I want to know from someone who is in the know and in a way I can understand it. I am pretty sure I know but I want to know for certain. 1st, what is the difference between SE heads and stock heads? I know I am running dome type high compression pistons so that I am aware of to start out with.

Another question, I want to be sure about this so when you hear a person is getting "headwork", flowed, ported and polished, what does that tell you, coming from a person with specific headwork knowledge? I have had heads in the past that I have had "cleaned up" but never have I put one on a flow bench to have them "flowed", then ported and polished.

Another question I want to be certain about is the valves being cut, specifically a "5 point cut" on them. I don't know this to be true but I think I read somewhere a good while back that valves can have up to a "13 point cut" on them, true or not?

Now, valve springs in a set of SE heads. I have SE heads now but I don't know what's in and under them and what has been done to them. In it being a high compression motor do I want or need a newer set of a more "stout" set of springs on them and address that issue too? This will be the last and final time, at least in my lifetime, that these heads and cylinders are coming off so I want this done and done right and over with.

A quick note: I am not doing these heads to make it faster or to increase torque or to increase horsepower. If I gain a little that's fine but it's not why I am doing it. When I went from my Python 2-into-1 to these 39" Samson true duals with the removable baffles it dropped of a little bit and I lost a little of both but not to the point where someone would ride it and notice it. I notice it because I ride it as much as I can when ever I can.

I am doing my heads because 1, since I went to these Samsons it started running a little crappy and by that I mean if I am sitting at a light and goose it to get my revs up it will pop on me or I have had it backfire, like in a turn and it gets a little loose on me. That's the only way I know how to describe what it's doing. It is also running a tad hotter than before too. I swear, sometimes it act's like it has a damn carb on it!!

2nd, I believe that whenever I have a build, bike or car, I want to get everything I can get out of it, perform at maximum rates and efficiency. I can't see sinking a ton of money into a motor and only get 90% out of it.

3rd and lastly, I know exactly what I have in this bike and this build, I have a bill or receipt for everything that this bike has, what has been done to it and every single part exchanged or upgraded with the exception of the heads. I have SE heads but that's all I know for certain. So, head work and then off to my Dyno guy. I also have the "SE Race tuner", I think they now call it the "SE Pro tuner" now. So, if anyone out there who has "personal" hands on experience with heads and head work I would love to hear from you. If you could, please, explain it like for the "headwork for dummies", version!!! I would greatly appreciate it. I'm not totally ignorant to head work but I am when it comes to being "flowed" and the difference between SE and stock heads would be GREAT too! We also never know when our last day on this earth will be. I had a triple bypass a year ago, I'm a Diabetic, over weight and work a 12 hour swing shift. When I go, check out, this bike goes to my Son and I don't want him to have a single problem with it. I want it as close to perfect as I can get it. I want him to smile and have nothing but good memories of me as he goes on down the road on what will then be HIS bike!

In closing, I am sorry for rattling on here but I got 3 teeth pulled today and I am flying pretty high on pain meds!!! Yeaaaa for pain meds!!!

Tbone....

 

I am not an expert on heads at all, but have been thinking and researching something similar for my bike. In my reading, it sounds like if you have SE heads, they should already have been designed and manufactured so that they flow WAY better than stock, so I don't think they need to be cleaned up, but let's see what others have to say.
That doesn't mean that maybe they could flow a little better, but if there 98% there, it might not be worth it. Just a thought. Ride safe.
Ps love your bike...

 

I agree Rodzilla! If they are done and there is no room for improvement then what's the point? I will admit though, I am **** about $hit like this. That does not make me a bad person either. Much like Popeye, I yams what I yams. If they are 90% I will go in to get that other 10%. If they are 98, 99% then maybe not so much. I just don't like knowing what I do or do not have. It has started running a little crappy, to me, and it all started when I changed pipes. So, I have to get it Dynod and if I am going to get it dynod I want my heads as close to 100% as possible before the dyno tune. I understand what you mean by the SE heads already being done or 'cleaned up" but are they built to match my build is the question? By that I mean, valves cut, adequate springs and so on. The only way I am going to know that is by pulling them off.

I have also been told an excellent head guy will want to know everything about my motor, bore, cams, tuner, valves and springs and so on. I don't have anything telling me that about any of those things like I have receipts for everything else on the bike. I do not like not knowing or any guess work. We shall see what the future brings for me when I take them off and then in to be done by the guy doing the head work. Then top it off on a good Dyno tune.

 

No knowledgeable head work guy's here? Boy, that's a first in coming here to this site with questions and not having a 100 guy's chiming in!!! I don't know if that has ever happened before here in the 2 years I been coming here!!!

 

Wrong forum. Post it up here: https://www.hdforums.com/forum/engin...cal-topics-46/

 

The SE heads have bigger exhaust and inlet valves over stock. And even the though they say they a CnC'd heads, you can definitely get a LOT more out of them. Even SE's top of the marker hurricane heads can get a lot more out if with additional port and polish. But you need to find some one who knows there stuff with getting the most out of these heads.

An example is the guy who did the engine work on mine sent his stage 4 kit SE heads (which I believe is the SE heads you have?) to a guy in Brisbane for head work, along with the port matching the manifold. Went from 111rwhp to 124rwhp then with a change of pipes to 128rwhp. Runs low 11's on the 1/4 all day when he wants to play. There's a lot more potential in the SE heads and manifold for sure.

 

Any head that is mass produced has room for improvement but all the SE heads flow better than their stock counterparts. Some guys will throw a set of SE heads on and be done with it, others will start with the SE castings and improve from therte, while others will send their stock castings out for enhancement. Regarding SE heads, Bottom line is it depends on which SE head you are talking about. The Kompressor head will increase compression ratio with stock pistons, others have varying compression ratio's based on the piston you use, and then some like the HTCC will only run with HTCC pistons and HTCC Intake.

Research your specific head part number to find exactly what you have. Most will increase flow with larger valves. Most all will have a peaked bump in the intake port to enhance flow around the valve. Most have performance springs that allow higher cam lifts. As for the multiple angled valve jobs. Again seat grinding with multiple angles will enhance flow through the gap between the valve and the head with the valve open. Multiple angles on the valve will do the same while reducing the margin or contact area with the valve seat. Reduced margin will prohibit carbon buildup from holding the valve open and reducing compression as the reduced margin is like a chisel that breaks up anything in the margin. However thinner margins are more likely to burn as they have less material to dispate heat from the interface.

 

Check out www.harleytechtalk.org
There are a lot of engine builders on that site and a lot of guys that do heads and own machine shops. If you have any kind of engine question they will have the answer.

 

Sounds like the exhaust change put a damper on your "tune" that was there for the previous exhaust. Nothing to do with headwork.

Heads flow a specific number (cfm=cubic feet/minute). Now, I'm only going by my knowledge of car heads, but I'm sure it is all the same. Port size, port design(and velocity) and valve angles will all come into play with the CFM that a particular head will flow.

You can hog open the head and make it flow all kinds of radical numbers, but if the cylinder is not big enough(or turn enough rpm) to move the air at that velocity(to keep the fuel atomized) then it will not run at peak efficiency. Peak flow at a certain cam lift is fine, but if you aren't running it at 6000 rpm all the time, then that number is a moot point(sounds fancy, just like dyno numbers). Cam selection also comes into play with this. It all has to work together in a package.

I've heard of 3, 4 and even 5 angle valve jobs, but don't think you can get 13 angles cut on a single valve. Just not enough room on such a small surface(we're talking less then 3/16" of surface area total).

3 angle


5 angle

 

I know the reason that my bike does not run as well as it did with the previous pipe is because of the new pipes and not my heads. Also like I said I am not doing my heads because I want a "race bike". I am doing it for maximum tune and efficiency. I am also doing it because the heads and cylinders are coming off to have the show cut put on the fins. I would never pull heads, for any reason, and not have them looked at and to do what is needed for that optimum tune and to get every bit I can out of my build. I also know my head guy needs all the information related to my build too, bore size, cams I'm running and so on.

It is my belief that there is no one single mod better than one can do to their bike than headwork. It is also my opinion that since they are coming off for the cut on the fins anyway that it would be foolish to not have that head work done, at the very least looked by a professional while they are off. I will ride this bike until the day I die and I foresee no other reason why in the future I will ever have the need to take the top end off of this bike for any other reason at anytime in the future.

So, that is what is leading up to the need for the Dyno. With the change in the pipe and the head work it would also be foolish to not have the bike Dynode when done with all of this. I already have the SE pro tuner on it so I want this build dialed in as close to perfect as I can. I am "****" when it comes to my bike. I always have been and I always will be. I don't just want a bike that is "pretty", I want a bike that bites too, not just barks. If I ever only had the choice between a bike that is cosmetically pleasing to the eye or a built and finely tuned engine, I will take the performance choice 1st every time. None of this makes me right or wrong, good or bad biker. it's just who and what I am when it come to my passion for bikes.