254e is compliant on 11-13 103ci. With correct ECM calibration. 255 is compliant on 09-13 103ci and 110ci. Each May be compliant on earlier (96ci) however, HD can only claim compliance if specific model year/configuration is tested/proved. A part may list compliance for certain year bikes and fit and work on many others. The others weren't documented/tested for compliance or proven not compliant.

 

my bad on the compliant part.. I forgot they changed all that back in 2011.

Still the 254e provides more horsepower than the 255 (right of the curve)

 

I'm going to chime in on this a little. I have a friend who has the 254e cams in his bike and it feels like stock to me. It has no punch at all. I'm serious, it feels like it's 20hp less than mine and his is a 103" engine. Now it may run better up top but when I rode it there was a big difference in the feels of the bikes.
Here is a dyno sheet from my bike. 204 cams.
Sorry, lets try this again.

 

compared to a 204 cam, I would hope so. :-)

it's a good solid cam that pulls almost as good as the 255 down low but where it really shines (over the 255) is over to the right side of the curve in HP gains.

 

The SE-254E cams are fairly new. The 254E is very similar to the 255 with the only real difference being that the torque and power curves come on a bit later with the 254E as opposed to the 255. Harley recommends using the 254E in the lighter touring bikes such as streetglides, road kings etc. and recommend the 255 for the full dressers such as the Ultra's where the lower end torque is needed because of the weight. The 254E cams build power right up the 6000 RPM where the 255's peek out at about 5000 RPM. Hope that help explain the difference. 254E for better performance and 255's for better low end torque and grunt!!!

 

Sounds like you are hearing a lot of talk about it at the dealer. Don't limit your search or research to HD cam grinds. Much better cams out there, however don't expect your hd dealer to recommend any of them. You have to remember what they sell.

 

Think about what cam that you think you need for your type of riding, then chose the
next one that is a little less. Most people over cam their engines, SE 204's cams are
a great all around type of cam. Cams are about duration and over lap, not how high the
lift is.

 

I would have to say the se204 cam is my favorite mod to my RoadKing. Granted I like all my mods allot but when I twist .. it pulls ... from bottom on up... all smiles. Even cruisin at a good clip in 6th all I have to do is twist n pass. A couple times I was havin so much fun I actually tried to shift into 7th lol.

As explained to me.. they have great street manners and are very ridable. Oh yeah.
+1 on the comp/releases
SC

 

I'm very pleased with the power curve of my SE-204's. Plenty of torque to pull 6th gear, with passing power available without shifting down. It pulls strong to redline with very little power falloff. I'm not saying there aren't other cams that may perform better but for my style of riding (rather aggressive), I'm very happy with them.

 

here is my 255 dyno sheet for the riding I did on hiway and in hills no need to gear down I liked my 255 until i had a lifter pit and score the cams. got a used set of andrews since I couldnt afford the 500 bucks at the time for new lifters and cams. would like to put the 255 back in -- wonder if i can buy one side of the cam only front cam score back looks good notice the torque curve is 900 rpm sooner and i think it stayed pretty flat till 4500 even in mid 90's over 5 grand
also the tuner who ripped me off just tried a few maps til he got one with higher numbers- this is not dyno tuning. he didnt do any smart tune runs to get proper ve tables, no timing changes, and he even forgot to turn my acr's on. my starter took a beating that weekend. a battery cable had shook a bit loose on the dyno apparently and the next cpl of days of riding on vacation was brutal. Monday after work I check the connections and find one almost melted at battery. I call the guy to complain about acr's he says what do u want me to do, well daaaa fix the problem you created .Ill drive up 5 minutes to reload just dicks me around says he is busy. so i pull the program backwards out of the vci module and start to look at it will Im turning my acr's back on . no changes at all to the program and my afr are at factory 14.6 on most of the driving range on the map. im sure the bike could have made a bit more power but I think thats about it for a 255 its a torque touring cams not a hp cam depends on your driving style.. oh ya almost for got my starter burnt out while on vacation at biketoberfest in florida 4 months later. all because of the beating it took with the loose cable and no acr's for a few days because of this guy.
the only reason you see afr in the 12 then up to 13 range is becasue at wide open throttle the setting are there for those engine rpm's then richen up about 4 grand in the program.