Thanks for all your replies. I am really confused now, guess I will just put the trike kit and the short shots on and trailer it down to hammer performance in Sandpoint Idaho and ask them if they will take a look at it and maybe put it on their dyno to tune it.

 

Here are the specs on them, third ones down:



This is the"E" grind and the same grind was original equipment in all 2003-2007 Buell XB models. The SE "E" cams are different from the XB "E" cams only in that they're configured for the XL cam box instead of the XB cam box. All the specs are the same.

With a 44 degree intake close point and 35 degrees of overlap, I'd call these mild performance cams, best suited for about a 10:1 compression ratio.

Here's a test from many moons ago:



Caveat: the 536 cams will not work with stock 883 heads of any year, where the E cams will work with stock 2004+ 883 heads (but not earlier 883 heads).

Here's another piece of data that's perhaps more relevant:



"D" cams were original in all 1991-2006 XL883's and 91-03 XL1200's, except the 98-03 1200S model, which had "W" cams.

So as you can see, in this test the E cams costed some power below 5000rpm and gained some power above 5000rpm.

Both of the above results were 10:1 motors. 10:1 is a little low for the SE 536 cams though.

Well, assuming these are paired with stock 2004+ XL883 heads, they'll have no direct effect on the reliability of the motor. Now, if they cause you to spend more time at high rpm, then sure, your risk of failure goes up, as does the rate of wear. But ridden the same, these don't stress the valvetrain any more than the stock cams. In fact they're probably easier on it.

On the other hand, if these were applied to a 91-03 with stock 883 heads, then you're exceeding the save max lift ceiling for those heads and you could induce a failure.

Maybe, maybe not. These cams have 35 degrees of overlap, as compared to 4 degrees for the "D" cams and 22 degrees for the "W" cams (W cams were stock in all 2004+ 1200's and 2007+ 883's, and they're the first line in the list of SE cams above). More overlap gives the exhaust more influence over the cylinder fill, good or bad. If the exhaust is pulling during the overlap window at the rpm where you're riding, torque is going to be higher and the motor is going to be efficient. But if the exhaust is pushing back at the rpm where you're riding, torque is going to dip and it's going to be inefficient, and suck down the gas. Look at the shape of the torque curve, that tells you what the exhaust is doing when you have overlap in the cams.

You can add the intake open timing number to the exhaust close timing number to figure out the overlap for a given set of cams.

 

I really appreciate all this info but it is very confusing to me. all I would really like is in plain language is are these cams good to use with my Frankenstein conversion, I will be putting on short shots as they are what Frankenstein sells with their kits. Will they hurt my motor in any way. The MAXIMUM I will be riding is at most 70 to 80 mph. I will probably never exceed 4500 rpm.

 

Well, I kind of make it a point not to tell people what they want, but instead to give them enough information that they can make informed decisions.

Let me ask you this ... looking at that second dyno sheet I posted, and considering your statement that you'll "probably never exceed 4500 rpm", which cam set would you rather have, the D's or the E's?

Here's another snippet of data for you ...



Keep in mind that your factory original cams were W's. Notice how they beat the D's across the entire rpm range.

 

I'm sorry but I just don't understand any of this dyno stuff. The cams are already in the motor so I guess I will just ride the bike and hope it doesn't blow up the motor.
Thank you for your time
Gerald

 

Your stock cams you had were better for what you want to do than the cams you have now. That should be simple enough.

 

D cams better than what you have.
W cams(stock cams you had) better than D cams and the cams you have now.
Cams you have now are in there so live with them and lesson learned or tell them you want your stock W cams back cuz those suck. Doubt they'll do it for free tho.
Pretty much your options.

 

Thanks to everyone that replied. No they will not put the old cams back in for free. They want around $2,500.00 to do it. They said they do not have the old cams and would have to order new ones. I will try the ones I have now, I insured the bike for tomorrow for a day and I will see how it runs. Just riding it around the block it seems fine and a lot quicker than my 2005 883 also does not seem noisy so I will see how it is once it gets up to operating temp
I appreciate every one that replied and I again thank you
Gerald

 

$2500 to do cams? That's almost entirely labor too. They retail for $300ish. You can find used ones for $100. I hope you learned a lesson here about where NOT to take your bike. EVER! That's borderline fraud!
I'd do it for $500. 3-4 hour job taking your time.

 

I didn't take the bike there to get any thing done. I bought it that way. I didn't know they had put those cams in, I thought they had only done a 1200 conversion with just cylinders and pistons. I only learned about the cams when they sent me the service records after I had already taken the bike home. That is the reason I am trying to find out if these cams are going to be ok and not hurt my motor or if I should get stock cams put back in. I don't know if I could put them in myself or not. Next month I am going to drive down to Sandpoint Idaho and see if I can talk to Dan or Alex and find out how hard this job is. I have to go there any ways to buy a clutch compressor.