I did the Harley upgrade kit on my 05 Fatboy. I wanted as much of a stump puller as I could ge with just a cam change and went with the Andrews 48. I have not been disappointed. My bike pulls great to the redline. I have friends who did the same thing with using the Andrews 21 and i beat them all the time.

All that being said. i didn't take into account maybe going with a big bore down the road. I have talked to Kirby at Vee Twin a while ago and also fuel moto...If I look at a big bore and a compression upgrade the cams will need to be changed

So If I were you and you want the best bang for your buck NOW go with the 48's...but if your big bore kit isn't that far off I would say go with one of your other choices.

 

Quick question Scudda. How often do you go above 4,000 rpm? From what I can tell, the 48 pushes the torque curve up about 500 rpm over the 21 cam. Above 4,500 rpm, the 48 really shines, but I checked my riding habits and VERY rarely get above 4,000. Now, if I felt that constant kick in the pants, would I go there more often? Honest question. Also, isn't the 48 better suited for the 96 inch engines?

Yep. doing that on Wednesday! Kind of anxious to see what's waiting for us!

Seriously considering this. As mentioned, I'm considering this a long-term ride, and I intend on putting some miles on it. So, the "once and done" mentality does come to mind. Thinking the '07+ cam plate and pump is the way to go and add in some conversion cams to bump it a bit. My Indy already said bearings are gonna happen. That way, even if I do decide to sell the bike, it's a selling point, which I'll be sure to point out! Tempted to pull the trigger on everything, but, we don't know whether anything has been done previously. Patiently waiting, but planning (hopefully intelligently!)

Been thinking about the bigger cubes and right now, I don't think it's necessary. I gotta say, I was slightly impressed with the responses in this thread. On a subject so popular as early twin-cam tensioners, I expected to read line after line of "tear 'em out and build it big!" That didn't happen. Thank you! I appreciate the broad scope of options to make an informed decision.

 

The 48 in my bike pulls from idle to redline. I go above 4k RPM's every once in awhile

 

Went into the engine to check the tensioners. Back one is BAD. Front is worn but not terrible. Indy said, "it's time!"

Indy said he can get the Screamin' Eagle kit for considerably less than the 2007+ kit. So, we're going that way with it. Spoke with Gary at Andrews and sounds like the TW21 cam will work great for what I want. Spent some time explaining to me how this cam IS different from a stocker, so those worried about it being a "weenie cam" shouldn't be. I'm looking forward to feeling the difference.

I got one pic while things were opened up, but of course, you can't see the really bad shoe. But it was obvious if you looked down in there.

 

So you decided to go with new cams while you were in there... very cool.... You'll like the 21 cams....

The only downside to the Screamin' Eagle kit is because it uses the OEM style cams, that requires the use of the old-style silent, link chain between the cams. You do get the new-style roller chain for the front of the cam plate, between the cam drive gear and the crankshaft gear... Most likely your link chain has been polished a little by use over the years/miles and won't dig into the rear hydraulic tensioner like it did to the rear spring tensioner.. Just worth checking the rear tensioner in 30k miles or so...

Enjoy the new cam...!!!

 

The SE tensioner will last way longer than the spring loaded stock, even on the silent chain.

 

There was a lot going on yesterday, and with the bike on his lift, I didn't want to tie up his time or shop space more than necessary making a decision. He's going to roll the bike to an area of the shop where it can sit until the parts come in. Not knowing what was waiting for us inside the engine tied our hands a little bit until we could know exactly where we stood, so far as wear and parts inside. I'm glad Brian (the Indy shop owner) took the time to look up all the parts and pricing for the 2007+ option. When you look at what the cam plate and oil pump cost from H-D, it was almost what we could get the SE kit for. There are some good deals on the SE kit if you look around at places like Utah Harley online.

I spoke with Gary at Andrews and he said the same thing about the 21s. "You'll really like the difference!" He also explained what I guess I already knew, but couldn't rationalize, that many times we consider these cams "too close to stock" to be awesome. He said that if one were to put both cams together, you could visually SEE the difference. It's more than just lift- it's timing, ramp speed, duration, and a bunch of other things that made my eyes glaze over. =)

Of course, now I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas (cams should be here just before then) and I'm seeing how an anxious owner could turn into a pesky customer. LoL. I had the bike out just a few days ago and wicked the throttle pretty good. I had been doing a little tuning (richened WOT up a bit) and was VERY pleasantly surprised how hard it came on as the throttle kept turning. So, it'll be VERY interesting to see more of that. Since i have the TMax ecu, I'm wondering (planning) on what areas of the tune I might have to change because of the cams? The A/F ratio shouldn't change much per se, and the TMax should handle the different VE due to the cam, right? So, maybe ignition timing? Thoughts?

 

I'd never change a cam without getting a new tune....

The best option is a dyno tune from a competent tuner.. next best is a canned map, for your mods, from a competent tuner and depending on your tuning device, run a couple auto tune sessions ....

While I have no experience with a TMax ECU... I would certainly have the tune addressed by a competent tuner, it's not something I would let someone (myself included) mess with who doesn't have a good tuning background/experience...

Enjoy...!!!

 

The TMax has several downloads. I'll be checking to see if they have a canned map for the upgrade. Also can contact Cycle Solutions to see if they've done anything with this particular application. Bought the TMax from them. I've got a few days to work out a solution. Should've asked Gary at Andrews about it while I had him on the phone. Didn't think of it!

 

I did the 21’s in my dyna,just not enough. Went with SE 95” flat top cast pistons and very mild head work. Big difference and well worth it.