I do notice more engine heat in 103" form but the performance gains of my overall 103" build was well worth it. I did buy a Capt Itch mid frame heat deflector for the 2012 riding season ...

 

Not a real fair comparison. In addition to different tuner/map. The 2011 has about 3% lower gearing than the 2007. I'd imagine the weight is fairly close. A Road King in any given year may weigh slightly less than a SG, but the newer frame weighs a few pounds more than the earlier frame.


...

 

Yeah you are probably right, I didn't know about the gearing difference, that would explain the way it loves the canyons so much. One thing I noticed right off was the 103 seemed like a dog until I did the upgrades, more so than the 96 or several 88's that I bought new. Again, I really like the 103.

 

I like the 103 too. As they say, "there's no replacement for displacement". I wouldn't put a lot of value in a 103" vs 96" in the used market though. It's too easy to create a 107" out of the 96".

 

My present bike is a 96/255-cam combo with Stage 1 upgrades, and a few months ago I rode a stone-stock demo 2012 SG 103. As expected, the new bike felt soft at any throttle position more than about 50% with less power at roll-on, but I didn't sense much difference in overall smoothness. Bikes with the current frame design idle smoother than the '07 and '08 genre, and this '12 model was no exception, but the newer bike had a tad more vibration above idle like I've noticed in other '09 and later bikes I've ridden.

As Ocezam pointed out, my '07 is geared higher than the '12 model, and that will make a difference, too. With the gearing advantage I think the 103 with typical Stage 1 upgrades and a decent tune would put the performance up reasonably close to the 96/255, but if I had one I would very likely upgrade cams on it as well. As has already been mentioned, some report increased operating temperatures with the 103 and I'm not real keen on this side-effect, especially since this TC96 has always run cooler than most. It's very rare for head or oil temps to get even close to a worrisome level, and because of this civilized behavior I've had no inclination to increase displacement as a means to get better performance on my current bike.

 

I too am wondering about the 96" vs 103" only not comparing a stock vs stock but upgrading my 96 to a 103.( I'm led to believe a built 103 is better than a stock one). It all started with the ever popular "you need to do cams !!" threads .... So I talked to a local mech. and he is suggesting I do a 103 ugrade as well. hmmm. Well I don't wanna turn this into a "which cam" disscussion but I do find myself at a stand still until I learn more.
My choices are: TTS and Woods 555 or TTS -103 - 555.
part of me says "go for it !!" displacement !! ..... and then I think the bike only has 15k on it... why would I change jugs,pistons? is it really worth it (2-up power+fun factor)? ...and a '09 96" ugraded ...no bushing issue?
Keep all the good info coming !!
SC

 

The bushings were removed for all big twins in 2011 vs. 2010, so that really doesn't apply when comparing the two, it isn't exclusive to 103's.

I'm of the theory that it doesn't usually hurt to go bigger, you can run a larger cam vs. a comparable 96", and it'll move the power lower in the rpm range, which is where most of us ride anyway.

I'm very happy with my stage 1 103, but am eventually going to do cams, just for a little bump in cruise range power and a nicer idle.

 

I had a 2010 Ultra and now a 2012 Ultra. The 2012 has a good amount more power at highway speeds. On the other bike on big hills two up I would occasionally have to shift to maintain speed. Now never. Hit the cruise and the speed never varies. Love it.

 

I know this is a 103 vs 96 thread, Which i can add nothing to,,But I can comment on two different 09 Baggers, with 96" motors that I owned (still have the Ultra) 1st one was a 09 Street Glide bone stock 96" bike ran ok ,, Add a set of JackPots ,, it ran a little better ,, then added a boyesen Power X Wing ,, With the two small mods the Street Glide ran a lot better than it did bone stock,,,

09 bagger #2 Root Beer Ultra Bone stock,, On the first ride home on Ultra I could tell the Ultra was a lot better runing Bagger than the Street Glide even with the small mods on the Street Glide ,, The Ultra had a lot more power,, You would think with the added weight of the Ultra it would be slower..

So I guess all Harley motors are not equal!!!

Buy the way while I had my SG up for sale I had both sitting in the garage,I would take one of the bikes ten miles to the next town , get back and get on the other one and ride it to the same town , just to see how they compared and the Ultra was by far the best running of the two,,,

 

I had my 2006 Road Glide TC88 built to the 103 stage V. This is a build that is offered by Patriot Harley in Fairfax, VA. I spent some time talking about the 103 or the 120 build. I settled on the 103 because the engine life was expected to be at least 75K or more with proper maintenance. I didn't cut corners on the build to ensure the job was done right.
Well, after 2 years and only 30K miles, the engine developed a blown head gasket. I took the bike to an independant shop, Skip's Cycles in Winchester, VA for the repair work as the dealer didn't cover the work in warranty. In the tear down, the indy discovered a lot of damage to the engine from metal bits. He found that the crank runout was .019 and the wear from the oil pump and cam plate had worn away the hardened surface of the crank. The hard as glass powder had scored the piston skirts, cylinder walls as well as the SE258 cam surfaces. Basically, the engine was shot. I had the upgraded head bolts in the engine but apparently the compression was higher the 10.5:1 to have blown the rear head gasket. Oil was also leaking from the base of the rear cylinder, indicating either the head bolts had stretched or the bolts had loosened up. The blow by could be seen on the entire front edge of the cylinder block and head.
I contacted the service manager at Patriot just to tell him how long his 103 stage V builds really last. Without even asking me how I ride or how the maintenance was done on the bike, he lit into me and accused me of not changing oil for more than 10K miles, not doing the right kind of maintenance and thrashing the bike.
I've asked quite a few other guys I know, who are somewhat familiar with doing their own maintenance and none of them seem to know what kind of maintenance would keep a crank shaft from developing .019 runout or how to prevent a blown head gasket.
All things seem to point to the time of build, i.e. the crank shaft was out of tollerance when it was installed.
Besides the short life of the engine, it was a fun bike to ride when the build was new. Not being a bar hopper, I did a lot of 300 + mile rides on it during a 6 month work assignment in Arizona last year as well a lot of shorter trips around the east coast.
Never again will I EVER let a dealer do work on my bike.