Mine stock is strong WELL PAST 3000rpm. Much stronger than a stock 88, About the same as a stage 1 88.

 

whats funny is that my buddy has a 00 (01 maybe) carb'd fat boy with pipes/jet/air filter mods. we frequently swap rides and i always say that his 'feels' quicker than mine... however, he says that mine 'feels' lighter AND quicker than HIS!! lol

maybe our butt-meter's need to be calibrated... maybe mine wasnt made on a friday afternoon... who knows.

but- i can say that i ran my buddy's 02 Deuce w/a 95" and he could not catch/pass me on the hwy

 

Sound like it just needs a tweak, tell your dealer its not doing right and they can do a ecm download that will help, but if you really want her to come alive, add some free flowing slipons and a free flowing air cleaner with the donload, then it will respond like a different bike, harleys have lots of power but the factory is locked into detuning them to pass EPA standards.

 

Who told ya to put in synthetic oil after 1000 miles? I was always told to wait to at least 3500 miles.

 

Hey MT , don't sweat it just yet.
My 06 FLHT (carb) was a real mutt up to 1000 miles.
Had a hard time revving past 3 grand , which I figured on.
At 2000 miles I just about hit the limiter a couple of times by mistake , and it is running better every week.
Now the engine will pull past 4 grand pretty easily , I figured on this also.
My last bike was a Buell XB12S and it started out pretty tight and just kept getting better till 4000 miles.
I asked one of the sevice department guys what they thought the "real break in mileage" would be and they said between 4000 and 5000
miles. I will wait till 4000 miles to run synthetic because that is what "I think would be right" for break in.
Just ride the beans out of it and you'll see improvement till probably then.
The motors are pretty tight when new , and that's a good thing , this should be a sign that the engine was built properly , and you will feel the progress.
Don't get nuts with mods till you feel it needs them , just make sure it runs well enough to make you happy.
Good luck...

 

Mechanic told me the 07 valves are small and they don't have the power the 88 has. EPA!!

 

Old wives tale. I believe CVO bikes come filled with Syn3. Lots of performance cars, Porsches, Vettes and so on come new with synthetic in them.

 

The service rep didn't exactly recommend the synthetic oil, but he did say that it would help it run cooler. And after 1500 miles, he said that switching to synthetic wouldn't be a problem.

That's what I wanted to hear. I'm not interested in any mods right now. I like the way the stock pipes look and I'm not looking to race the bike at all. I just know there should be more power. The motor takes it's sweet time about going past 3000 rpm so I guess, like you said, it must just be tight.
I've got time. I'll just wait a while for the power to kick in. Every day it does seem to pick up a little bit more and more. The transmission shifting is getting smoother too. Even finding neutral isn't as difficult.

 

Synthetic oil is just that...synthetic. It's not going to make the bike run cooler, or run faster, or any other wive's tale. It's the same stuff as the dyno, only it's made in a machine and not underground and then refined. It's going to maintain its viscosity longer, meaning it won't break down - as it is improved over the dyno. It's still going to get dirty, and it meets or beats all the other specs. Don't look for an oil change to improve your performance.

As the motor breaks in, it will run better, as there is less friction due to metal on metal. I doubt seriously that there is much "break in" performance improvements after a couple of hundred miles, though I have no empirical data to back that up. That being said, your performance on your stock setup will only get better by making mods. You're going to have to open up the front end and open up the back end...that means a better flowing air filter, and better flowing exhaust. After that, you'll have to get inside the engine a little bit, change the cams; that will change where your power band is on the bike and with the right set up will allow you to continue to pull through 3K RPMs.

Let's face it, on a stock set up, up above about 4K, the motor doesn't pull strong any more, it just makes more noise when you roll on more throttle. It's does slowly gain more speed, but not nearly at the rate it does down at 2K RPM...you're going to have to make some mods if you want that kind of performance.

I learned this with my own 88". I put a 98" kit on it with Rineharts and an Andrews 37g cam, and a K&N filter on the front. Problem I have (due to those crappy - but good looking - Rineharts), is that it won't really PULL until about 3K and then it pulls hard until about 4.5K - 5K RPMS. So, when I'm doing 75 MPH, it will pull up to about 100 MPH. Useless in my mind, I want more low end torque, but I need to get ride of these Rineharts to do it.

It's all about what you want, read up on the various mods you can make, match up what you want to do so that it gives you the performance that matches your style of riding, and enjoy it. Nothing says you have to do anything at all!

Hope this helps,

Mac

 

I wasn't looking for any power improvemnet form the oil change. Data has shown that synthetic oil can reduce friction, therefor reducing heat - even if it is just a minor amount. The switch to synthetic was mainly for longevity of the motor.
Again - the performance I'm looking for is just what I beleive a 96" SHOULD have. I've owned a Sporty, a '75 and '72 Shovel and a '63 Pan; they were all relatively stock with the exception of drag pipes and S&S carbs. I like the stock look of the bike overall and I don't want to make any changes, not even the air cleaner cover. The power from throttle roll-on to 3000 rpm is awesome and plenty for me, after all, this is a Harley Davidson touring bike, not a Ninja or a GXR. I just think I should get a little more past 3000 rpm and I think I've heard that from enough people in this forum to convince me that the motor will loosen up a bit.

BTW - thanks for the Katrina support.