88" vs. 95" conversion

[gonzo]

I've heard it said that "there's no replacement for displacement" and am considering a 88" to 95" kit. The questions is..."is the kit with the SE203 cams worth the extra $$$, or is the kick from the displacment kit alone enough?"

Any feedback from riders who have gone down this road, or are motorheads would be appreciated.

I don't want to waste the money if the bang-for-the-buck isn't there for trike riders. I'm afraid I'd be sacrificing low-end grunt with the higher rpm torque producing cams.

Help please??

 

[Gorilla]

That is suppose to be a great setup. If properly tuned I have read torque in the neighborhood of 100 ft lbs. I believe those cams bring it in at the correct RPM range also. You want 2000 to 4000 for the pulling range.

 

[Nauga Mok]

From what I'm hearing from guys who did the 95" kit then added the cams later, even though the stock cams are supposed to give good torque with the 95" kit, the SE cams "wake it up". The SE203 cams are supposed to be good for low & mid range torque. A lot of guys also use the SE 211 cams. I know my Ultra with the 95" & cams runs strong! Problem is I can't find out which cams are in my engine. There is a possibility I'm running S&S 270Gs. Anderews also grinds good cams for our aplication. Will see what adding an extra wheel does to it in a few days.

NM

 

[Hawkeye]

Gonzo -

I have the setup you're talking about in my "other trike", an '02 Electra Glide Classic with a Lehman kit. I went the full Screamin' Eagle route: air cleaner, heads, cylinders, pistons, 203 cams and, for good measure, the Screamin' Eagle six-speed transmission. Went with Vance and Hines pipes rather than Screamin' Eagle because I liked the sound better. Is it a runner? Oh, yeah!
I'm a happy guy. :yes:

My independent mechanic told me that opening up the exhaust, some headwork and cams would get the most bang for the buck.

 

[Greydog]

I went from 96" to 103" with the SE255 cams and compression releases. My '08 Ultra now runs stronger as a 103" trike than it did as a 96" two wheeler. I've seen some really good dyno charts on the 88" to 95" builds. The good torque range on the 255's is around 2500 to 4000 RPM.

 

[msocko3]

When my dad was thinking about putting a Trike kit on his 06 Ultra he had 95" with the SE204 cams, we sent the heads out to Hillside and had them do a good valve job on them, clean up the ports and cc them so we could get to 9.7 compression with the .030 gasket. The bugger was a great runner, would pull great from the bottom end through 5,500rpm loaded 2 up. Went out west and ran 80 - 85 mph for hours with not a single problem. After riding it my self I think he could have run real close to my 06 which is a 95" Head Quarters touring build making 104/100. He ended up selling the 06 and buying a 09 Triglide due to the 2 year warranty and getting a pretty decent buck on the sale of his bike.

 

[1550vt]

I think that if you are considering just blowing-up the 88" to 95"...you should go ahead with the cams also. True enough...you could stick the new jugs and pistons in without opening the cam chest, but while you are going to this trouble, why not just go all the way with the full-blown stage II kit and then have no doubts about what you may be missing. If I were only considering increasing the displacement...I think I'd just stick in a good set of cams in the 88" instead and likely gain as much, or more than the 95" top-end alone. I have the stage II complete with the 203's, etc.. The heads are stock but I did spend some bucks to have the intake runner ported and flow tested, mostly because it was a "popular" thing to do in the area at the time and we have an INDY bike tuner down here that has worked with Harley on several development projects and specializes in head work and porting. I don't have any problems at all running with the 96" 2-wheelers and I am on an Ultra/Lehman Trike.