Looking to get a little more out of my '05 Road King and am starting to get parts together for the winter mods to begin. I am putting in an Andrews 21N and the newer style hydraulic tensioner setup, 3.37 gearing and am having the heads cleaned up over at Big Boys. Staying at 88" for now (gotta watch the $, been out of work since March).
My question is about the cam plate. I see they sell a complete SE kit for what I want to do . While I haven't priced out my options yet, I am assuming the stock '07 cam plate is less expensive that the SE billet one. I haven't heard of any problems with the stock plate. Is there any reason to go with the SE kit rather than ordering all the individual parts for the newer setup or is it, the SE kit, a waste of money?
Thanks,
Jeff

 

slip up, please delete.

 

I would not say that the SE kit is a waste of money but the stock plate is just fine. You can get the list of the H-D parts at the Andrews website:

http://www.andrewsproducts.com/motor...nstall_Kit.htm

You can get the parts from Zanottis or another online discount H-D supplier for about $370. You probably don't need the .140" or .150" shim; I have not encountered situations where those were required. The only parts not listed are the fasteners that secure the inner and outer tensioner pads to the plate and you can get those from your local hardware store. The 3.37 gearing is going to register more on the butt dyno than the cam upgrade. Better get a new back tire now, you're gonna need it!

BTW, with that gearing, the 26 might be a better fit?

 

Of ALL the years of building these T/C's, one after another, have only installed a handfull of those plates.
The OE plates are just fine.
Scott

 

Thanks for all the info, I was under the same belief that the 3.37 is going to make more of a difference than the cams, but I want to do this once and be set up for some cruising come spring. I believe the cams will just be icing on the cake, not looking for huge numbers, just some all around usable torque. It was a toss up between the 21 and 26 cams. I am not locked into the 21s, what would be the reasons for the 26s over the 21s. I do a lot of touring, probably 50/50 back roads and highway. Hillside, thanks for your input also. I may just go with the regular plate instead of the SE version. That's exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for.Am I correct that if I use the stock cam plate I can only use "conversion" cams and if I were to use the SE plate I can use any TC88 cam or does the SE plate use "conversions" also?
Thanks again,
Jeff

 

I am thinking that the 26 with a later intake close and more duration will shift the TQ curve to the right a bit, i.e., won't come on as early. With the lower gearing, you might not need that extra TQ but could use a little more once you are moving. Just a thought.

Your assessment of the two cams/cam plates is correct.

 

Thanks djl, I appreciate you explaining all this to me. I may just look into the 26 again based on what you stated.
Jeff

 

for a few dollars more go 95 being you already have the heads off. have your cylinders bored for about $150 and pistons same. I have used both 21's and 26's. 21's come on sooner and in my bike made more peak torq. 26's made more hp both work really well. If going with 3.37's I would go 26's if staying 3.15 I would go 21's.

 

Not trying to muddle things, just askin - would the money be better spent, if money is a concern, on doing the 95" kit with 21's and keeping the gearing 3.15? I would think that for highway riding the rpm's would be at a more comfortable level.

 

JefFlH
As you can see, there are varying opinions on how to "get a little more" out of your Roadking.

Kuma makes a good point about using the money for the primary change to pay for the 95" upgrade. The issue of comfort at highway speeds is subjective; an extra 200rpms at 70mph doesn't register for some but annoying for others. You will be surprised at the difference just the 3.37 gearing alone will make. If your bike was a softail, that softail buzz might be a little annoying on a 500 mile day but not so much with the rubber mount FLs. The extra rpm won't hurt the engine, the TCs like to spin. Having said that, I do know a couple of guys that tried the 3.37 setup and eventually returned to the 3.15 but, they both rode softails. So, hang on to your 25/36 primary hardware.

The 95" upgrade is probably the best bang for the buck for a single upgrade and the extra displacement would really help the build. You can always change the primary gearing if you think you need more low end zip after the build.

There are lots of way to skin the cat; your bike, your budget and you know how you want the bike to perform. BTW, the '05 heads were the worst ever for a TC and the '05s respond very well to headwork. What is BigBoyz going to do with their "cleanup"? Once you are settled on the cam, talk to Bean about decking for compression if you haven't already. Assume that you will be using a .030" head gasket when you reinstall the heads? BigBoyz has a set of copper gaskets that are nice.

You haven't mentioned exhaust, intake or fuel management; what's your plan for those?