My plan was to build this bike the way I wished some bike manufacturer would have built a 2020 bike.
I wanted chrome, not black-out or satin paint.
I wanted a unique paint set with unique wheels.
I wanted a hardwired headset (no desire to screw around on the side of the road with BT pairing)
I wanted comfort/convenience features such as garage door opener, heated grips, heated seats, XM Radio, storage and luggage for distance riding
AND I wanted the power of the BMW Grand America that I have test ridden
It was a "TALL" ask. But I had followed some of the threads here on HDF plus I had a very positive past experience 3 years ago with a particular vendor on HDF. Yes, Fuelmoto and Jamie. I shared with him what I was looking for in my new M8. I wasn't looking for a "numbers" bike or "HP" bike. I wanted low end torque and a throttle that never ran out of steam.
I also shared that I was looking to have my other bike (2010 CVO 110) tuned. It ran well from auto-tuning but I felt if I was going to trailer 1 bike, I might as well trailer the other one to him for tuning.
So we put a deal together taking advantage of their recent Black Friday pricing and I trailered both bikes to Appleton Wisconsin from New Jersey. What the hell ... I'm retired and it's cold outside so a short 3 day adventure sounded like a great idea. I trailered 1000 miles (100 gals of fuel and 17hrs) in one day this past Sunday and was home for dinner on Wed. It's worth noting FM has a completely new shop that opened in April this year which is far larger than their previous shop I had visited. The new shop is well organized, clean, professional and quite large. Just like you'd expect of a top-notch motorcycle engine builder.
FM has a discount room rate with a nearby hotel. All the work shared in this post was essentially done in a single day. It's pretty remarkable and I dare say there are few if any builders that could beat or even match that fast of a turnaround for 2 bikes. The bikes were dropped off at 9am on Monday morning. I checked in by lunch and the M8 engine was torn down. Both the TC and the M8 had already been run on the dyno for their baseline results. By Monday late afternoon, the M8 had been rebuilt with the parts we agreed on. Monday evening both bikes were dyno-tuned.
Tuesday morning the bikes were cold started and checked. Then reassembled with saddlebags etc. The bikes were detailed and ready to go. All take-off parts were boxed up and on a rolling cart to load in my vehicle. The bikes were ready for loading by about 10:45 am on Tuesday morning. I was rolling home from Wisconsin by around Noon on Tuesday. And then another 1000 miles trailering back to New Jersey.
Our agreed deal included the following "installs" on the bike which FM performed at no charge:
The tune on my 2nd bike was done at no charge ($450 value)
FM installed an HD Coolflow fan (I supplied) including the switches and wiring at N/C. (I'll need to have the Coolfan activated at my local dealer with DigitalTech)
FM installed a power plug for heated gear (I supplied) at no charge
FM installed a 2020 HD 8-lobe oil pump (I supplied) at N/C. I bought this 2020 oil pump kit through Surdyke for about $110. I have enough confidence at this point that the 2020 oil pump will address any sumping risks but worth noting that FM has not experienced any M8 builds they installed that have experienced sumping.
FM installed my PV canbus cabling (I supplied) to be mounted on the left side of my handlebars at N/C
Pricing was excellent, particularly good with the significant Black Friday discounts they offered. I found the total bill to be extremely fair for the work they did particularly given the time they did it in. Please contact FM for more specifics on pricing if you have a build you might be interested in.
A few discoveries along the way:
The factory throttlebody was broken at one of the AC mounting holes. Apparently this is not uncommon straight from the factory.
The factory cylinders were already showing significant signs of being out-of-round and poor ring sealing with less than 1000 miles on the engine (see pics below)
The crank run-out was slightly under .003
The torque was abit light on the piston oil jets. Not bad but needed additional tightening.
The valve seats were inspected and were evaluated as properly sealed and seated
My M8 128 Build:
I wanted my 128 build for both solo riding and long distance 2-up riding.
I wanted lots of low end torque "early" (2500 rpms) and I wanted a throttle that didn't run out of steam at 4000rpms
I liked my Woods 408 cam in my TC after 70,000 miles so I figured I'd stick with what I know
Installed FM's new 128 Black Granite cylinders to match my CVO block
Installed CP/FM Carillo 128 flat top pistons for an 11.0:1 compression ratio
Installed Wood WM8-408 cam
Installed Wood M8 Alpha Lifters
Installed Wood Performance hi-lift valve springs
Installed Wood M8 Valve spring retainers
Installed FM adjustable pushrods
Installed Koyo inner cam bearing
Installed New plugs
Installed S&S tappet cuffs
Installed S&S headbolts
Installed SE 64mm throttlebody
Installed SE 5.5gms/sec injectors
Installed FM Custom Hi-Flow Air cleaner for Ventilator
Installed AIM SDR clutch
Installed Chrome Hi-roller mufflers with black slash end caps
Installed Power Vision (I supplied) from my other bike (additional license)
Installed Jackpot 2/1/2 headpipe (I supplied) from previous bike
Installed custom CVO 128 derby cover (I supplied)
Complete oil service
NOTE: I stayed with the factory M8 heads (with upgraded Wood valve springs) combined with the 2/1/2 FM headpipe instead of using the XXX headpipe. Since I was more interested in low torque than I was in maximum hp at 6000rpms, IMO this was a better combination for me. In my view, it's a waste to do headwork on the M8 heads UNLESS you're chasing BIG HP numbers and are going to be using a much larger exhaust headpipe. As you can see below, this "table-top" torque 128 recipe delivered!!
The Results:
The tune on my 2010 was nicely cleaned up. But worth noting my PV auto-tuning ran great to start with. I gained 3hp and 4ftlbs as you can see below
The 128 upgrade results were remarkable as you'll also see below. This engine gained 53hp (63% increase) and 41ftlbs (37% increase) over the factory engine. This 128 Build definitely exceeds the HP and Torque of the BMW Grand America. Most importantly, it delivers far more torque at 2500rpms than even "torque" cams like the 22x, without giving up hp at higher rpms.
For those claiming FM's dyno is "happy", the facts just don't support that claim. Jamie had no idea in advance, but my TC had been dynoed twice before. FM's dyno results were the SAME for torque and 2 hp LOWER than the previous dynos performed on this bike. The facts suggest FM's dyno results are consistent with any other dyno run by an experienced operator.
After the fact:
FM has a large custom wall map in their office that customers get to place a marker showing where they traveled from to have their bike worked on at FM. The new shop opened in April of this year and there are already markers from all over including California, down to Tx, FL, MS and all over the Northeast. Of course tons of markers in the Great Lakes region. And now the first marker from New Jersey! All in just the last 8 months.
I have yet to ride either bike since tuning because there was snow in Appleton Wisconsin and snow at home when I returned. I'll be sharing the seat of the pants experience when the roads allow me.
This is not a commercial for FM. They didn't ask me to post anything and my pricing has absolutely nothing to do with me sharing my experience online. And personally I prefer it that way. I'm sure there are many other great bike shops across America. But for service, professionalism, price and turn-around time (1 DAY), it will be REALLY hard to beat the experience I had working with Jamie and the folks at Fuelmoto. My purpose in sharing my experience is nothing more than to post an independent but personal big "thumbs-up" to Fuelmoto for a job well done.
Next step is upgrading my bike's radio to a 2020 GTS to enable CarPlay, a key feature I like on the new bikes. My new GTS radio was bought through Surdyke and is in transit and should be delivered next week. I'll have a separate thread on this GTS radio upgrade.
The only way I believe you could get this performance engine build with an M8 for less $ would be to build it yourself. And for the experience and turn-around time that FM brings to the build, paying them to build the engine is money extremely well spent.
In the end, I believe I have a better bike for my riding style and tastes than I could have bought new from anyone. And doing it my way, even after the engine and radio upgrades, I will have spent $12,000 LESS than buying a 2020 CVO Limited at MSRP. Hard to believe!!
Congrats on the new upgrade. I purchased my first stage through Fuel Moto and the service was great! Now you have me looking at the second stage along with a nice drive....
Enjoy the bike!
that's one helluva' build! ..here's hoping for long term touring reliability cuz that's introducing a ton of change..but this obviously ain't their first rodeo..maybe I missed it but no primary vent added? would seem like a no brainer to add since going through all that..congrats and enjoy
Look forward to seeing your great results too. What are you building?
I have the FM 124 in the box from the black Friday sale, and a S&S 475 cam. Will be using stock heads and throttle body but with 5.5 injectors. I already had the RS 468 in my bike but wanted to try something different.
that's one helluva' build! ..here's hoping for long term touring reliability cuz that's introducing a ton of change..but this obviously ain't their first rodeo..maybe I missed it but no primary vent added? would seem like a no brainer to add since going through all that..congrats and enjoy
I definitely considered the primary vent kit. But my first M8 bike went 10,000 miles and never lost a drop of trans fluid. I had it checked at the service intervals and both the primary and the transmission were exactly at the same levels they started.
On this new bike, I rode it 700 miles at 75-80 mph on the highway for many consecutive hours to get it home (granted that's a small test). The transmission was exactly at the same level it was when I left. I took before/after pictures to be sure if I lost even a small amount.
So, in the end, I decided NOT to add the vent and continue to monitor. If it's an issue I'll add later but so far all looks good.
12-12-2019, 12:14 PM
My Fuel Moto M8 128 Build - Great Results - Great Experience
