I have the S&S EZ 551, I love it.

 

Follow Leo's advise and do a search here, as there's plenty of material available. There is no "best" cam, as they all have their niche and do certain things well, others not so well, so it's a matter of finding the grind that fits your particular idea of what a cam should do. Boogaloodude's list is a good place to start for bolt-in cams for stock TC96's, IMO, but I would also add the Andrews TW48 to the list.

If you want to DIY and save lots of money, here are some write-ups:

Write-up 1

Write-up 2

 

Thanks for all the replies. I knew having the word "best" was going to be an issue. I guess I am really relying on you to help me in choosing one that fits my ride and my riding style. iclick, thanks for the Andrews tip, I had forgotten about them. I did a search for the 48H online and haven't been too successful, but will dig into it more tomorrow.

Anymore reviews on the S&S EZ Start cams?

I am working on a comparison of the different cam in terms of prices and specs. I hope to share in the next few days.

I am still following Fuel Moto's testing of the Woods 555. My biggest concern right now with any of these cams is whether or not they will perform with my exhaust. I don't plan on ditching my duals, but yet the dyno's and testing being shared on HDF are typically done with 2-1-2 or 2-1's, which seem to show pretty strong numbers. Can anyone enlighten me on cams and true dual setups?

Thanks again.

 

Yes, it sure will. There are versions for both old & new style motors. It absolutely is a "bolt-in", and it will also work well in a built motor if you wanna do more later on.

 

Here are the specs. It was introduced some time ago when a few people got hold of them, but then there was a time when they weren't available, so I don't know what's going on or even if they are available yet. The Andrews site indicates they are available ("New for 2010"). They are obviously addressing the popularity of the SE255, as they are similar in design, but these may broaden the top-end a bit by comparison. I'll need to see some charts on them, but they look promising as a good bolt-in bagger cam that needs no compression increase to work well in the low-end.

I haven't seen any, but I do not like the shape of the curve on the S&S site. That glaring dip in the midrange isn't my kind of curve.

If the SE255 is on your list you can buy these for ~$150 on Ebay as CVO pulls. If you DIY, have the right tools (including inner-bearing remover/installer), and re-use your stock pushrods you can upgrade for about $200.

Most aftermarket cams will harm your low-end to some degree if you drop them in a stock TC96 with 9.2:1 compression. TD's will hurt low-end performance as well, so I would be careful in my selection if low-end TQ is a priority. If not, you have fewer worries and a much greater selection to choose from.

 

I've seen the dyno chart on the S&S site and it leaves me underwhelmed. Do you feel that glaring dip in the midrange shown in their chart?

 

Not true in all cases. My Andrews 54H cams are no louder than stock. I think it varies from bike to bike.

 

Andrews 26G here

 

iclick-I've received an email from S&S regarding the dip in the dyno run on the 551 and he said it is likely due to the exhaust setup that was used (stock with crossover) and he said that with a good 2-1, this would likely go away. With that said, I'm not sure how they would perform with true duals.

 

I find it hard to believe that S&S would publish a dyno chart that looked like that, as that should scare anyone away. I notice that charts for all their cams have a dip, some worse than others. What exhaust system did they use? TD's will always hurt low-end performance to some degree, all other factors being equal, but I've never seen them influence a dyno chart to this extent.

Other than the dip, the TQ curve looks very good with the cams producing prodigious TQ even at 2000 rpm, which doesn't surprise me with a 19° intake close. It if wasn't for the dip I think it would be winner for those who want a fat bottom-end and midrange. I also worry about the mechanicals of a compression-release lobe, like what happens if they stick in either direction and what are the chances of this happening? This design is widely used by lawn mowers and perhaps even more applications, so maybe the technology is solid. It would still worry me, though.