I have to chime in here with a shameless plug for V-Thunder cams (made by CompCams). I run a V-Thunder EVL-3010 cam in Bertha, my '95 FLHTP. It's similar in duration to the EV-27, but the ramps are much less aggressive - meaning a quieter valve train and less jolting of it. It has a 30 degree overlap, and symmetrical valve timing - which afford excellent gas mileage.

Bertha gets about 45 MPG, and she tops out at over 900 lbs. Chrome is light, but she has a LOT of it - plus a Tour Pak with rack, lights, and lots of bling trim everywhere. All that makes her heavy - but she still gets great gas mileage with the EVL-3010.

The V-Thunder cams are well worth taking a hard look at! I love the EVL-3010.

The higher duration (the number of degrees the valves are open) a cam has, the higher the revs needed for that cam to produce the most power - because longer duration shifts the torque band to the right - but the more total power that cam is capable of producing. Higher duration cams peak out on torque nearer to the torque-horsepower crossover at 5252 RPM - so they produce the most total power and (torque and horsepower).

The EV-46 and V-Thunder EVL-3020 have very long duration (242 or near, I think), and so they need a lot more RPMs to produce it maximum power output. This is why they are more suitable for lighter bikes like Dynas and Softails.

The EV-27 and EVL-3010 are both good mid-range cams - suitable for heavy baggers IF you don't mind cranking the engine more to get more total power. These cams will not be as good for low-RPM torque though... The EVL-3010 I have in Bertha comes in strong around 3000 RPM and scream right up to redline. The EV-27 will deliver very similar performance.

If you want a lot of low-RPM torque, stick to a lower-duration "torque" cam like the Andrews EV23 or the V-Thunder EVL-3000... but be aware that lower duration also means the torque will drop off sooner (the cam is said to be "all in"), and you won't get as much higher-RPM total power because your engine is not producing as much horsepower at lower RPMs. Horsepower is a function of torque and RPM. (HP = torque * RPM / 5252)

 

I had a little vavletrain noise to begin with. The EV27 made it a little worse, but not bad. I also changed to VThunder lifters at the same time, so they may be a noisier lifter than the stockers, I don't know. I love this cam, it really woke the bike up. 2up and loaded down (probably overloaded) I get 40mpg. I'm having the heads ported/polished and decked, so hopefully it'll be even better, after this long cold winter ends. Hell, winter hasn't even started yet. This is gonna be a long winter.

John

 

I'm afraid you're right, John. We had three weeks of nice Fall weather here after they turned off the HOTlanta heat lamps... but now the bottom has dropped out. Raining and low 40s tomorrow morning - spoiling our planned ride out to west GA tomorrow - and low 30s tomorrow night. It's forecast to be 10 degrees warmer here next weekend... but I frankly don't trust the weather guys with their $50 B in Doppler Radar and chit... they can't even forecast rain TWO HOURS from now!

Might as well just watch the wildlife... they know best about what's really coming anyway!

 

BTW - NOTHING is noisier than stock "B" lifters! I run Velva-Touch lifters, which use their own special lifter blocks, and are as quiet as a church mouse... they run with the tightest tolerances of just about any lifters.