Ted
The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2007
- Messages
- 30,014
- Display Name
Display name:
iFlyNothing
This weekend we trailered the bikes down to Branson with the intent of riding the "Arkansas Dragon Tail" (think Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee, just in Arkansas). In the end, a rain storm that came through prevented us from riding there, but we still rode 100 miles or so including on a bunch of twisties, and then I took the motorcycle out again today for a short ride and some more impressions.
The end result is simply phenomenal, no two ways about it, and I think about a perfect combination for the motorcycle. This is what Harley should have produced out the door.
The big cams move the power band up a good bit, but the extra displacement and high compression help to bring that down and keep the bike snappy. Really, it's not too happy below 2,000 RPM and ideally at 2,300 or above (certainly with any load). The cams really come into their range at around 3,000 RPM, and so if you want to move, that's where you want to be. But for cruising down the road, nothing wrong with being in the mid 2s, where the engine is still happy.
All of my issues with how the motorcycle performed are solved. The power is linear and smooth, and it doesn't feel like you open the throttle a bit and after that it just makes more noise. With more throttle comes more power, but it's still smooth and not abrupt in any way. The torque is like what Jay Leno would refer to as "The hand of God pushing you". It's massive and feels effortless.
The bike makes enough power that I'm not comfortable going full throttle in first gear yet, and it'll hit illegal speeds very quickly. Sure, it's no liter class sportbike, but it weighs twice as much. It also makes all of that power below 6,000 RPM, unlike the sportbike where you'll need to be closer to 10k (or more, depending on the bike) to make the power.
The new clutch, while firmer, is still plenty comfortable and not too heavy on my hand, and the tires have plenty of grip. But when riding on a slightly slick road yesterday in 3rd or 4th gear (I forget which), around 3,000 RPM, I rolled on the throttle some and the tire actually broke loose. I've never had the rear tire break loose on that motorcycle before under any conditions in 9 years of ownership.
The exhaust and intake compliment the power of the motorcycle well. The exhaust has a great tone to it and has a nice volume without being overly loud such that it would get annoying on long trips. When you consider what this motorcycle is and what I want to do with it, that part is important.
Another benefit of going in and upgrading the oil pump and the cam support plate is that the oil pressure is now much better and rock solid at a bit above 32 psi, even when hot. I'm sure the Harley oil cooler is helping with that as well, but it's pretty clear that the improved oiling components are most of why this exists. This gives me more confidence that the engine will have good lubrication and that there will be sufficient oil flow (and sufficiently cool oil) to keep the engine lubricated and help to cool it.
The Dynojet PowerVision ultimately allows for such great performance from the hardware. It's very clear riding this bike that it's extremely well tuned and that all the correct levers existed to pull and get the performance out of it that the hardware was enabling. Unlike my stage 1 upgrade which had a piggyback computer and had a lot of holes, it's obvious just how much better this is.
In the end, this has been a fun project. I think that if I'd just done the PowerVision and a dyno tune, I would've gotten about 50% of my complaints with the motorcycle improved. The tune was really bad before, and a proper dyno tune for the stage 1 upgrade I'm sure would've improved riding a great deal.
The cams and exhaust/intake then enabled another 25% of the improvement. Really most of the horsepower improvement comes from the cams (but need the supporting components to increase the flow), but I think that by themselves they would've pushed the power band up enough to get to the point of being annoying on this big heavy motorcycle. It does still need to have torque and you don't want to need to wind the engine up a bunch. And that's where the big bore kit comes into play. By getting another 15% or so displacement, it'll move the torque band back down a few hundred RPM, and you're back at a really nice spot for the motorcycle.
I owe a huge thanks to Dynojet for letting me do this project. It's been a lot of fun for me, I learned a lot, and my motorcycle is now what I always wanted it to be! I couldn't be happier.
More videos coming soon. I've got two in the queue but have been having issues uploading them to YouTube.
The end result is simply phenomenal, no two ways about it, and I think about a perfect combination for the motorcycle. This is what Harley should have produced out the door.
The big cams move the power band up a good bit, but the extra displacement and high compression help to bring that down and keep the bike snappy. Really, it's not too happy below 2,000 RPM and ideally at 2,300 or above (certainly with any load). The cams really come into their range at around 3,000 RPM, and so if you want to move, that's where you want to be. But for cruising down the road, nothing wrong with being in the mid 2s, where the engine is still happy.
All of my issues with how the motorcycle performed are solved. The power is linear and smooth, and it doesn't feel like you open the throttle a bit and after that it just makes more noise. With more throttle comes more power, but it's still smooth and not abrupt in any way. The torque is like what Jay Leno would refer to as "The hand of God pushing you". It's massive and feels effortless.
The bike makes enough power that I'm not comfortable going full throttle in first gear yet, and it'll hit illegal speeds very quickly. Sure, it's no liter class sportbike, but it weighs twice as much. It also makes all of that power below 6,000 RPM, unlike the sportbike where you'll need to be closer to 10k (or more, depending on the bike) to make the power.
The new clutch, while firmer, is still plenty comfortable and not too heavy on my hand, and the tires have plenty of grip. But when riding on a slightly slick road yesterday in 3rd or 4th gear (I forget which), around 3,000 RPM, I rolled on the throttle some and the tire actually broke loose. I've never had the rear tire break loose on that motorcycle before under any conditions in 9 years of ownership.
The exhaust and intake compliment the power of the motorcycle well. The exhaust has a great tone to it and has a nice volume without being overly loud such that it would get annoying on long trips. When you consider what this motorcycle is and what I want to do with it, that part is important.
Another benefit of going in and upgrading the oil pump and the cam support plate is that the oil pressure is now much better and rock solid at a bit above 32 psi, even when hot. I'm sure the Harley oil cooler is helping with that as well, but it's pretty clear that the improved oiling components are most of why this exists. This gives me more confidence that the engine will have good lubrication and that there will be sufficient oil flow (and sufficiently cool oil) to keep the engine lubricated and help to cool it.
The Dynojet PowerVision ultimately allows for such great performance from the hardware. It's very clear riding this bike that it's extremely well tuned and that all the correct levers existed to pull and get the performance out of it that the hardware was enabling. Unlike my stage 1 upgrade which had a piggyback computer and had a lot of holes, it's obvious just how much better this is.
In the end, this has been a fun project. I think that if I'd just done the PowerVision and a dyno tune, I would've gotten about 50% of my complaints with the motorcycle improved. The tune was really bad before, and a proper dyno tune for the stage 1 upgrade I'm sure would've improved riding a great deal.
The cams and exhaust/intake then enabled another 25% of the improvement. Really most of the horsepower improvement comes from the cams (but need the supporting components to increase the flow), but I think that by themselves they would've pushed the power band up enough to get to the point of being annoying on this big heavy motorcycle. It does still need to have torque and you don't want to need to wind the engine up a bunch. And that's where the big bore kit comes into play. By getting another 15% or so displacement, it'll move the torque band back down a few hundred RPM, and you're back at a really nice spot for the motorcycle.
I owe a huge thanks to Dynojet for letting me do this project. It's been a lot of fun for me, I learned a lot, and my motorcycle is now what I always wanted it to be! I couldn't be happier.
More videos coming soon. I've got two in the queue but have been having issues uploading them to YouTube.
