I've not had hands-on with a lot different cams, but I'm thinking not all brands are keyed for the gear. Seems I read a post a long time ago about scribing for the mark on some... Anyone know?

 

Most I have seen have a .250 wide key slot, take a 2 3/4" hose clamp and use two
pins or drill bits (I use 7/64 or .109) put one on the left side of the timing tooth
and one on the tooth 180 degrees. than use a straight edge and a scribe a line on
the gear, do the same on the right side of the tooth. press the gear between the
scribe lines to the key in the cam. you can put a piece of 1/4 keystock or a 1/4
dowel in the cam keyway to align with the two scribe lines.
One of the cam makers has a detail picture of this but I cannot find it

 

Thanks for the info. I may have seen the same "deal" a time back, maybe is what had me thinking. Maybe they were talking about changing the cam timimg or something. Wasn't into a job, just ran thru my feeble mind one night

 

Unkeyed cams are suspect with regards to the cam timing. We have even had a coupla keyed cams that were off, though it's rare. If you are going to run an unkeyed cam, I would degree it, as you could be a few degrees off in either direction. Crane keyed cams are usually set properly, but Andrews can be anywhere in a 8-10 degree spread, enough to change the characteristics pretty badly. If you are going to have some compression, it may mean the difference between smooth running and pinging!

 

Dunno if there's a "trick" to degreeing without but the keyless one for a 45 WL I saw demonstrated needed a $300+ fixture to change the gear over to the new cam so not worth it unless you're changing cams often; worked prety good though. Heard that about Andrews also that the gear lash could be questionable: rumor or truth?

 

Glad you wrote that. I originally had an SE-3 when I bought this bike used in 89. Rebuilt it at 55,000 and the cam was pitted badly on the bearing end (Torrington) and I replaced it with an EV-23. Mild as it was, I had a good deal of valve train noise which I later traced to a widened valve seat. But I've also experienced an abnormal amount of compression with an all stock top end, good fuel mileage, but generally a rougher running engine overall. I ran across a deal on a new SE-1 and loved it! Stronger, smoother, quieter and same good fuel mileage, but it started vibrating and knocking and with only 500 miles, the bearing end was pitted exactly like the first one and yes, installed with a new Torrington bearing. So, I re-installed the Andrews and I've had some spark knock, but moreover, predetonation issues, even in cool weather and timing set low.

So, knowing Crane makes the SE cams, I'm scared of them, but all my "symptoms" seen to coincide with what you've just said about the cam timing...

 

Seems as though I am hearing alot about pitted SE cams. The SE11 that I just took out was pitted pretty bad, it was starting to take out the bearing also. I just fired mine up yesterday with the EV27 didn't hear much noise from the valvetrain, can't wait to ride it if this rain will ever stop. It does make you question the quality of SE cams, I don't see me ever buying one.

 

I just bought a EV-23. I called Andrews about changing gears, as I want to use
my orignal gear, they said their cams are ground using the .250 keyway so when
changing gears align the gear tooth (180 degree from the "marked" tooth) with the keyway and it will be within less than 1/2 degree.
I have a 93 FXR with 8,000 miles that is 100% stock, I am over 60 and don't
need a lot of power but I am going to replace the inner bearing anyway so I bought
the SE ez install pushrods #17987-98A and new harley lifters #18523-86B.
Any suggestions on carb jet size? or other problems I may need to know would
be appreciated. It was -5 degrees this morning and the high is only to be
30 degrees by the end of the week so I may not get to is this year.
Thanks and have a blessed christmas.

 

To get the optimum out of your bike, and assuming you're not changing exhaust, just put it together and see how it feels. You probably won't need to change a thing with the carb. And to be confident you're getting the best out of the cam/jetting/exhaust setup, simply do a "plug read" correctly. It's very easy and inexpensive. Plugs are what, 3.00 each?

Here's a link: http://www.cyclespot.com/Jetting.html