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[scottieb]

After many hours of reading this site, I have decided to pull the motor and make some upgrades. A little background. I bought a wrecked 08 SEUC. The rear head of the motor has three broken fins. I bought a replacement head so I will need to take the motor apart. At least somewhat. Instead of just replacing the head, I want to make this motor purr. The bike has a Ventilator AC and V & H duals with Wide Oval slip ons.
  I would like eveybody's opinion on what would be the best things to do. The bike is going to be my new touring bike. So lots of power are not on top of my list. I am after reliability and fuel mileage. I am not against honing the jugs to fit .10 over pistons to ensure good fit. I want lots of lights for safety, which meens upgrading the electrical system. Please feel free to give your opinions.

[Keats]

I am not sure where to begin,

but if performance is not the intention,
Just leave it alone.

get a tuner and have it tuned and leave engine alone.

fly wheel measurement might be handy (may predict some reliability)

timkin Bearing?  but why unless you are doing much more.
Cam for increase in torque low rpm range?

everything is connected, so if  you are just looking for reliability and are not pushing the limits, just button it up
and leave alone and save thousands of dollars.

JMHO

the flip side is get an S&S flywheel, timkin lefty bearing, new cams, port and CNC heads, Up the compression to 9.8 - 10,
new pistons, hone new axtel jugs with a 5 axis CNC for new pistons, new adjustable pushrods, new compensator, 30 tooth out sprocket, new belt,
have all of that balanced, new throttle body, and 2 into one exhaust system.
Now you may have a fast bike if it put all back together right.

Nah.....just leave it alone.........it is a bagger

[scottieb]

This is exactly why I want opinions, lots of them. Many have had piston gaps too big causing noise from piston slap. And others have noise with valve train. How has your motor been Keats?

[Keats]

This is exactly why I want opinions, lots of them. Many have had piston gaps too big causing noise from piston slap. And others have noise with valve train. How has your motor been Keats?

My motor is solid now and I have put more money in it than I originally wanted, but once you get on that train it is hard to get off.

My recommendation is, if you do not need the rush from the twist of the wick leave it alone.
I have a pretty rideable motorcycle now, but if I was on my old EVO you could beat me in a race, but you could not lose me.


I still have loud valve train and some piston slap at 2800 RPM's and it annoys me, but not enough to tear it apart.
I had done everything I thought possible to quiet the engine down and purr is out of the question at 2800 RPM's without much of a load on it.

The piston slap quiets down a little with increased load (or the exhaust takes over?) and decreases past 3300.

The twin cams are not the quietest engine Harley Has made. My old EVO was much smoother.

Who races Ultra's anyway?

[HD Street Performance]

The bike was wrecked
Check the crank, accidents take their toll on cranks and they often shift from that event.
Cool it with a proper tune and leave it alone. It will run fine. If you want added assurance as far as reliability have the guides in the heads changed and a proper valve job done and the latest seals used.
This is just basics and they run pretty fair like that. If you want more power then you just move right up the ladder from there

[scottieb]

I have my 04 that I have ported heads, cams, intake and exhaust that I will continue to tune and tweak. So no more one bike trying to fit two roles.

[IMAbadman]

I'm in the process of a fairly extensive build on my 2008 CUSE.  I've had already added BUB 7 slip-ons, Ness Big Sucker, and the TTS tuning module.

SE 10.5:1 pistons, .010" over
Feuling 574 cams
Dewey's Pro Street Porting
Crank trued/plugged/welded/balanced
Timken conversion
D&D Fat Cat w/louvered quiet baffle
Miscellaneous:  Smith Brothers push rods, Harley B lifters, SE compensator, SE clutch spring, SE plugs, Sumax plug wires

Why you ask?  For starters I wanted the motor to perform the way it should.  The motor ran hot and was uncomfortable to ride and had very poor oil pressue. The power to weight ratio of the bike was poor in my opinion.  That 110 CI should have some pretty good grunt to move 2 bodies and gear off the line, sadly it does not.  I wanted better rideability, reliability, and low end torque.  

I personally think HD motor quality has gone to hell over the past several years.  Cutting costs, making it cheaper yet charging you more based on their prior reputation of a quality product.  On tear down at 6200 miles my crank was already running approximately .006" run out, my valve train sounded like a bag a marbles and

So my expectations from this build are for a very torque oriented motor that will easily run 40-50K miles without major engine issues.  It’ll run like it should have been built.  Performance, ride quality, and reliability for the long hauls.  If I could give one piece of advice to all the potential CVO and Harley owners, NEVER buy another new Harley again.  Find yourself a clean used one saving $8-10K then spend a few grand on the motor making it right.  You and your pocket book will be MUCH happier.

[scottieb]

Let me know what kind of fuel mileage you are getting when you have it on the road again.

[IMAbadman]

I'll try to remember to circle back to this post scottieb.  I'm still expecting milage in the high 30's maybe even 40 mpg.  We'll see though.  It'll take another week before the bike gets out of Hoban Bros/Darkhorse and the weather here in Wisconsin is changing mighty quick.  I was hoping to get 500 breakin miles on before putting it to bed for the winter.

[scottieb]

I know that feeling.