Hi everyone, new to the forum but not new to Harleys. Been riding and wrenching for a while but mostly twinkies. I have recently acquired a shovel basket case that I'm planning on build from the ground up. The motor is an 83 80ci that I would like to hop up. I have done some research and the consensus is that the sweet spot is 88ci and at 93ci you starting to lose reliability. My question for you pros , money wise, how much will be the difference between the two and how much reliability will be losing by going 93ci.

Thank guys in advance .

 

93" Shovel engines can show almost stock-like reliability.
An 88" bore jump, is really only a touch over 6".
Scott

 

as scott has said the 93 has more fun in it and remember - you cant fix stupid - so if your a real rider and not a drunken a$$hole going from bar to bar as fast as the thing will go they give very good service

now think back to it was that told you they dont hold up or he was talking about his brothers bike

 

thanks guys
scott
If I go 93, I want to keep the compression between 8.5-9 and probably dual plugs for easy start. Can you give me an idea of how much Im looking at for thr machining of the heads for the dual plugs
jz, ive been follow your posts for a little while and i hope you dont mind the occasional question here and there.
What do guys think about cam

 

I've run both 88 & 93's, the 88 was reliable as it gets and while not a huge jump in performance it really came into it's own when loaded and running 2 up,bike pulled like a freight train. 93" with about 9-1 or 9.5-1 gives a bit more seat of the pants pull and will give almost stock or better life if built right. Going that low on compression dual plugs won't gain you anything so that's some money you can put elsewhere like porting which will give you good gains for the money spent and you won't have to deal with extra coils and such rattling off. Best investment is a decent cam and a set of hydraulic lifters, most cams don't make the HP till 2500 to 2700rpm look for one that starts coming in under 2000rpm , you will notice the difference in streetability.

 

as twizted said on what works -- i have used the leineweber cams and they do the job the one i like is the L3S http://leinewebercams.com/

but others have found comp cams to be a great piece

 

Or You Can Build the bike as an 80 incher and use the money saved for a 6 speed tranny. That wakes up the old shovels the most!!

 

the 1983 has a replaceable rear sprocket that you can drop down from 51 all the way to a 46 and you can go up to a 23 in the front, in town you wont get out of 3rd gear but its like having overdrive on the hwy and its under 150 bucks and couple hours of work - the L3S will work well in the 80 inch or the added inch combos an S&S super E works very well and a ultima ignition with a dyna coil dual fire or single fire its all up to what you thing would do the best job - ride it for this year and see what it is you dont like about it then change it if you want - its NO twinkie with mods BTW

what do you have in mind for a completed machine - stock - bobber - chopper - or all the above

 

twizted, most of riding is 1 up and even on long trips i dont usually carry that much luggage, so seat of the pants pull it is. Im planning on do this build myself. How hard you think "build right will be? Like i said I know my way around tools (I found easy work on engines than navigated through this forum).

jz, the swingarm is in bad shape and ive always like the look of hardtail, Im thinking going that route. Definitely hydraulic front end. Basically a light bike that will share full duty with my softail.

rydeer, a guy around here offered me a baker 6 into 4 for 2400 (never used). If i dont get it Ill probably going with what jz suggested, 46/23.

 

mid use sells craft tech frames i have used a bunch but you loose the vin number but its a great piece -- a guy i know in cal has weld on hard tails that have exact copys of the rear axle holders and all the correct bends and cross tubes and braces so in the end it the frame looks 40s to 60s type in a visual - a sweet piece as a finished product and i believe you can send your frame to him to install it if you dont have the gig or expert welding experience -- not a my first welding experience thing to do

the china flat fake plate thing i have seen on some is awful and reduces the value in the piece remember that is a big play with a sweet looking bobber the more authentic it is in the end the more real is in it -

going hard tail a tip you need to hear - build a stock motor with hyd lifters and a CV carb with a voes ignition < you will be going small gas tank and you need the fuel mileage - re do the 4 speed and gear it for hwy - sweet spot the visual and enjoy it

a powerfull motor has been done by many many times over and over in a hard tail and it will beat you up == but i am sure someone will come along with 100,000 miles a year on hardtail with a 150 HP motor in it and its fine - yea that