Seems to be a lot more people on here askng about 95" kits vs 98" kits. I'm a total newb with regards to bike motors. I'd like to upgrade my SG over the winter and trying to decide which way to go. What are the pros/cons of one over the other? I was standing in line making small talk to the guy in front of me and starting talking about this 98" kit that HDWrench sells and he starting asking all sorts of questions that I wasn't able to answer about wall thickness and it must be stroked and all. I do most of my riding single, but going 2 up for a 400 mile ride is not out of the question either. I don't spend much time over 3k and prefer to have torque on hand and ready at will and not have to be spinning 3500 and wait for power to build. I've already got a SERT/ac/SE Slip ons and looking for something that will go with what I have already. I know 100/100 is the magical number and a lot of ways to get there so why is a 95" better or not than a 98" kit?

 

I can at least just give you my opinions. I am going 95 vice the 98 for only two real reasons.........a 95" can be built using your existing cylinders and just having them bored out to 3.875 where as a 98" requires you to purchase new ones. The stock HD cylinder cannot be bored out for a 98" build.....and secondly, I just don't need the added power that the 98" gives you over a good 95" build. A lot of people will baulk at that but I'm not into the max HP game and just wanted a bit for lively engine over the stock 88. I'm doing a 95 with CP Pistons, Andrews 37G gear drives and will have the heads worked by either Big Boyz or Steve at GMR. Everything I have read is this build will get me fairly close to a 95/95 power build and that's great with me. I think the main question to ask yourself is how much power do you want......hope this helps.

r/ George

 

Thanks for the information. Some good stuff in there to consider. Is the cost of a new pair of jugs to go to a 98" much more than it it cost to remove yours and pay the labor to have them machined to a 95...?

 

Well...........considering if you are going to pay "labor" for a 95" build I would have to assume you are going to "pay labor" for a 98" build also............with that in mind your over all cost is going to still be much greater for a 98 since you still have to buy the jugs. I believe that GMR Performance can sell you a 98" kit for somewhere around $800.00 for the jugs and pistons, rings and pins. You may want to contact them about the actual no kidding price but I think that is fairly close. Not sure what labor would be to remove and reinstall your jugs and the bore for a 95 but I got to assume it would be a lot cheaper than the 98 since you still have the jugs to buy. This is not a real hard mod and a lot of novice wrenchers have done it themselves to save the labor cost with great results. If you are fairly good with tools and have a manual, I would suggest trying this yourself. There is a lot of great info and great guys on these forums that have loads of knowledge to assist. I'm doing mine the second I get my bikes out of military storage and with the stuff I've learned from these forums, I'm very confident that I can do this myself. Hope this helps.

r/ George

 

Thanks George. I am good with a wrench, but something about engines always makes me gunshy.. I'm going to give Steve a call over the next few weeks and get his opinions on some different setups.

 

No worries man,
And Steve is the one to call for any questions you may have. I got my kit from a place called RevPerformance which is the same place that GMR gets their 98 kits from unless I'm mistaken. He will have all the right questions to ask to help you make the right call between a 95 or 98. Best of luck on your build.

r/ George