Crate motor vs building a motor from scratch

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#21

08-11-2022 | 09:55 PM

chrismke

Novice

Joined: Jul 2022

Posts: 18

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From: Milwaukee

95" on up

I have an 05 wide glide i took from 88 to 95 which i was told was a good bang for the buck since any bigger on the stock crank you raise the risks of problems. if i do want to go bigger on this bike is it worth it to just do a swap if the bottom end has to get beefed up?

or maybe just drop the $11k on the T143 from S&S for 162hp.

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#22

08-11-2022 | 10:03 PM

Rounders

Seasoned HDF Member

Joined: Mar 2021

Posts: 13,336

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From: backwoods

Boring is a good bang for the buck, doing yourself. I've pulled my crank for inspection, wasn't hard. But I put same crank back. Sending bottom end to a shop isn;t all that hard.

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#23

08-12-2022 | 09:01 AM

ChopperBill

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Joined: Nov 2005

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From: USA

Send it to the Dragon man. A few days ago he said $1200 and quick turn around.

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#24

08-31-2022 | 09:10 PM

Bubba49

Road Master

Joined: Jan 2010

Posts: 1,013

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From: South Carolina

Parts and clothes that don’t charge a premium for the name.

Bubba

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#25

09-01-2022 | 05:54 AM

TnFatboy

Road Master

Joined: Jul 2018

Posts: 1,160

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From: Appalachia

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoRegerts

If I were to do a build, I'd be paying a lot of labor for a skillset I don't have. I can and have swapped engines on numerous vehicles. I priced it out and dropping in a 131 crate still ends up costing about $9k by the time it's done. A stage IV on my current engine would cost considerably less.

I bought my ‘19 SGS from a private owner who was selling it through our local Dealership last year and he had a stageIV 131 (all HD parts) installed with less than 1k miles. Within the paperwork was a breakdown of the cost, and it was right at $7000 for the build , about half was labor and the other half was parts, give or take. It would have been late 2019 when the work was done, so it might cost a lot more than that now.

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#26

09-01-2022 | 06:53 AM

Rounders

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Joined: Mar 2021

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From: backwoods

It's funny only 3 years ago , you wouldn't normally think do.
but I did bunch of work one bike winter 21and 22. Belt went up $50 .

Last edited by Rounders; 09-01-2022 at 06:58 AM.

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#27

09-01-2022 | 08:42 AM

HawkX66

Cruiser

Joined: May 2022

Posts: 107

Likes: 47

From: VA

I've built a couple of engines and really enjoy doing it. Damned if the 131 crate isn't tempting though...

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#28

09-01-2022 | 05:13 PM

Rounders

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Joined: Mar 2021

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From: backwoods

I built a 95 and 98, and pulled my crank. It's not that hard. Insert joke.

Doing it yourself is a cool factor, and pride. I am guessing just a matter of money, piston is a piston, jug is jug.

Though I wasn't worried about clearance on high lift cam.

Mechanic friend said to go S&S for stouter cases if you build, and to beef up tranny. Then should you go chain? I think that might be riding style too

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#29

09-02-2022 | 05:45 AM

skootchnc

Grand HDF Member

Joined: Jan 2008

Posts: 4,475

Likes: 504

From: Raleigh NC

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phage

This is an interesting question. What would be a cheaper option (ik building one from scratch is better). Building a motor from scratch (not building a current motor) or a crate engine?

If cheaper is your goal, the HD-re-man program might be your best bet....
BUT.... in the long run, you can build from scratch a better, stronger more robust engine, for not nuch more, and you have the piece of mind that what you have is made of quality parts rather than "in-spec" parts

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