I'm an R&R distributor. I also have my own line of performance packages, all incorporate the "Reggie and Reggie" technology in them. I also am an avid bike enthusiast and have and ride several models of v-twins.

 

Mentor,
The SE heads come in a variety of chamber sizes from 72 or 74 up to 96 cc so you can pick your poison to match the build.
[/quote]Then there is the valve guide issues, some have had really tight clearances here and a few have had failures. Here is part of my question what is a few? When anything is massed produced the potetial that a couple will have a problem is there. Same goes for anything man made. I'm sure there are parts made by top builders that have issues. Hell look at NASCAR they spend billions and still have things go wrong.
Will a custom build with everything hand fitted be more consistent than using other parts, should be just due to minor tolerance differneces but to say that the SE stuff is junk is incorrect.

 

I have done a couple of mostly HD builds:

2003 Road King
bored cyls to 95", SE HTCC Heads and HTCC pistons, Woods TW5G cams, PCIII tuner, Rinehart TDs
A lot of work went into getting the quench just right and this was a real runner duno's at 102hp/112tq. Key was the quench and the cams.

2007 Ultra
Bored cyls for 103", HD HTCC CNC ported heads, HD Stroker flat top pistons, Woods TW400-6 cams, RB Blackhole 2-1 pipes, 50mm throttle body, SE injectors, DTT TCFI II tuner.
This build was a bit more difficult in that the heads are a bit*h to set up properly, but once done, the bike dyno'd at 112hp, 118tq with a tune (by me)that worked in hot weather. There was more, had it to 120hp and 122tq, but it would ping in temps above 80 degrees. Head temps were higher than I liked but the tuning was able to deal with it. And it was a reliable build.

The two Woods cams I used both built broad, flat torque curves, I led them a lot, although they were just a bit noisier than I would have liked, but on my Ultra, I think the noise was more a problemwith crank runout than with the cams themselves.

Bottom line is that HD parts are not "junk" but the builders have to screw with them a lot to get the build right, and I personally dont like the HD cams for the fact they dont produce a flat torque curve.HD parts can be very expensive compared to an aftermarket kit such as HQ, GMR, R&R, etcbut a lotof guys do build with HD parts for the fact that they have the builds done at a HD dealer.

I am building a 120" HeadQuarters build at this time. I have not used HQ parts before, but wanted to give a "package" build a try and Doug at HQ has been very informative. If the build turns out anything near to what Doug has said, I will be pleased. And for once,I wont have to spend a huge amount of timetinkering to get all the components to fit as they are supposed to. You wont find me ragging on HD builds, but I do think there are alternatives that will get you where you want to go for less much, less work and an increase in reliability.

When I get this build done and tuned, you will get a very honest assessment from me on the build and results. I have the parts now, and so far am very impressed with the head work and appearance of the other parts.

And I agree on the crack pipe quote...LMAO

 

The chamber sizing SE offersis not assimple as it looks, only one head is available for a 95 in w/ flat tops.
the rest are for HTTC combos or 103 and larger. the choices are really rather small.
Like Dalton said, the parts are fine, just not"blue printed" and you can run into pinging issues, which is why I sold all my SE stuff and went with HQ kits instead. And by the timeyou buy the SE stuff, even at Ebay prices, you will spent the same $correcting the flawsthat asyou would by just steppingup and buying from R&R,Zippers, HQ or GMR
I started with a Hippo build with the S&S 570s, SE heads and flat top pistons, but the HQ 95 runs better, starts easier, and has a broader power band.

 

Dalton,
It will be interesting seeing your results. The bottom line is somebody is cleaning up and fitting the parts be it the guys like HQ and GMR or the guy in the end doing the build with the SE stuff. I went with the S&S gear drive 585 for my build to get away from the tensioner issues.

Mentor,
Check some of the older SE catalogs. I think you'll find a bunch more combos. The 103 is like the old 95 because it is already stroked so they list the builds for the newer stuff.

 

clg9mm,
You are correct in that with the HD items, they are off the shelf and have to be fitted. Add to that the fact that the 07's had a connecting rod that left the pistons down in the hole a bit, so to do the build right you have to machine off some material at the bottom of the cylinders to get the deck height and quench set right. I dont know of too many HD shops that will take the time to do all of this measuring and machining. Most will just install the parts and send you on your way. I am still going to check everything also from HQ as I reassemble the engine, but am pretty darn confident I wont have to do anything other than bolt it together.

I will restate, HD parts are not junk, they just need some TLC when installing, and a realistic approach to spec'ing out what the build is going to be. I know of dealers that will try and sell you the CNC Ported Heads and a 50mm throttle body for a mild build and bump in displacement. This is overkill IMO, but again, this is where they make their money. For the average guy doing his own build, this amount of work is also unrealistic to get the most out of the build.

 

According to the porting machinist, the SE heads are a good out-of-the-box choice toportwith the focus on flow velocity. Based onbuilding experienceand dynomometer HP/Torque results, it would take considerable rebuilding, welding and CNC work to get the same results from stock HD heads. This would not be cost-effective as opposed to using SE or S&S heads as a base part, and the porting machinist believes the output would still be below that of a SE or S&S (or Edelbrock, etc.)-based build. Of course, their business will port stock HD heads in various stage choices. For this reason, they will not state that they can gethigher HP and Torque measurements from stock ported heads as opposed to ported SE (or S&S, or Edelbrock, etc.) builds.

It took some effort to get ahold of these guys as they're swamped with work. Come to think of it, headwork would make a nice Christmas present!

 

[sm=funnypostabove.gif] It's funny because I'm notabout to spend a $1K for SE heads andthen spend MORE $$$$ for a machinist to port SE heads.

 

Harleypingman, I totally agree! I spent $ 600 for new SE heads and sold the old heads for $ 200, so I spent$ 0.00.(The insurance company payout covered all costs, including stage III mods, S&S gear drive, porting, and a chrome front end). All I had to do was pay the 2 hourlabor for collision estimate, take the bike home,negotiate with the insurance company,request a 1-party check, buy my own parts, and dosome of the work myself.

Or, just be lazy and let the HD shop give me the old bike back with their parts and no changes for the same price. Either way it would take four to six months, more or less. But I like chrome, and I like SCARY fast!!!

 

Firetender; I see you have a simular set I have. Do you have the magnetii injection? If so, are you running a Power Commander and what map? Also, what compression ratio?

Thanks.