For those that have built up TC engines beyond 95", couple questions for you:

* Have you been happy with the results of just re-sleeving stock HD cylinders? Any sleeves you like/dislike?

* Do you feel torque plates are mandatory with resleeved cyls?

* Notice any heat related issues of sleeved stock cylinders vs. aftermarket or SE big bore cylinders in long term usage?

* Are HD cylinders any more or less consistant in quality than standard aftermarket non-billet cylinders?

 

No one has experience with sleeved cyls?

 

you don't sleeve an HD engine. if you bore, torq plates are a good idea.

engine jug sizes are either 95 or up to 98. 103 is the 95 jug with a stroked crank. larger engines like the S&S 145 and such are jugs, special case and stroker crank. to answer you first part.

I have a 103, so I have a large bore jugs and a stroked crank. I have run this engine for over 2 years without any problems. It does run hotter in traffic, about the same as the 88 on the hiway. To compensate for the additional heat in the summer, i switced to synthetic oil and an oil cooler.

Hope this answers your question.

 

Not exactly. There are some pistons available that either require a purpose built big bore cylinder or re-sleeved stock cylinders. I haven't punched a set of TC cylinders myself, so I am not sure how much meat is there to begin with or how well a stock cylinder will hold up once you slam a bigger sleeve in there.

Like most people, I want my cake and to eat it too, meaning I'd rather not buy new cylinders if I can get away with sleeving a set of stockers. But if the thing gets too hot or the stock cylinders tend to warp once punched too far, then I'll look into some big bore cylinders and then sleeve those as needed.

Just curious if anyone has real world experience either machining stock cylinders or has run a big inch TC with stock cylinders. If I'm going to open up this lump, don't really want to bother with a 95 incher. Otherwise I may just go ahead and use the stock bore with high compression, head work, and a set of cams- which I know for a fact can run harder than most standard 95 inch kits or stock 96ers run anyway.

In really hot weather, like they're getting in the high plains for Sturgis this year, I like running Valvoline Racing 50W....

 

that's what I plan on doing as soon as I have the $$$ for it

 

in order to get anything bigger then a 103 out of stock cases, you have to bore the cases out. the stock cases can not accept a 4" bore with out splitting the cases and hogging them out. I have not had any experience with any of the really big bore motors but i have riden and dyno'd, just about every combo you can think of and my personal feeling is what i just built in mine last weekend. I like the 95" high comp with a good cam and head work. Now i did not have the money for the head work so i went with stock heads, SE 95" 10.25 pistsons, and an Andrews TW50 cam. This combo will put me close to 90rwhp with the right choice in pipe. I have not seen too many 103's that i really liked unless you get into some serious head work to make them high enough comp.... Just my .02

 

hmm...which pistons did you go with? did you bother with gear drive cams? i'm on the fence as to whether or not it's worth it myself. more hype imo. still, the thought of having a few more cubes in a 'sleeper' type setup is kinda appealing....what are you running for fuel most often?

might have to do some experimenting over the winter and see what shakes out at the shop......

 

sewerat, any experience with TC Axtell cylinders? GMR 98 kit?

 

lsc - You might get some better feedback if you gave more specifics on what you are wanting to do. Things like: riding style, solo or two-up, hp and tq goals, budget, etc.

Stock HD cylinders (88" and 96") are 3 3/4" bore. They are an aluminum casting with an iron sleeve. The sleeve is not servicable like they are on a car engine. They can be bored like in a 95" engine where the bore is increased to 3 7/8". There is currently a debate about boring these cylinders beyond 3 7/8".

The majority of the 98" kits out there are still a bolt-on kit (ie no case splitting and machine work needed). They use cylinders from Revolution Performance that are aluminum cylinder castings with a coating instead of an iron liner. The coating is referred to as Nika-sil. This allows a larger bore to be made in the cylinder.

The 88", 95", and 98" builds all use a bore of 3 3/4" with a stroke of 4" to achieve their respective discplacement.

The new 96" engine for 2007 uses a 3 3/4" bore and a 4 3/8" stroke to achieve its' displacement. Beacause of the increased stroke in the 96" engine, boring the stock 3 3/4" cylinders to 3 7/8 " will yield a 103" motor.

Hope this helps. There is a very good chart of the more common engine bore/strokes on page 48 of American Iron's September issue.

 

a stock cylinder can be bored bigger than 95 however you will experience problems with roundness and eventually ring seal as the bore doesnt leave much for stability....i run the 98" GMR...it came with new cylinders that were not sleeved but rather plated with NICKASIL...the same technology on most every other motorcycle cylinder and even F1, Mercedes, & other high end cars....so yes you can bore it bigger, you wont get much for longevity tho..its been tried with less than stellar results which is why R&R forges new ones for the 98