I have a 2006 night train. I want to add different cams, I'm new to Harley's and am wondering what I need to do or what my options are as far as head work or changing my ratio. The stock ratio for my bike is 8.9 to 1. I have been looking at S&S 583's or 585's. Just trying to get a better idea of his the process works or what would be recommended. Thanks for the input.

 

First you need to have a budget in mind then work within that on your choices - for example, if you cannot afford headwork then you had better find a "bolt in" type cam.

Study a lot of threads and learn as much as you can, for instance the two cams you listed are not even in the same ballpark: 583 is good for low rpm bagger type riding, 585 is great for mid to high rpms "bar hopper" type riding.

 

A VERY good plug/play cam in S&S's line-up for your 88"er is the .509.
We set up a client from Salinas, CA not so long ago with the .583.
We set him at 9.4 cr/98" and our Stage II Heads. Only 94 hp but showed 120 ft/lbs on his dyno in the San Fran Bay area.
The .585 wants 10.5-10.7 to be fully effective, and in an 88" you'll surely need a piston to do so.
Used them from 98"-124"ers.
It'll have a mid-high rpm charge in an 88".
Scott

 

Thanks for the info. I will look more into the 509. If I wanted to do something like the 583, what would I all have to do for headwork?

 

Find a head porter first; there are two that sponsor this forum. Once you have selected a porter, lay out your plan and what your expectations are and follow the porter's lead which may open up other cam choices. Do not rely on forum members to select your cams or build your motor. We are all biased and none of us have the diversity of experience that a reputable head porter has.

 

I have only 80 something posts on this username so don't take my rookie advice. But I will say that if you're the kind of guy who might get bored easy or likes having cam swap options down the road, I would pick a compression range of pistons/heads between 10.4 and 10.7. There are far more awesome cams to choose from in that comp range, in case you want to experiment down the road without having to deal with compression again.

 

With the dome on our proprietary Wiseco 98" pistons, the compression comes off at 10.5 cr under the OE 85cc chamber.
With an S&S .585 E-Z Start cam, a valve spring change(and checked) would be a super-quick/inexpensive way to some VERY good power.
Headwork could be estableshed then, or later, if more would be wanted.
Scott

 

nice mild build here we do a lot of.98",S&S .570 cams,1.900/1.615 headwork