Greeting from the Touring Forum.

My brother has a '92 FXRS, as you can see from the pics below it's a little customized but the Evo 80 is stock except for some crappy aftermarket pipes and upgraded A/C. He's the original owner with just 20K miles on the ODO and is now interested in hopping up the engine a little. I just installed a Wood cam in my Road King, so that might have something to do with it...

I rode the FXR across the Bay last week when my King was in the shop. It rides and handles great---I've been riding this bike since it was new, and it's the best handling Harley I've ever ridden. But it is definitely in need of some more power--everywhere. He's not looking for big power that will break the rear tire loose or turn it into a beast, so not really interested in a crate engine or hi-compression big bore kit.

I was thinking more like a solid stage 2 setup, new cam, 2-1 pipe, carb or carb work, and ignition to wake up this sleepy Evo. Since it's carbed Evo, I'd really like it sound sweet (read lopey) at idle. Looking for power from 2000-5000 range based on his riding style, maybe even 1500-4500.
His riding style is fairly relaxed, 50% 2 Up, mostly coastal backroads.

I'm not very fluent in the Evo stuff, so I'm looking for some recommendations on good combos that will yield solid results without detracting from the bike's awesome reliability. I like Wood cams, but the Andrews stuff is also proven and they have all sorts of nice grinds, like the EV13 or EV27.

Thanks in advance.

 

The real question is how much do you want to spend????

You get good results from a stage II upgrade whereas if you want more it will cost a lot more.

Decent set of pipes and an EV-27 (with torrington cam bearing) would wake that bike right up and not cost an arm or a leg.

 

Nice looking bike. Looks like it's already got an s&s so that's a step in the right direction. Like tex said, a good set of pipes and an ev27 will really liven that thing up.

 

He will spend a grand or two to hop it up, budget isn't tight, let's call it $2000 all in, figure $1300 parts, probably $700 in labor (****'s expensive in NorCal) but he doesn't want the bike to become unmanageable in terms of big power or reliability.

I don't see the heads coming off for more compression...so a cam, lifters, adjustable pushrods, cam bearings of course (mine were just changed too), and some kind of torque building exhaust. I am assuming this his 2-2 shorty exhaust isn't conducive to making bottom end. Thunderheader perhaps?

The S&S air cleaner can stay. The stock carb has been trouble free for 25 years, but does it make sense to buy something newer that better matches the Stage 2?

He does ride 2 up quite often (figure him and my sister inlaw weigh in at 320#s total) and I know he doesn't wind it out like I do, so he won't regularly see 4500+.
Will that EV27 have at least as much off idle and bottom end torque as the stock cam?

I did some searching to build up my knowledge base a little, but I would rather have this sort of interactive conversation that just tons and tons of reading.

Thanks guys.

 

Once the "may as well's" get started...

Personally, I'd save the money on adjustable pushrods and spend that money on fresh, better than stock, gaskets. If the base gaskets aren't weeping now, they will be soon enough. Pulling the heads and jugs is not a big job.

Of course, once you do that, you 'may as well' hone the cylinders, get some new pistons and deck the heads and maybe even send them to Hillside for porting.

 

PS: The stock, CV carb is fine, but you might look at upgrading the ignition.

 

Free-flow air filter, revised jetting of the carb, Supertrapp 2-into-1, EV27 cam plus ignition module. In turn those will free up breathing, rectify the EPA fuelling, improve low/mid range torque. EPA also got their tentacles into the stock ignition system and aftermarket will give better advance curves. I've no idea if all that is within budget!

 

Thanks, and yes this is all in the budget.

I checked out the EV27 specs on Andrews web site...appears to be a midrange cam, with the EV13 being more of a low end. With the light FXR + 2 Up I guess we still consider that 'not heavy' compared to an Evo powered Touring bike.

 

Adjustable pushrods aren't gonna do a damn thing for performance!!!
Save yourself the $100 and stick with the stock pushrods.

 

Wood W6 & a bump in compression is a great combination in a FXR.