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That's the first time I've seen this description of 255 cams, and is indeed quite the opposite of the norm. I would suspect more than a tune issue, but maybe the cam-timing retarded a tooth or two.
My TTS tuned bike runs great. I think I'm just disappointed because my RK won't wheelie off the throttle or break the back end loose...
Thanks for the response. Was just thinking of what kind of margin I'd have with adding a 4* advance gear to one of the cams with less clearance at TDC. Safe bet is to just check it. I know there are various theories on adequate piston to valve clearance based on piston/cylinder head material, engine speed, etc.
Definitely best to check with clay or solder. .060" solder is good to use because if it comes out untouched you know that you have .060" plus piston to valve clearance. .060" clearance is commonly accepted as sufficient.
I am in 3rd gear @ 45 mph with only a stage 1 in my 96" TC. If I roll the throttle while in 3rd gear @ 45 mph I am doing 60 in very, very short time, and when I hit 4th gear, and keep the throttle open I am at 75 in a very, very, very short time.
Sounds like the cheapest upgrade is to learn how to ride your motorcycle, and learn where your power band is located. Your going to be buying a new top end if you keep lugging your motor in 6th gear @ 45 mph. That is just silly to be riding in 6th gear @ 45 mph. It is a Harley not a Oldsmobile with an automatic transmission. GEEZ! What are you thinking, OP?
I don't know. Maybe it is a Dyna "rubber mounted thing", but my whip likes to cruise around 2800-3000 rpms, and I don't lug my bike. I like to be able to roll the throttle, and get up and go. To do that, you need to stay in the power-band, and there isn't any power while in 6th gear @ 45 mph on a stock 96" TC bike from '07-up.
Save your money. Learn to ride your motorcyle, and save the money to rebuild that top end you have been killing.
Will you also need to add a SE compensator with this upgrade ?
Need ?? as of right now it's not part of the plan. Presently I don't believe I have compensator issues but I only say that as the initial clunk or bang at start up has quieted down considerably.
SC
Yeah I am leaving the duals on for now. After 4 different exhausts Im liking these quite a bit. I'm hoping the 103/555 makes up for any low-end loss I may have. Not that it wouldn't perform better still, but the stereo exhaust note makes me smile too.
Oh, yeah, that setup will definitely make-up for the loss from TD's. If you're okay with them now you'll certainly be fine after the mods. I thought the TD's were something you were planning on buying.
Your going to be buying a new top end if you keep lugging your motor in 6th gear @ 45 mph. That is just silly to be riding in 6th gear @ 45 mph. It is a Harley not a Oldsmobile with an automatic transmission. GEEZ! What are you thinking, OP?
I don't know. Maybe it is a Dyna "rubber mounted thing", but my whip likes to cruise around 2800-3000 rpms, and I don't lug my bike. I like to be able to roll the throttle, and get up and go. To do that, you need to stay in the power-band, and there isn't any power while in 6th gear @ 45 mph on a stock 96" TC bike from '07-up.
Save your money. Learn to ride your motorcyle, and save the money to rebuild that top end you have been killing.
I wouldn't run one that low in 6th, but he's probably not too far off from a reliability standpoint, as HD's recommended minimum for my geared-up '07 is 55mph (2100 rpm). An '09 or above would be a bit lower at that RPM because of the gearing difference, but not quite that much. Holding 55mph in sixth gear is acceptable on my bike but I usually keep it at 60mph or above in 6th (~2100), and it feels fine there with the 255 cams. I would downshift to 5th to accelerate, however. I ran my old Evo RK as low as 1800 rpm frequently at cruise in 5th (high) gear, but never put it under any load at that point, and I rode it 106k miles with no engine work except a cam upgrade.
My TTS tuned bike runs great. I think I'm just disappointed because my RK won't wheelie off the throttle or break the back end loose...
There's always more a guy can do. I'm in the middle of a 107/tw8 build with ported heads, and I've already completed the 30t trans pulley to go along with the 68t whel pulley I installed last summer. I'm hoping that's going to hold me over for awhile
There's always more a guy can do. I'm in the middle of a 107/tw8 build with ported heads, and I've already completed the 30t trans pulley to go along with the 68t whel pulley I installed last summer. I'm hoping that's going to hold me over for awhile
I did the 68t pulley as well. But a 30t trans pulley and a tw8? Will your front wheel touch the ground? Don't answer. Everyone knows a stock 96 with the SE255 blows that build away!
When i posted on the first page I was trying to give advice that might keep this thread form turning into a 255 slam fest. Oh well...
The following post illustrates why I wouldn't want, and didn't pick for my pending cam swap, 255's:
To a very large extent, I don't care what power my bike is making at 2000 rpm. Making power at that engine speed isn't good for the POS crank in late model twin cams as far as I'm concerned. I would like any cam I choose to perform at least as good as stock at that level, so that as I accelerate through that level, the bike runs smoothly. But to cruise at that level expecting appreciable power? No, I wouldn't.
I cruise above 2500 almost exclusively. Most mild cams that I would recommend (SE204, Andrews 37, S&S 510, SE 254e, Woods 555) will match or beat a 255 at 2500-2700 RPM and beat it soundly all the way to the rev limiter.
Here's a Woods 555 vs. 255 dyno run done on the same bike on the same day. Bike had pipes, A/C, and tuner. Nothing else. The 555 matches the 255 at 2700 and spanks it from there on:
Heck the 555 is probably the most "radical" of the cams I would suggest or own and it still makes great low end torque.
There's nothing wrong with the 255. If you've got one and like it, great. For me, it makes TOO much torque, TOO far down the powerband where I don't want it and gives up TOO much everywhere I ride.
I'd rather adjust the final drive to limit my time under 2400 rpm and have a cam that "comes on" shortly after that.
iClick you make sound logical arguments for the SE255. Of the HUNDREDS of posts I've read on Harley cams the last several months your arguments for the 255 kept the possibility of me buying one bouncing around in my head for a long time. Heck, I even ran across at least one really old thread that showed Boogaloodude was planning to buy a 255 for a period of time. In the final analysis it's simply not the cam for me, and not one I'd recommend to many others, especially not to persons with compression at or over 9.7 or so.
I guess we ride completly different and you won't be able to answer my question about the other cam. I don't ride at 2000 rpm all the time, I do spend a lot of time at 2300 to 2400 rpm on roads like the BRP. The BRP has a 45 mph speed limit and you can go 50 to 52 wiith out the park rangers stopping you. Crusing at fifty put the bike right at 2300 rpm in fifth, hit a steep uphill curve and you will be forced to drop to 45 and that puts the bike right at 2000 rpm. That forced a downshift to forth with the stock cams, if I was a little slow getting around to downshifting or the curve was fairly steep, I would have to downshift to third. Since installing the 255, if I drop to 45 on a steep uphill curve, I just roll it on on exiting the curve and go right back to 50 to 52 mph and 2300-2400 rpm, with out have to downshift. The bike doesn't lug or buck, it just smoothly accerates. That's the way I ride, if the crank won't hold up to it I'll either repair it when it goes out or trade it in on a new Wing that will stand it, day in and day out for hundreds of thousands of mile. I have no interest in a cam that waits until after 2500 rpm start making good power, but I would be interisted in one that made the same power down low like a 255 and still had a flat curve past 4500.
Last edited by Allen Dye; Jan 5, 2012 at 05:53 PM.
I guess we ride completly different and you won't be able to answer my question about the other cam. I don't ride at 2000 rpm all the time, I do spend a lot of time at 2300 to 2400 rpm on roads like the BRP. The BRP has a 45 mph speed limit and you can go 50 to 52 wiith out the park rangers stopping you. Crusing at fifty put the bike right at 2300 rpm in fifth, hit a steep uphill curve and you will be forced to drop to 45 and that puts the bike right at 2000 rpm. That forced a downshift to forth with the stock cams, if I was a little slow getting around to downshifting or the curve was fairly steep, I would have to downshift to third. Since installing the 255, if I drop to 45 on a steep uphill curve, I just roll it on on exiting the curve and go right back to 50 to 52 mph and 2300-2400 rpm, with out have to downshift. The bike doesn't lug or buck, it just smoothly accerates. That's the way I ride, if the crank won't hold up to it I'll either repair it when it goes out or trade it in on a new Wing that will stand it, day in and day out for hundreds of thousands of mile. I have no interest in a cam that waits until after 2500 rpm start making good power, but I would be interisted in one that made the same power down low like a 255 and still had a flat curve past 4500.
What you are describing is a gearing issue, not a cam selection issue.
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