95" upgrade, any thoughts?
Thanks
05
Hindsight... I didn't know about Head Quarters at the time, but I would have gone with their 98" kit... MORE POWER. At some point I may stroke mine out, change cams and heads... BUT.. right now I have a hard on for a RK to costomize (new word) myself.
Ultra also mentioned porting the heads, forged pistons, and pushrods. Good idea if you can afford it. But, at a minimum, have the heads inspected for burnt valves and worn guides/seals. Have any carbon removed if necessary. You'll see a significantly different engine, with more HP and TQ.
Good Luck.
I have a 2005 Roadking with air cleaner kit, PCIII and V+H TruDuals w/slip on mufflers. I am wanting more low and mid range power so I have been looking to up grade the ol 88. I am looking at the big bore 95" cylinders, 203 cam, HC Cast Pistons, and Adj. Pushrods. Screamin eagle says the Cast pistons are 10.25:1 with stock heads. Will I need to install compression release valves? Anyone have a similar set up? Any thoughts on the 204 cam? I am a longtime automechanic and plan to do all the work myself. I know a lot of people would say, get what you want now and not wish later, but working on my bike is a hobby and money permit project. So I guess I don't need the best right away. Any thoughts?
Thanks
05
If I was to do it over again (or if I find the money to get it done next winter), I would go with the GMR 98" piston/cylinder kit, HQ-0039G cams, and have HQ do the head work on my heads with 10.5-1 compression. That along with my exhaust and air cleaner would be good for 115/115+ with a good tune.......or get a Thundermax or DTT and not worry about the tune.
Steve
And be sure to have a good tuner handy, learn to use the SERT, or buy the DTT or Tmax and learn to use the one you buy because even the best build will be disappointing unless it is tuned competently.
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Talk to Head-Quarters, GMR and other reputable TC engine people. Piecemealing a motor usually tends to waste $$$ even if you do enjoy tearing your motor apart on a more or less regular basis.
And be sure to have a good tuner handy, learn to use the SERT, or buy the DTT or Tmax and learn to use the one you buy because even the best build will be disappointing unless it is tuned competently.
If a package from someone like HeadQuarters, R&R, Zippers, Gmr, etc is not in your budget, then a simple bigbore and nice set of "bagger cams" (HQ-0034, Andrews 26) would make a huge improvement over stock, but you really should consider what you want to accomplish and plan accordingly. MANY of us have built and RE-built because we didn't take time to decide what we really wanted and do the requisite research. Instead, we just bought some of this & that and hoped it would work.
As Carl mentioned, the key to ANY build is getting the proper tune on it once you're done. W/O that, the best build makes only mediocre results.
Homework, homework, homework.
btw - on mild builds, the S/E cast pistons are fine and because they have teflon impregnated skirts, they tend to run nice & quite. Now, if you bump compression and want to make some decent power (100/100+), then forged is the way to go.
Good luck & keep us posted.
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