My setup now is a 06 883 converted to 1200, have SE intake and ignition with V&H straightshots. My question: if only doing a cam swap or carb swap, which will I get the most noticable gains. Cams will be the SE with .536
lift, power from 2000-6500rpm, the carb is the SE 44mm performance carb. I know to get the most you need to do both at the same time blah, blah, blah. But unless I am going to receive money with those opinions I can only do one or the other.
Thanks.

 

IMO, Unless your engine is developing over 90 RWHP, there is little to be gained from a larger carb. Whether or not the cams will be of much benifit, depends on what heads were used when you did the 1200 upgrade. If you still have the stock 883 heads, a higher performance cam isn't going to do much until you have the heads done or replaced.

 

Yeah, you won't see any gains with a new carb, beyond what you can get with a properly tuned keihin. I'm not sure what the SE Kit carb is.........but if they still offer it as the mikuni carb kit, that's one of the best carb upgrades, but it won't give you more power, simply better throttle response. The cams will make a noticable difference, but go hand in hand with upgrading to an aftermarket ignition as well to really feel the difference. Personally I used Andrews N4 cams and upgraded my ignition to a dyna 2000i module with single fire coil. For your year bike, Look at the TC88 ignition module. And if I remember the .536 cams require some clearancing in the heads or the valves will hit and also require new springs, so look into that to be sure. the N4 cams are slightly more mild at .4something and don't require head clearancing or new springs, but sure make a noticable difference in power.

 

cams... carb will just suck more gas with no results... cams will be a HUGE diff!

 

drum412 has the right idea. Unless you want to do a ton more headwork the andrews N4 cams are the better choice since it's a bolt in and you can still use your present pushrods and valvesprings with no need to upgrade them.
The Kehin CV40 that came stock on your bike (properly rejetted of course) will handle your set-up just fine.

 

Thanks for responses, cams it will be. Opinions on the .551 lift SE cams vs the .536???

 

Cams would be my choice but not those 536'sI wouldtry something smaller. If you want real performance spend your money on the heads.
My bike makes 85 RWHP with stock cams andcarb.
Bigger is not better unless you have head work and compression.

 

Put a kit in your bike (Thunderslide or Yost). Then go pick out a set of bolt in cams. A ton of people run the .536 and love them.

 

The stock CV carb is good up to ~100 rwhp. Cams would be a better choice as long as you realize that most of them produce power by moving the torque peak up in the rpm range.

That depends on various clearances. They may not fit depending on what you are running. The .551 will bolt-in to the rubbermount's with 1200 heads. They may or may not clear 883 heads (I have no idea on that). The .536 cams are not bolt-in for rubbermounts with 1200 heads unless you use a different set of pistons with deeper valve pockets. You will have to check clearances and make sure the valve spings are able to control the valvetrain.

 

As for my carb, already jetted and have the Yost tube. So basically the 2 best options for my bike are the SE .551 cams or the Andrews N4 cams???