88b Torque Upgrade Recommendations
 

I have an 02 Softail Deuce, carbed and 5 speed with 19.5K on her and I am getting ready to do the cam chain tensioner upgrade. I figure as long as thats being done I would like to do cams and possibly 88 to 95 upgrade. What I really am after is more torque from about 2500 to 4500, something that will pull good for passing. I am trying to decide if I could do this by just doing possibly cams and carb upgrade or if I really need to do the 95 upgrade for any real torque increase. Again I'm not looking to make a monster of any kind, just reallly want to be able to get more mid range oomph. The bike has D & M Power Flow Intake and Freedom Performance 2 in to 1 exhaust, other than that it is completley stock. So any recommendations as to best way to proceed with this and possibly also a shop in Southern California to do this would be greatly appreciated.

We would recommend the S&S 510 as a cam option. Remember the old saying "there is no replacement for displacement"! When upgrading the cylinder heads as well we like the 585.

Lots of cam choices; most tend to over cam motors. The step up to 95" is a no brainer; cheapest TQ/HP you can buy. Might as well bore to 3.938" with a set of CP or Wiseco forged pistons; you are paying for boring and buying pistons, so might as well get the extra cubic inches. If you are not going to do any head work, at least consider having the heads cleaned up, good radiused SERDI valve job, new guide seals, chambers measured and equalized and decked for compressio to match the cams. For about the same cost to do all that, you could buy a "street" port from BigBoyz.

There are plenty of cam options from the SE204, TMan 555Torkster, Andrews 37 and a couple of S&S options. If you don't work the heads, no need to go for cams with higher lift. The SE204, S&S510, Andrews 37 are similar in profile; IMHO, the Andrews 37 is the best of the lot. If you do work the head and start looking at cams in the .585" lift range, you need to check the lobe clearance in the cam chest. I have run .590" lift cams in my 2002 FLHT but the clearance was less than recommended; no issues but I should have clearanced the cam chest just to be safe.

What's your budget? That's the bottom line that most guys neglect to include.For a bare bones 95" build, Andrews 26 and the heads decked and cc'd which will cost you about $100 for the head work. With stage II head work, go with the Andrews 37.

Here's what I did, and the dollars too.
I got a service manul 20.00, J/e pistons flattop from edelbrock .020 over (they quit carrying harley parts and may only have a few piston sets left, there forged too!! with rings and pins and clips) for 89.00 NEW!! S/E heads off ebay NIB 355.00 with shipping, Cometic gasket kit (ebay) 110.00, Crane 290 cams, 86.00 NIB (ebay of course, see the trend don't you??) And finally a set of S/E roller rockers and adj push rods for and unbelievable 50.00 NIB
so for a total of 710.00
Machining the jugs for the pistons and decking the heads .010 165.00
So for 875.00, Which is cheap!!! a whole new engine,
dynod 110hp and 98 tq before tuning!! (I had the mukini 42 already on the 88)
So be patient, shop ebay, and save!! You may get lucky, or pay full retail and double the price i just gave you!!
I do like the 510's you were given, should rock with this style of combo. not so peaky and full of low/mid range power, er aaaa TORQUE!!
I say go to a 95", YOU WONT REGRET IT!!
GOOD LUCK!!

Budget is about 4-5K, and as mentioned I will have the work done, afraid I would screw it up if I attempted it, i'll stick to oil changes. Also one of my top priorities is reliability, dont want to build anything that I have to worry about, want something with the torque but that will also go for alot of hassle free miles. Was hoping someone could recommend a good shop in SoCal to get this done, Bike is down at our place in Palm Springs right now so figured hopefully find a reliable place down in SoCal to get it done. Thanks for everyones input so far:)

I agree 100%

I have a 2000 Dyna and recently upgraded to the 510 cams, wow what a difference, added a good load of torque and woke the bike up quite a bit..

Bike is otherwise bone stock with the exception of a thunderheader.