I have a 2011 - 96" HD Street Glide with 45,000 miles on it. 15,000 miles ago (last February, 2016) I had the local shop (American Iron Speed and Cycle in Frederick MD) upgrade my top end with a Zippers 107" kit, 555 cams, headers, intake and Thundermax w/ Auto- tune. I have a bud that insists I need to rebuild my lower end with an S&S crank but the shop owner tells me it is not necessary. I guess my question to you folks is: now that my peace of mind has been disrupted, do you think I should upgrade the crank?

I appreciate the input to anyone who is willing to take the time. Someone once told me "a wise man seeks the council of many", so that's what I'm doing.

 

What is your power level?

 

You've ridden it for 11 months & 15,000 miles after the top end work was completed and your buddy is now worried about your lower end - I say forget about it...

 

Ride it. You should be go to go. Unless you've put some big power to it the bottom end should be fine

 

Well the best time to have done that has passed. In any case, thousands of stock cranks are living under 107's and 110's. Occasionally you hear of one shifting. It can be catastrophic when it happens.

JMO, but I think people locking up the brakes in a panic situation without pulling in the clutch and throwing that big shock back up the driveline is more likely to shift them than normal use.

Like has been mentioned above, you've used it for 15K miles. I'd bet on it being around a long time.

 

Bud, vs shop owner. Whose advice would you take?

Fuel Moto, Dragos, Hillside, other have built hundreds, probably thousands of these without rebuilding the cranks

 

Thanks for the responses. I ride quite a bit and also think because I've already put the miles I have on it, if something was going to happen, it would have.

Norty, I don't know what my power level is. I haven't had it dyno'd. I will say though, I blow the doors off of most of the guys I ride with - figuratively speaking.

 

for what its worth i had some dyno work done when i had a power commander installed. got talking with the owner of the shop he said people overlook upgrading the bottom end to often. when you upgrade the top to that extent you should upgrade the bottom.
being you didn't i think i wold let it go. just remember that you didn't do it when your pouring the coals to it around your buddies. don't over do it or it will decide for you.
good luck.

 

If you decide that you must do something with the bottom end, use Dark horse. You don't need a new crank, (unless you are planning on a stroked one for it,) but otherwise get yours balanced trued, and welded, and plugged, it will be better, and cheaper than a new crank. You can go with a timkin brg set up as well, for a couple hundred more, throw in some H beam rods, and have a totally bullet proof bottom end

 

One thing to remember, mechanics don't make money from repairs when everything is working properly.