I miss the rough HD idle of the carbed EVO and Twin Cam's, I know that with any good cam, there is performance gained. But I want that "sound". Just got off of the phone with the service dept. at the stealer, I explained what I wanted, and he kept wanting me to do a 103 with SE heads and the SE251. When I explained that I knew there was alot more power in the 96, and I wanted "that power" with that "hotrod sound He said if that's all I was gonna do then he'd put the 211's in and it would still idle as smooth as my Acura. A Harley should "hit" like a Harley. I HATE this smooth idle.
Now, the bike's a stage 1 with a Thunderheader, so, what do ya'll recommend? I read the "Cam change report", and not too sure if the 255's will get me there.

 

The 251 are not bolt in cams but if I had to choose between the 2 I would pick 251 they are 211 with a higher lift.
But my choice would be 525 or 590 tman cams for your bike.

 

Man I've been preachin the HQ500 cam since last winter, it's racey sounding and runs as good as in sounds.
I got 90HP and 93LBS of torque from my 96" and you have a very similar set up with that Thunderheader.
Next winter I'm going to have HQ port the head, I bet I can almost get a 100/100 out of this 96" with there head work.
I've got a friend here in town that has been chewing on the same problem as you and has a local INDY work on his bike and they decided on the HQ500 over the 255 because the Indy says he's had a bunch of trouble with the 255 causing pinging and they just plain old fashion run out of steam at 4500 RPM's and the INDY really liked the look of the torque curve of the 500.

 

I have a friend that put the 211 cam in his 07 Fat Boy and it has that idle sound sound you speak of. That and a High Flow AC and some Big Shots is all he's done. It does sound awesome at idle.

 

Save yourself on the 255's... they have just a slight bit more rumble than stock cams... Not the hotrod hittin' sound you are after

 

How do the Wood TW-6-6 sound at idle?

 

SE 204's with 4 degree advance.....lopey Idle and a good performance upgrade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sck5vW-1s9Y

 

The SE251 and SE211 will bolt in to your bike. I ran the SE251 with no head work on my 2007 for a while. It is now in another 2007 with no head work. That being said, you will not like the performance of either cam unless you bump the compression a bit. Big bore and a Cometic head gasket is the easiest way to get the compression you need to run either cam and keep the cost down. If you do that you will love either cam. The SE211 probably has the best sounding idle. You will get that bad *** race sound.

There are some other better cams, performance wise, if you leave it stock compression.

B

 

Forgot to add I have owned TC bikes with SE203, SE211, SE251 and T-Man 590 cams.

I have ridden bikes with SE253, Woods 7H, HQ-600 and SE255 cams.

B

 

+1 on that. You will get the idle you're looking for.