Thanks guy for all of your input. I think I need to get a better service manual for the bike. The one thse dealer sold mre is not the best one, it cover a couple of diffirent bike and is not easy to follow. So what mods are reasonable to do to the 80" to increase output? I would still like to keep my gas mileage around the same. Thanks, Paul D.

 

If you want a new big-inch twinkie with all the bells and whistles, then go for it. If you enjoy just riding and not ever having to think about the machine and its needs, then a new twinkie is probably what will make you happiest. You can have all the maintenance done by the dealer, and just ride it.

But frankly, I'd rather keep Bertha, my '95 Evo FLHTP, and maintain her and customize her so she doesn't look like 100 other late-model twinkies in every parking lot. I've done a lot to her, and there isn't another bike quite like her anywhere. A couple of weeks ago, I put 80-spoke chrome wheels and new whitewalls on her, and it made a big difference in how she looks and how she handles. The wire wheels are much lighter than the stock cast wheels, and she feels like a totally different bike now - much lighter and more nimble.

I have done and will continue to do stuff to Bertha that I wouldn't dream of doing to a new $23,000 Ultra - especially if I had big payments to make on it. But Bertha is all mine, free and clear, and THAT means a lot more to me than having a 2010 with GPS and a rider intercom (Bertha DOES have a 500w stereo with 2 amps and 4 kick-*** speakers though!) I am comfortable doing all kinds of things to Bertha - I installed a new Tour Pak on a detachable rack that isn't "supposed" to fit anything older than a 1997 model, new True-Track Trackula kit that greatly improved her handling, a new EVL-3010 cam and Velva-Touch lifters and chromoly adjustable pushrods that really pepped her up, true dual V&H headers and fishtails that look and sound great (IMHO), new chrome fork lowers, 4-pot chrome H-D brake calipers, new chrome wire wheels, etc. Next up will be having the heads ported to get more power.

I can do, and have done, a TON of things to Bertha - and I've bonded with her. She's become part of me in a way that I can't see a new bike ever becoming - probably in large part because my awesome wife gave her to me for my 50th birthday a few years back, and partly because she's a former police bike. She's special to me, and I'll have her until I can't ride anymore!

I added up all of the investment in her, and truth be told I've spent about as much on her as a new '08 or '09 Ultra would have cost - but I'm fine with that because she has personality, and she's exactly the way I want her. She's not like every other Harley you see running around. Being of the old FLHS style, many riders are totally unfamiliar with the way she looks with the windshield instead of a fairing... kind of like a RK, but different. That's what's cool about Harleys in general, and older ones specifically - you can make them exactly what you want them to be!

I really haven't had any real difficulty finding parts for her, and when I have it's been kind of fun seeking them out on the Internet - like a game of hide and seek or something. I haven't had any significant trouble with her - apart from having to get a new Ultima starter for $140, and the regulator going out recently and having to have her towed home with a dead battery... but $100 for a new H-D regulator fixed that, and HOG paid the towing charges home - which paid for several years of HOG membership! You kind of need to expect to have to replace things every once in awhile on a 15-year-old motorcycle... but that's part of the fun for me because I am mechanically inclined and I like to tinker with stuff.

All in all though, older Evos aren't for everyone. You need to read up on them and become famiiar with how they are engineered and what issues they may have - which truthfully aren't that many. But a growing number of dealer service departments don't really know how to work on Evos anymore - the younger wrenches all learned on twinkies and many have no experience with Evos. But Evos are much simpler to work on than twinkies are... the Evo engine is basically bulletproof, it's very forgiving, and it was designed to be easily rebuilt relatively inexpensively. Can't say that about twinkies...

If you want the newest technology and flash, good dealer support, and want a late-model bike you won't have to "explain" or justify to any bozo who makes a smart remark - then go get a new twinkie and you'll probably be very be happy with it. But for me, I like the simpler carbed Evos from a simpler time... owning one feels like I'm in a special "Club" or something. I relate to Bertha very well, and she's proven to be very reliable. I just have to pay attention to her and do the needed periodic maintenance to keep her running well. I enjoy working on her almost as much as I enjoy riding her!

 

Let's see, you don't like being nickel-&-dime'd on maintenance, but you're thinking of spending a thousand or two for more HP, thinking you'll get the same fuel consumption?

 

Yeah... making more power and keeping MPG the same are sort of in conflict. You will likely have to give up a few MPG to get more power. However, I installed a V-Thunder EVL-3010 cam in Bertha, and I still get over 45 MPG - which I think it pretty good. I don't know what MPG she got with the stock cam - but her engine is a lot peppier with this cam than it was before.

The first things to do are a free-flowing A/C, a free-flowing exhaust (but not unbaffled or large-bore pipes!), good carb tuning/rejetting, a Screamin' Eagle or aftermarket ignition module with a better advance curve than stock (I run a Daytona Twin Tec), and a better cam.

The next step for producing more power would be having your heads done by a reputable shop like Branch O'Keefe, etc. A comprehensive head job will run you around $750 to $1000, but will probably net you anywhere from 10-15 or more additional HP, and better torque due to the increased flow - provided everything is done right. Good head porting is best left to real experts, and if I were going to have my heads done (which I probably will at some point), I'd use Branch O'Keefe or one of the other "known good" head shops out there to do the job. You could also just get a set of Screamin' Eagle heads for about the same money, bolt them on, and get pretty close to the same performance as having your heads professionally done. The SC heads look really good too, with the Screamin' Eagle castings on them.

Beyond that - it's big bore, stroking, or both - but then you are really into big bucks, and losing reliability and MPG! Bored and/or stroked engines can produce great power, but they will not last nearly as long as leaving the stroke and bore at stock levels, because there is much more wear and tear going on when these engines are making all that power. The Evo engine wasn't really designed to be that radically modified.

Personally, I would get an S&S 111" or 113" engine before I would go to all the trouble of stroking and/or boring an Evo and then having to deal with a higher-performance but probably quite finicky engine with a shorter life span. Just my 2 cents...

 

Paco has a great thread and you might find it interesting, I followed it for about a year before finally buying a big inch engine for our '90 Ultra. it started in '07 and we installed our Ultima 113" in '08. I would read about their experiences and think about doing it too, during that time we saved money to pay for everything. Coworkers would be talking about the latest accessory they bought and I would be thinking about installing a big inch engine.

Ultima 107 on a 90 model bagger

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/evo-c...el-bagger.html






on edit: You are probably better off getting as far away from the "evo section" as possible, the practical thing would be to buy a new bike, if you hang around too long you may have an even harder time leaving. You will fit in better with the Harley owners you meet at events as the older "evo" riders are becoming scarce . When we stop to eat, it is not unusual to be the only "evo" in the parking lot, shovel heads are even more rare.


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I know I am going to hate myself for asking but, please Pardon my stupidity, what is a Twinkie??????

 

Twinkie is a nick name created for the original twin cam engines, all the newer big twin Harleys have twin cam engines.

 

thank you, it now makes sense when I see what you mean.....

 

pajoe and the rest of the guys talked me into keeping this bike. I mean whats wrong with having the only evo in the parking lot. I think investing a few buck in the bike is the best thing for me to do. The few things that are issues can be delt with and I do love the way this bike sounds. now to find a good radio that will work in this thing. Thanks, Paul D.

 

I rigged up a custom sound system on Bertha. I can plug in my little Pioneer Inno XM satellite radio or my iPhone with thousands of tunes on it, and have great sound through 2 Polk 4" front speakers and two Kenwood 6 1/2" two-way speakers in the rear pods, powered by two separate amps - one under each side cover with 300W in for the front and 500W for the rear, on separate power switches. I may even put a damn subwoofer in the Tour Pak!