Just do it! You'll be glad you did...

 

I understand the power thing...Like I say.....horsepower is like *****...all men will do what they can to have more and we all want to use all that we have...

 

I added my cams for low end torque... riding 2up in the mountains with luggage it's nice turning in a switchback and gunning it ....OOOOMPH!

 

I like your thinking, livindadream. My Ultra 88 was modified by the original owner, then traded in @only 3500 miles. His loss, since the mods/upgrades came to several thousand $$. They said the Stage II was "highway cams", but I don't know the SE part name/#. The bike had issues for the first two years I owned it, which were only resolved when an old Harley mechanic figured out that it was a cam issue. He opened it up and found the front cam had been intalled "out of time" by the selling/modifying dealer when the bike was new. He reinstalled it properly, retuned it and it runs like a dream now! The bike has more power at highway speeds than I need, since it doesn't really shine until I'm running at 80 mph+. The one time I really got on it (after the cam re-install/re-tuning) I ended up having an extended conversation with a State Trooper. He was an aquiantence, so I was fortunate my license didn't go bye-bye. He pointed out that a deer running into my path (late Oct./night time/pre-rut) would create lots of paperwork for him and a funeral for my family to plan. ENOUGH of that $hit!

I don't know what the top end on the Ultra is, and probably never will. That conversation with the PSP was my wake up call. I push my '08 FLHTP to 9/10ths and beyond on a regular basis. I have to-it's my job, and you do what you have to. But I ride my Ultra for relaxation and enjoyment. If I bought a new Ultra, I'd leave it stock aside from some slip-ons. The stock 103 provides plenty of HP and torque for police service, so it would be MORE than enough for touring on a personal bike.

My '04 Ultra had received all the perfomance modifications she'll ever have. Your gut instinct is right on this one, livindadream. Just ride it the way it sits now. I think you'll be better off in the long run.

 

I would tend to disagree here. No offense, but HD performance out of the box can best be described, IMO, as anemic. Cams are not a major overhaul, and can wake a bike up some. Done properly, and picking the right ones result in a mod your 'butt Dyno' can feel. To each their own, though, and I respect anyone's decision to leave theirs alone.

 

Cams are fine, it's the getting them dialed in part that is a pain in the *** and it is not inexpensive either.. Tune, auto tuner,dyno to the tune of $$$$$.

 

I'm going to be 57 this year and yep, 100mph is plenty fast, but I like to get to 100 mph in a few seconds. Seriously though, adding the cams and getting it tuned properly is a great boost. I also can't stress the tune, you'll read on here about how smooth it runs and the "driveability" factor, all that and I now beleive it's true. My last bike and now this one, I ran "canned" maps, they worked great, lots of power, no "hiccups", all was good. This year, I had a dyno tune done, wow is all I can say! Even the ol' lady noticed how smooth everything worked together. I'm not even going to plug my tuner, although I have great faith in him, what I am plugging is the dyno tune itself, if done by a good tuner does make a difference.

 

well... if you do, don't reckon you'll get too far

 

Now that was just funny!

 

I probably wouldn't do mine again. It's definitely quicker and made a noticeable improvement, but it wasn't "oh my god this bike is a beast". I suppose I should've had realistic expectations. I came off an 02 Suzuki Hayabusa, and still have a CRF450X dirtbike.

The other bummer is with a full face helmet it got too loud. Between pulling the cat headpipe off and the cam swap, with a full face it is too loud to enjoy now. With a half helmet it's okay, but that's not how I like to protect myself with the horrible Michigan drivers.