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For those who know, Thinking of maybe going with a 103 kit. Is it worth the money? Is the difference in a stock FI 88 and the 103 that noticable or maybe just a 95 kit?
If you build the 95 kit correctly you will get as much power as a stock 103. What I mean is that if you do your heads and cams correctly with the 95 kit you will out perform a stock (un modified EPA regulated) 103 factory bike.
Of course if you go hog wild on a 103 and build it right it's going to out perform the 95 kit. It's all about how much money you want to spend. You can buy a kit from someone else that will out perform either of the Harley kits. I would never do a kit without having the heads done along with it. We have a sponser here that does really good head work at a good price (Big Boyz Cycles). The performance is well worth the money when matched with the right pistons and cams. Give them a call and get some ideas.
I agree with Terry on this. The 103 upgrade is expensive because they have to split your cases. Lots of labor hours. The 95 kit with some head/cam upgrades can really get nice power. My mechanic talked me out of the 103. Too expensive for what you get unless you really go into the 103 with mods. Do the high compression 95. You will like it.
Just recently did the 103 with S&S 570g cams. In comparison to the stock 88 ci there is a huge difference. I cant compare with a 95 ci. This has just been what i wanted. Everybody has their own reasons for what they do. It was well worth the money spent to me. I am dropping it off tonight for dyno tuning with the SERT. Hopefully i will now have a reason to figure out how to work my scanner and post the results, befor and after tuning. I reckon for me it all boiled down to this...if i wanted to haul a$$ in a big way i would have bought a hiyabusa....but i aint given up my harley.
You should also seriously consider the 98" Revolution kit offered by HDWrench (GMR Performance), another site sponsor. This 98" kit is a bolt in kit, no need to split the cases. Couple it with the cam of your choice (Andrews 37G is very popular with this kit), some headwork done (GMR also does this), and you can EASILY be in the 100/100's. This is a "Big Bang for the Buck" build.
Give Steve a call and tell him what your needs are. He is a good guy to do business with.
FYI...Its easier to reach him by phone than email....trust me!
The price is good (in the SE catalog lists that at about $900 I believe). I would want to know more about the company, as they did the boring themselves from the stock 88". I wouldn't just trust anybody to bore out a set of cylinders.
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