After reading mostly all of the posts on what cams to get, I'm more confused now than before. There is definately a large amount of knowledge on this form. I'm green when it comes to these engine modifications.

Maybe putting the question like this will make my pea brainunderstand a little easier.

If you had a 2007 Fatboy,Vance & Hines Big Shots Staggered, Screamin' Eagle air filter and a Power CommanderIII USB, what Cams would you install in the Twin camm 96 without any other modifications made to the bike?

 

But would you stop there? If you think you will want more power, do a 103" kit now as it won't be much more than cams alone.

 

You have a point there, as it usually doesn't stop there. I think that I could pick up some cams for around $300 to $350.
The 103" SE kit is around $1500.

 

The only reason to go with the SE kit is to keep your warrantee in place. You can do much better by going to one of the shops that frequent here like HQ or GMR, Big Boyz, Etc. just to name a few. Using your heads and jugs are a lot cheaper, and better. I agree with the 103. Get the heads done, and you will realize the full benifits of any cam you toss in there, yes it always is more costly than you want it to be, but you have a good build in the end. I'm currently in a delima where the previous owner of my EG only did an 88 to 95 job with SE203's and no head work, and stock ignition. Shes a pooch down low. The cam was a mismatch because a Harley dealer did the work and the warrentee was held intack by using SE parts. I'm in the middle of the teardown, and I'm hear to tell you, just get it all done at the same time, and you'll be better off.

 

Here's what Mike at Latus says"
If low end tq (defined as wanting best possible tq from 2000-3000rpmand good tq to 4000) then the 255's with stock compression should work very well. If you are willing to give up some low end tq (possibly less than stock from 2000-2700) in favour of higher numbers yet from 2700+ then cams similar to the KnightProwler TW7 or T-Man 600 (if offered in the hyd version) would be better choices. Timing and duration will have to be kept low to work well with stock compression. All will work well with a good 2-1 ksuch as the D&D fatcat. Again, exh selection is also critical to determining the tq curve shape and would be based on the your definition of where you wish best tq.

Building the motor in stages gets a bit tricky because we often like to add compression and so cam choices, later, would be defferent. I.E, the 255's will not work at all well with 10+ compression if this is part of a later stage, requiring the purchase of another set of cams. Yet the cams that work well with 10+ will be lazy with less. So the 255's will limit later stages to 9-9.5 compression.

It is a bolt in for your model year.

-----
Mike Stegmann
performance Consultant
Team Latus Motors Harley-Davidson

 

Personally, I'd leave the cams alone and do a good 103" build in a year assuming you can take what you would spend now and hang on to it. A well-tuned 96 with a good exhaust and a/cshould already be 10-12 hp and 12-15 ft.lbs torque stronger than the bike as delivered. A cam swap alone, well-tuned, will add about 7-10 hp and 10-13 torque to that well-tuned 96 with the good exhaust and a/c.

Because the cam choice now will likely not be the cam of choice with the 103" there is a likelihood that the money spent now will be wasted in whole or in part (for example, if the cams can be sold "used" later).

We all get the "itch" and we all want to scratch it now--so waiting is difficult; but may be less expensive over the next 12-18 months.

Of course, if a big part of your enjoyment of the hobby is tearing apart your engine, then swapping cams is a good reason to get your hands dirty and work on the bike.

 

two words. woods performance. call and talk to him and he will set you up. you will not be disapointed.

 

Even though I am doing a HeadQuarters build at this time, I can recommend the Woods TW6 cam as a bolt in, if you are only doing cams and nothing else. Others are recommending going farther which is always nice, but if you want to just do cams, call Bob Woods. I am sure that HQ has a nice bolt in also, but I have not run it so can't recommend it.

 

Well the word bolt in cam is rather misleading . Just due to the fact that it will work with the stock spring pack. If I where doing the build i would look at two things

1. Are you going to do any other mods in the future engine wise

2. Your riding style and what you are looking for as a increase in power in what rpm range.

Once you have that done you can select the cam that will offer that with a compression ratio that you currently have. Just because a cam will work with the low compression you have does not mean that it is working as well as it could.
Your compression is approx 8.9-9.1 APRROX!!

So choose a cam that will work well with that compression and you will be fine.

If you choose a cam that works better with 9.5-9.9 then you are going to have a engine that is a bit lazy in the lower rpm range.

For a cam that will work with the current compression you have you could use the HQ500, the andrews 26, the woods 6, the zippers 575, the R&R 525, the andrews 37, and 54. These are only a few that would work with what you have. Some will work better than others in certain rpm ranges. The 26, and hq 500 would offer great low to mid range power. The others would be more mid to upper rpm.

Now what I psoting here is again working with your current bike as it is in stock form, no head porting, thinner head gasket etc. If you plan on doing other mods in the furture you might want to look at a cam that will work well now and even better with the upgrades.

If you are still confused , give me a call i will be happy to speak with you and see if i can get you going in the right direction. It does not matter if you buy from us or not. I would rather you spend your money wisely vs seeing you post in a month or so and have spent the money and not be happy with the results.

 

From what I see about what you want I would look into doing your heads first. Cams are easy to put in to some extent and won't do much till the heads are done anyway. I've looked and looked and I have a 2008 fatboy kinda like yours and I want to do all that stuff, big bore, cams, etc., but first I am going to get my heads or some just like mine (07-08 96 TC from e-bay or somewhere,takesoffs), a real good Head Job, from a real good shop that can then supply me, as I get there, everything else. Everything is a process, parts must work together.