Random thoughts:
Bottom end-I wanted some piece of mind about the strength of the bottom end and didn’t want to wait for my crank to be welded up so I went with an S&S crank will full width H beam rods.
Cams-I used TW-555 cams for this build. I had already ordered them before I got with Steve to do the heads, jugs, and pistons. While this worked out for me, if you are planning a build, do not order anything till you talk with whom ever is working your heads, setting your compression and deck height. I may end up swapping over to GMR’s 577’s, I dunno.
Jugs-I had a thought in my head about doing black jugs on my granite engine. For whatever reason, I chose to stay with granite. Wish I could have a do over with this one. I think black would have looked sweet.
Pipes-They are exactly that. I chose Jackpot ceramic coated stainless 2-1-2. I like Fulsac’s pipes too, but I wanted ceramic stainless. Now, for those that think ceramic coated pipes will be drastically cooler, I have a nice 1 inch long blister on my wrist from reaching under my bike during heat cycles. They are cooler, but not drastically. lol.
Larger TB’s with open elements-They make noise. You can deal with it or…
Ward’s fans-Kinda neat. I still haven’t hooked up the thermal switch. Its in the 50’s here so I can manually turn them on in traffic. Once my break in is done, I will hook it up.
RSD Clarity covers-They are the devil. Lol. They will have you on your knees shining your flashlight inside there just to see what is going on. You’d be surprised how much moisture your engine creates in the crankcase during short operating periods.
Parts in general-Clean them. Whether they are new or you just removed them, yesterday. Clean them.
Tools-George’s Garage has all the specialty tools you’d need for this job, well except for the ring filer. Believe it or not, I went to Auto Zone to get one and the manager (a couple years older than me) said he had never heard of such a tool. Really? I ordered it from Summit Racing.
The build-Now, I am not a motorcycle mechanic, but I am an aircraft mechanic. I had a blast putting this thing together. It wasn’t as cool as being a young Sailor in TJ, but it was great to see a portion of what Steve, Scott, Kirby, and the others do on a daily basis. Next time, one of them will be pushing a crate S&S 124 into my bike.

I know, I’m lazy, but I also like to support small American businesses.
Overall, I would rate this an 8 on the fun factor, unless you don’t like to tinker…
Chris