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Cam Change - Tell me what you think

Rhys

Active Member
Hey everyone,
Its to cold to ride right now, so its time for some mods. I'm thinking cams. I have done a ton of reading on the matter but I want to know what all of you guys think about it. I took gliders advice and started listeing and talking to others that have changed cams, but I cant seem to find a person that is unhappy with there choice. I have a 07 FXSTC with the 96 in motor and 6-speed tranny. I was told that its a stroker and had to be very cafefull with cam selection. what I need to know is these gear drive cams any good or will the gear drive take reliability from my bike. I'm looking at S&S 510 grind gear drive, or should I go smaller and stay with chains. I looking for a good cam set up, that wont kill my stock springs ect.
So what do yall think?
Thanks Everyone:D
 
With your engine the deciding factor will be the crankshaft run out. If you have too much run out don't use the gear drive. My choice would be to stay with stock chain drive and get the cams that you want. Nothing wrong with the chain drive.
Ken
 
I changed cams in my 2008 FLSTC to SE 255's.

IMHO, other then the coolness factor of saying "I have geared cams" there is no reason to spend the $$$ to replace the chain system in these motors just for a cam upgrade within stage 1.

As far as the specific cam selection, I think most of the recommendations on this site for a stage 1 are all good.

I just happened to get a set of 255's that were a takeout from a brand new 103 kit that cost me half the price of new cams, so that is what I went with and am very happy.

Have fun!
 
With your engine the deciding factor will be the crankshaft run out. If you have too much run out don't use the gear drive. My choice would be to stay with stock chain drive and get the cams that you want. Nothing wrong with the chain drive.
Ken

I'm not shure about the run out. I'm new to the twin cam harley, and the chains just seem loud to me but every one says they sound ok. So chains are ok, just change the cams. what all do I need to look into ordering for my cam swap, new chains, tenchinors, ect.

With your engine the deciding factor will be the crankshaft run out. If you have too much run out don't use the gear drive. My choice would be to stay with stock chain drive and get the cams that you want. Nothing wrong with the chain drive.
Ken

I changed cams in my 2008 FLSTC to SE 255's.

IMHO, other then the coolness factor of saying "I have geared cams" there is no reason to spend the $$$ to replace the chain system in these motors just for a cam upgrade within stage 1.

As far as the specific cam selection, I think most of the recommendations on this site for a stage 1 are all good.

I just happened to get a set of 255's that were a takeout from a brand new 103 kit that cost me half the price of new cams, so that is what I went with and am very happy.

Have fun!

do you think I should stay with the harley brand insted of a aftermarket cam, and did you do your cam change yourself or have the shop do it, if so can I ask what you spent on the change.
Thanks
 
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You will want to upgrade the inner bearings to a Torrington bearing, for this you will need tools, some have done it with a blind puller and an old cam shaft to install the bearing. If you drop a roller into your crankcase you might have to open the cases. I like the Andrews cams. Don't go wild with the cams
Ken
 
Hey everyone,
Its to cold to ride right now, so its time for some mods. I'm thinking cams. I have done a ton of reading on the matter but I want to know what all of you guys think about it. I took gliders advice and started listeing and talking to others that have changed cams, but I cant seem to find a person that is unhappy with there choice. I have a 07 FXSTC with the 96 in motor and 6-speed tranny. I was told that its a stroker and had to be very cafefull with cam selection. what I need to know is these gear drive cams any good or will the gear drive take reliability from my bike. I'm looking at S&S 510 grind gear drive, or should I go smaller and stay with chains. I looking for a good cam set up, that wont kill my stock springs ect.
So what do yall think?
Thanks Everyone:D

Cams will vary with the riding needs as well as bikes (weight). As mentioned above, the deciding factor with the gear drive cams is the run out on the crank. Remember what the run out is today on the shaft is not what it could be after some more miles. Any number of conditions like riding style (downshifting in error to the wrong gear) or a missed shift (upshifting) can twist the crank above what it is at the time of installation of the cams.
The cranks are a weak part of the 96 engines but if you have it trued and welded, then you can go with gear drives if you want them. They are a bit more accurate when it comes to the cam timing but also have been known to be a bit noisy if not set up properly.
I think in your application I would stay with the hydraulic cam plate and definitely do the cam bearing upgrade too while you're in there.

Lastly if you want to get the most out of almost any cam and not go too wild on the cam choice, have your heads done so it can breathe better so you can take full advantage of the cam.

Other than that, take some pictures of the installation and do a write up and we can post it here in the tech section.
 
I'm looking into a small cam, the specks are not that far above the stock cam. I'm just looking to warm it up a bit. I do like to open the throttle from time to time but I'm not looking to have the fastest bike around just alittle more lope and tourque with reliability. I'm taking your advice and I'm going to call local shops and see if they have some good take-outs or shelf parts.
 
I'm not shure about the run out. I'm new to the twin cam harley, and the chains just seem loud to me but every one says they sound ok. So chains are ok, just change the cams. what all do I need to look into ordering for my cam swap, new chains, tenchinors, ect.





do you think I should stay with the harley brand instead of a aftermarket cam, and did you do your cam change yourself or have the shop do it, if so can I ask what you spent on the change.
Thanks


I see no real reason to go with HD Cams in particular. The Woods, S&S and other cams that are reviewed here for a 96b stage 1 are all pretty close and will keep your bike reliable and negate the need for springs or head work.

As I stated earlier, I got the SE 255's for about half price and they have acceptable reviews on this site. They lope the idle up a little bit and provide a noticeable increase in torque when you roll the throttle on.

I did do the cam change myself. I read the threads of others on this site, procured the proper tools and viewed the S&S cam change video.

I also changed the inner cam bearings. I went with the Fuel Moto adjustable pushrods. All together, I spent less then $500.00 on the change and am very happy.
 
I went with Andrews 26G and S&S gear drive and changed the bearings at the same time. The Harley set up 255 cams, chain tensioner, bearing swap is a good set up and you won't be sorry with the performance. I went with the gear drive because I put a lot of miles on my bikes and did not want to have to be checking the tensioners every 20 to 30,000 miles. Head work is great if you can afford it.
 
I change mine to S & S 510 on my 99 FXDWG hated the stock version chain tensioners kept coming apart. I don't ride hard , my 510 have about 80000 miles on them and just ripped the engine apart it started burning oil after 1630000 miles on the bike cams still good. My bike is all stock.

I prefer the gear drive Harely ran gears for years why they changed it to chain I don't know how they think.

Thats my two cents for what its worth. Winter is no fun
 
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