy and/or Harley shop is around 300 miles away from where I live so its a huge help getting on the forums.

 

Here's some pictures of my Deuce right now. Maybe you'll see what I mean about upgrading a seat and getting better saddlebags to take some longer trips. I'll be honest it's giving me a headache trying to decide what to do haha!

 

I set up the Deuce for long trips with the HD luggage rack to which I attached a Tourmaster Tall Bag that sat on the passenger pillon and a small duffle that sat on the small luggage rack and a tool bag strapped to the Ness Lo Fly bars with more rise and pull back and I do run with the quick demountable windshield just in case I hit some rain and I always hit some rain. Also extended the foot pegs 3" and added a set of Kury long ride pegs that let me change leg position from time to time. Much more comfortable than stock but not near as comfortable as the old FL. The seat is a Mustang Vintage Solo with the wide passenger pillon. The wife doesn't make long trips but sometime accompanies me on weekend outings and swears she prefers the Mustang passenger pillon on the Deuce to the Mustang passenger pillon on the FLHT; I don't get it but it her butt.

In all honesty, if I were to do it all over again, I would have bought a Fatboy instead of the Deuce. It can be outfitted with quick release bags, demountable luggage rack and windshield like the Heritage softail and all that can be stripped off for in town profiling if one is into that. Having said that, lots of bar hopping can be done on a Streetglide; very cool profile even with bags and bat wing. Let me know if you go with the winter build. A couple of years back, I helped a guy in Canada with his 95" build; HD won't ship parts internationally so in addition to helping with the build plan, I purchased parts and sent them to him.

 

I'll let you know what happens djl....I've found a couple 2014-2015 Street Bob's online already in the 13-15,000$ range. Just trying to sort out how much work and cost it's gunna be to do up the deuce vs just selling and upgrading to a 103 with a 6-speed.