I have read several threads regarding final drive belt ratios.
All with very good information on this subject however most of them focus on 2007 and up models.
My beautiful bride rides a stock 2005 Softail Deluxe with fuel injection.
Last week while servicing it I found that a small stone made its way through the belt.
The stone chewed up the pullies pretty good.
She really likes her bike and probably always will.
Although we don’t ride hard, she has always complained that she has a hard time keeping up from stops when we ride with others.
Is there a different gear ratio setup that can be used to help her with this and if so, does anyone know where the parts can be sourced from?

Thanks so much,
Jake

 

I have owned a 2005 Softail and a 2007 Road King. Information that pertains to the 2007 and up should certainly apply to your 2005. In general over the years around 2005, HD sold two different rear belt pulleys. The stock one is the shorter geared one and the other one is for Europe or 'International' bikes. Your wife's bike most likely already has the shorter geared one, so there's nowhere to go for better acceleration back there. However, you could get a smaller engine sprocket fitted in the primary chaincase. This will also require a new primary chain. I recall guys doing that to get a bit better stoplight to stoplight performance. Other people would fit the 'taller' European pulley with the correct length belt in an effort to reduce cruising vibration some.
It might be a lot more fun to look at some minor performance mods. A performance exhaust and cam change with a tune wouldn't be too ridiculously expensive if you were to do the work yourself. These days a decent set of torque cams can make the bike more tractable and actually easier to ride. Just an idea....







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Thank you for the good advice.

It is a great thing to get advice from a seasoned person.

I checked and it has a 70 tooth sprocket on the rear.

I have been wanting to put a new cam in it for a while.

The cam chain tensioners have been worrying me not that it has a lot of miles on it but it is 18 years old.

There are way to many choices of cams out there and then where do you start and where do you stop.

If it was your bike what cam would you put into it?

 

In an otherwise stock engine, the Andrew’s 26 (1st choice) or Andrew’s 21 (2nd choice).
Replace the stock tensioners with units from Cyco.
And perhaps replace the stock oil pressure relief spring with one from Baisley. Not necessary, but a cheap upgrade for a bit more oil pressure.
A 2 into 1 exhaust to top it off.
And a Dyno tune to dial it all together.
JMHO.

 

I have no experience with cams on a Twin Cam but lots of people here do, like QC's post above for example. Andrews is a great cam company, for sure. With the cam chest apart I would definitely replace the cam chain tensioners with Cyco ones. With fairly low mileage you could leave the lifters alone for now if budget is a concern. You could avoid the cost of adjustable pushrods by removing the tank and rocker boxes. It's always good to take a few courses on "YouTube University". Changing the inside cam bearings is a nice 'peace of mind' thing as the available upgraded cam bearings are obviously better. But, it calls for some expensive tools. Some say it's a 'must' while others say the stock ones are fine. If you think you'll ever do more than one bike I would buy the tools and change them.
You'll get very little benefit from the new cams unless you do something with the exhaust. I like 2-1's the best and they seem to give the best low end response. To save cash, a set of slip-ons would be fine at least in my mind. I would make the exhaust decision and the cam selection together, i.e. get parts that are known to work well together. And then there's the tune. A good dyno tune will absolutely make you and the wife very happy, but budget about $5-600 for it. You could spread the cost by identifying a good tuner, checking which systems he is experienced with, and then select a system with very good starting maps available. I would buy a Power Commander from Fuel Moto if it were me. Their extensive selection of maps will get the bike running well. You could then get a dyno tune at some future date, if ever.
My situation with my M8 was different. I went with TTS. I'm probably on my final bike and I wanted to have it run absolutely as well as possible. Not to start a 'which tuner is best' debate, but TTS has the most flexible adjustment capabilities, and I knew from the start that I would be getting a dyno tune with a top notch dyno tuner.
Best of luck with your project!