OT: New, Improved Ultra Classic Tomorrow

[Blaine]

I'm looking forward to trying the Harley with the Vance & Hines Monster Ovals, Dobeck Gen III fuel controler, and Screaming Eagle air sucker....I'm expecting a 12 horse, and 10 or so low rpm ft pounds of torque improvement. Hopeing to do cams and ports soon. A hundred horse 96 would be very cool, but I don't want to lose the reliable touring, and decent MPG of the steed.

[.45colt]

Sounds Great. I hope it runs like it should. when I could have afforded a Harley back in the '70's I wish they would have been built like they are today. Good Luck with it. .

[azzhandler]

I have a 01 roadking with a 88 motor, It has a stage II big bore kit with cam, gear drive and a power commander, and screaming eagle pipes, it walks away from my buddies 96 incher, I believe the gear drive is the secret.

[Pitchy]

keep us posted.

[marlin shooter]

Let us know how this work's out. I have a 2007 electraglide standard I bought new and has 18,400 mile's on it now. Has been completely reliable except for a inner primary seal when new, replaced under warranty. It's completely stock and have thought of doing similar mod's as you.
Karl

[CowboyTutt]

Blaine, I've been gone all summer and must have missed something. Weren't you on a GoldWing last I heard? And before that a Honda VTX? Are you the same Blaine I'm thinking of?

-Tutt

[rjohns94]

my 2007 street bob, after stage 4 work, including pipes, jugs, cams, pistons, breather, drilled heads and engine tune kit, wound up with 100 hp, 100 ftlbs of torgue and 42 mpg city. added wide tire kit, new handle bars, bags, seats, rear lights moved, handle bars and chrome hand controls, along with chrome accents. Its never ending. worse than a boat.

good luck and enjoy

[CowboyTutt]

Mike you are sooooo right! I've been spending every dime on my Harley for the last year getting the new 103 built and dialed in with different exhausts and tune. Its currently at 110 HP and TQ. Come to find out the tune may be holding me back as the ignition timing is extremely conservative. Found a better tuner in Riverside who I will see in November. Yeah, its addictive all right! Poor Blaine is going to be penniless real soon! -Tutt

[Blaine]

Mike you are sooooo right! I've been spending every dime on my Harley for the last year getting the new 103 built and dialed in with different exhausts and tune. Its currently at 110 HP and TQ. Come to find out the tune may be holding me back as the ignition timing is extremely conservative. Found a better tuner in Riverside who I will see in November. Yeah, its addictive all right! Poor Blaine is going to be penniless real soon! -Tutt

I traded the Wing last may...In spite of being a gutless dog, I really enjoy the Ultra Classic more than the Wing....I took it on a little 3500 mile jaunt to AZ earlier this month, and just love the ride and handling.....Just needs some testicularity....

[CowboyTutt]

If your going to pull the heads for porting might as well pull the jugs and make it a 103. Most reliable performance upgrade out there for a 96" Harley. No functional difference between a 103 and 107 and the 107 costs much more. A 110 means boring the cases which also adds to the cost again. They also run hotter and need more cooling than a 103. It can be done but again, needs more money. If you want to talk about it some day, I've been studying it for the past year and would be happy to help. Just PM me and I'll give you my phone number. Glad you see how enjoyable a Harley can be!
-Tutt

[Warhawk]

This is mine, 2004 Screamin Eagle Electra Glide. I've had this one about a year.





I'm back from a Colorado trip, and have written up a blog.

http://wpwarhawk.blogspot.com/

[Blaine]

Very, Very nice Warhawk!

[Blaine]

If your going to pull the heads for porting might as well pull the jugs and make it a 103. Most reliable performance upgrade out there for a 96" Harley. No functional difference between a 103 and 107 and the 107 costs much more. A 110 means boring the cases which also adds to the cost again. They also run hotter and need more cooling than a 103. It can be done but again, needs more money. If you want to talk about it some day, I've been studying it for the past year and would be happy to help. Just PM me and I'll give you my phone number. Glad you see how enjoyable a Harley can be!
-Tutt

I have high hopes that this stage one will do about what I want....But, as with firearms, need and want are two different things

[CowboyTutt]

Warhawk, nice bike and nice blog! I was bummed though that you drove RIGHT BY the Friends of Billy Dixon Ultra Long Range Shooting facility and didn't even stop by to check it out! Its in Hotchkiss, CO.

http://www.gunblast.com/AndyTuttle_FOBD.htm

Blaine, your going to need a cam, no doubt about that. I'm not familiar with your tuning unit but you would have most likely been better off with a race tuner from Harley or TTS and getting your bike custom tuned. Usually yields another 10% power increase over just an air/fuel management system. Ignition timing can make a lot of power.

It turns out the newer Harley stock beehive valve springs (what is the exact make and model of your bike?) are very robust and can handle almost 600 lift. More than the the stock heads can flow. This has led to the creation of some really good "bolt in" cams that can really increase your HP and TQ with no loss of reliability.

Let me know when your ready and we can talk. Please report back on the new set-up and how you like it!

-Tutt

[Blaine]

Warhawk, nice bike and nice blog! I was bummed though that you drove RIGHT BY the Friends of Billy Dixon Ultra Long Range Shooting facility and didn't even stop by to check it out! Its in Hotchkiss, CO.

http://www.gunblast.com/AndyTuttle_FOBD.htm

Blaine, your going to need a cam, no doubt about that. I'm not familiar with your tuning unit but you would have most likely been better off with a race tuner from Harley or TTS and getting your bike custom tuned. Usually yields another 10% power increase over just an air/fuel management system. Ignition timing can make a lot of power.

It turns out the newer Harley stock beehive valve springs (what is the exact make and model of your bike?) are very robust and can handle almost 600 lift. More than the the stock heads can flow. This has led to the creation of some really good "bolt in" cams that can really increase your HP and TQ with no loss of reliability.

Let me know when your ready and we can talk. Please report back on the new set-up and how you like it!

-Tutt

Well, I rode it around town and the freeway for an hour before taking it home, and I'm impressed. The sound is more than I had hoped for, very deep and mellow and loud enough to suit me. The magic was the low end torque and power I got. It will now pull from idle with no throttle, and it wouldn't do that before. Fifth feels like fourth, and sixth feels like fifth.....I'm pretty happy. I hope to take it out for a few hundred miles Sat or Sun, and I'll know more. Check out the Dobeck Gen III. I'm thinking I'm getting near (of course, not all) to what a computer-based tune will give you, without the dyno and expense.

[CowboyTutt]

V&H makes good sounding stuff that has excellent fit and finish (after trying 3 pipes and 3 tunes for my high output 103 I settled on a V&H Pro Pipe HO myself!). I did look up the Dobeck and its the same as the V&H Fuel Pack or early model Power Commanders. Its a piggy back unit to the stock ECM and totally adequate for what your doing with the stock cam. However, if you decide you want to change the cam, then you will want to re-examine your timing tables as they are set-up for the stock camshaft. I've already been down this road Blaine, and I sold my earlier tuning unit and SE air cleaner for better performing equipment and recovered about 40% of my money. Yes, what you have is a GREAT improvement over stock, but if I had to do it all over again KNOWING I was going to go looking for more power, I just would have bought the good stuff the first time out and saved myself some money. My 103 makes 110/110 and still gets 45 mpg at 75 mph cruising speed and 50-52 when traveling slower and that's with a lower over-all final drive ratio than stock (3.15 vs 2.78 stock). High performance and good gas mileage are not mutually exclusive. Saying all that, you may decide what you have is plenty and all you need and you made the best choice!

So, next time I'm heading north, I will let you know! I would love to meet up for a ride or road trip!

-Tutt

[CowboyTutt]

By the way, the dyno tunes with a race tuner are not "computer-based" but based upon actual and real air fuel ratios of YOUR engine as measured by wide band 02 sensors stuck into the 02 bungs on your exhaust (presuming your bike is new enough to have them. You still did not answer what year your bike is!) They are very different from the "canned" or "generic maps" that are pre-programed into your piggy back unit with your set-up without any real time measurements being taken.

I just wanted to be clear for any other readers of this thread so there is no confusion.

Regards as always Blaine!

Harleys are a whole lot of fun!

-Tutt

[Blaine]

Yep....I'd love to share the road with ya someday....Got a bed for ya, if you can stand the mess.

[Warhawk]

If your going to pull the heads for porting might as well pull the jugs and make it a 103. Most reliable performance upgrade out there for a 96" Harley. No functional difference between a 103 and 107 and the 107 costs much more. A 110 means boring the cases which also adds to the cost again. They also run hotter and need more cooling than a 103. It can be done but again, needs more money. If you want to talk about it some day, I've been studying it for the past year and would be happy to help. Just PM me and I'll give you my phone number. Glad you see how enjoyable a Harley can be!
-Tutt

I have high hopes that this stage one will do about what I want....But, as with firearms, need and want are two different things

I owned an '07 FLHTC prior to this bike, that one had the 96 inch motor. Prior to that I owned an Ultra with a TC88. The 88 inch Ultra had a D&D 2 into 1 pipe, stage 1 intake and a power commander. The 96 inch Classic had slip ons and no other work done. The stage one 88 was the faster of the two.

On this trip to Colorado I had a chance to ride both a stock 88 inch Ultra and my buddy's '10 Ultra Limited with the new 103 motor.

The TC88 against either of the 103's is no contest. I rode the '06 Ultra with the 88 in western Kansas on I-70. Into a strong quartering headwind the 88 would only run between 75 and 80 mph without absolutely pinning it wide open. My bike with the SE 103 wasn't even breathing hard. This was the only time we had a significant difference in gas mileage on the whole trip. The bike with the 88 used almost a gallon more than my bike, and the gas light came on at 120 miles.

I rode the UL with the 103 for about 50 miles in Colorado. It is very smooth and refined, where my SEEG is like a muscle car. I told my buddy that his UL was like a Lexas, while my SEEG was like a big block muscle car. The UL 103 doesn't "feel" all that fast, but when you run them side by side there isn't a lot of difference between it and my SE 103. The Ultra with the 88 quickly fades in the mirror against either one.

If I were going to upgrade a stock 88, 96 or 103 I would contact Tom at AMS Machine in Fort Worth. I have ridden a Road King with their 95 inch kit (head porting, big bore cylinders, and cams) and it's a match for my SE103.

I've done trips like this every summer for the last few years. I have found that the Electra Glides always get almost the exact same fuel mileage (except for something like the strong headwind situation) and that Road Glides *ALWAYS* get better mileage, usually about 5 mpg. At home in Texas and most places I go my SEEG gets 38-40 mpg, at altitude in Colorado I get about 10 mpg better, or 48-50 mpg. The other bikes on this trip did almost exactly the same.

[Warhawk]

Warhawk, nice bike and nice blog! I was bummed though that you drove RIGHT BY the Friends of Billy Dixon Ultra Long Range Shooting facility and didn't even stop by to check it out! Its in Hotchkiss, CO.

http://www.gunblast.com/AndyTuttle_FOBD.htm

Blaine, your going to need a cam, no doubt about that. I'm not familiar with your tuning unit but you would have most likely been better off with a race tuner from Harley or TTS and getting your bike custom tuned. Usually yields another 10% power increase over just an air/fuel management system. Ignition timing can make a lot of power.

It turns out the newer Harley stock beehive valve springs (what is the exact make and model of your bike?) are very robust and can handle almost 600 lift. More than the the stock heads can flow. This has led to the creation of some really good "bolt in" cams that can really increase your HP and TQ with no loss of reliability.

Let me know when your ready and we can talk. Please report back on the new set-up and how you like it!

-Tutt

I didn't know about that range, just gives me another reason to go back. My riding buddies probably wouldn't have been interested anyway. One is an Army Aviator, CW4, he CCW's at all times and has been in combat but is not a shooter of anything but tactical weapons. The other was a woman who has zero interest in shooting or firearms.

One of my long time "bucket list" guns is a Shiloh Sharps. When I finally get one I know where I'll be going. I also have plans to visit the Adobe Walls site up in the Texas Panhandle.

Speaking of old west stuff. They have moved the old Beehive Saloon from Fort Griffin, TX into town in Albany, TX. Next door to the saloon, in one of the old authentic buildings is the Beehive Restaurant, quite possibly the best steakhouse I've ever had the pleasure of visiting. If you're ever in the area (north of Abilene), don't miss it.