From 88" to 95" story

[Keener]

I thought I would give feedback of how my BB 95” build went over the winter. I have read so much on this forum, and received some great advice; I felt it was my turn to share more info. Anyone thinking about tackling this themselves, GO FOR IT! It takes some time, but I don’t think any of these steps were too complicated for a person to enjoys this type of project. I did a SE 95” flat top kit with V&H PropPipe BP, installed gear drive HQ-0034g cams. My original cylinders were bored at the Boar House in Lexington, MN. I used SE tapered Adj pushrods, and a Cosmetic gasket kit. Info on the heads: I had the heads receive a valve job (reseat), new guides and springs. I also had them ported and polished with the inverted “D” shape, and really smoothed out for flow. The cc was checked, and they ere too close to be adjusted. No milling was done in an effort at maintaining a close to OEM compression. I used a .040 head gasket. I didn’t really run into any troubles with the build. I followed the directions in my Clymer Service manual or the directions on the upgraded parts. I was following the service manual during the cam gear install. I installed an original spacer, when it was not used with the new gear drive cams. That made everything OFF a huge bit. My fault. I also was hung up on not having the crank gear, and cam drive gear line 100% flush. I was off just a bit. I spoke with my Indy, and S&S themselves. They said to install the parts, to proper torque. They don’t always match perfectly. Oh well. The rest of the cam removal, and gears re install were just as described everywhere on this forum. I did purchase George's Garage bearing install and removal tools. I installed the Baisley spring and drilled out the drain hole on the top of my rockers. At highway speeds it throws about 45psi. I started by pulling the gas tank off. As there are 2 places for gas to scream out of the tank. BE PREPARED. Gas will stream out of the line when disconnected…OK, that makes sense, but you also open up the petcock fuel line on the tank. Having 2 areas for gas to pour out all over your garage floor, you, and the bike, should receive the proper attention, and be prepared with a funnel for the gas line to be collected in. As well as a drain line QUICKLY attached to the tank petcock. As they say”Don’t ask me how I know.” Having an Ultra, I removed the right lower fairing and floorboard. I even removed the floorboard brackets mounted on the frame. The pipe install was no trouble after that. Some specialty tools should be used, but not required I guess. A good friend of mine borrowed me a rounded over Allen wrench for the throttle body removal. He also had the sockets required to pull the rocker covers and assemblies, welded to a 3/8 in wrench. These were really handy as you could slip the socket between the top frame and rocker area, and use the wrench portion to loosen/tighten as necessary. Everything cam apart as described in my manual. I bagged and tagged EVERYTHING. As well as kept a notebook handy and kept notes during the tear down. For example, there are 2 drain hoses from the neck of the fuel tank. One runs through the frame area to the ground. Short one connects near battery. Stuff like that. I tend to forget things after awhile. This really helped me out. I kept everything clean, and did a reclean prior to install. Check all clearances as suggested. During piston/cylinder install, I inserted the pistons a portion of the way into the cylinder, then weaseled them in position, and inserted the wrist pin, then waited for the circlip to pop into place. Worked great. I even put on a new rear tire. I already had the TMax with auto-tune, and AN Bigsucker air cleaner, so I reinstalled those. I ran a 450 map against the TMAX. Fired off, and proved good power now. Initially I did have a good knock in the front cylinder. During the adj push rod install, I rushed the process a bit, and they required a “Final” adjustment. Once that was made, it ran quiet. So I ran the bike a bit at idle, then spun around pretty gingerly for a few miles. Came back and rechecked everything, it was all the way it should be. Yesterday I drove around west central WI with a huge smile on my face. Did 50 miles of hills, turns, and straights, all on back county roads. What a blast. This setup, with only the TMAX, unadjusted autotune, makes great power. I assume due to the cams and porting, I really feel it coming on strong at about 2700, then seeming to hit a powerband, and taking off like hell. The motor is a rocket from there, all they way in to the 4000 range. As I did not push it, being still new parts and all, I really look forward to future riding. Once I have a few more miles on it, change out the oil, I will start to try and chisel away at some tuning. I am going to be keeping some detailed notes to help when I attempt to dial in the TMax. If I am not capable of setting up very nice power, with cruising MPG, I will have it tuned by a pro. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions, just PM me.

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[txtec]

how about those cams??good low end trq???noisey or quiet???

[lumpy1]

Sounds awesome. I have a 99 roadking with a tc88 and would like to do a similar build unfortunatly, its not in the budget. Oh well, enjoy!

[Harleypingman]

Congrats on your success. I have the HQ-0034's in my otherwise stock 88 and haven't thought about a 95" build since they were installed 20K+ miles ago.

[Chazmanian]

Great post!

When I took my harley dealership cookie cutter stage 2 95" build in and got the heads done with handmatched rings and a 3 angle valve job it went from strong and fun to ferocious and beastly. The personalty of my bike really changed as the power went up.

When you are capable of doing the work yourself suddenly the cost of building up a faster bike isnt so bad.

I take it before and after dyno runs were not in the plan?

[hpfatboy]

Great info. Not every man can take on that job, give yourself a well deserved pat on the back. Makes you feel really good when your out riding knowing you did this job yourself and it was a sucess. CONGRATS!!!

[Keener]

txtech, these cams produced no valvetrain or other noise. They seem to do the trick, right out of the box.

[Kbore]

Great post, thank for taking the time to write it up. If you have pics of the "welded to a 3/8 in wrench" gizmo, I would be interested in seeing that (planning ahead). What was the deal with the pushrod adjust (so I dont have to do it..ha).

Did you run into any unexpected parts needs (like tolerance limit or service limit stuff)?

Followed your posts, found it a very interesting read. WOuld like to hear more...

KB

[Keener]

If you follow the adj pushrod directions, they adjust perfect. I, of course, just rushed it a bit, and did not allow for proper bleed down time, before adjusting the other pushrod. No other trouble during the instll. Just like everyone here on the forum have said. Follow the directions, clean, check, and recheck.

No Troubles.

Here is a picture of the wrench welded to the socket. It allows you to sneak in the socket to get at the rocker cover and rocker assembly bolts. You can probably do it with a regular wrench, but pack a lunch, you will be there awhile. If you have ratchet wrenches, that would work well, but not to get an accurate torque down. Of course, there are those that employ the German torque method…”Gutentight!”…

[Kbore]

Thanks for posting the drawing- that would made a good Hallmark Greeting Card for a gearhead. I've found that it's not so much what you know as it is what you don't.

KB