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Another Cam thread
The problem that faces us all, when choosing the correct cam, is what will work with our individual bike modifications and how we ride.
Our riding style can be solo, two up, with or without a trailer or any combination. Our motor modifications vary as well. Most of us with a TG have a 103 motor. If we went new cams we probably already have a catless head pipe, mufflers of some sort and an open style breather.
Let's narrow a few things down. Catless head pipe. This could mean that you gutted your stock head pipe or purchased aftermarket. If you stayed with the factory style 2-1-2 head pipe you will keep more bottom end torque which is what a heavy trike needs. A factory head pipe that is gutted is a good head pipe and will work very well. It will radiate a little more heat than an aftermarket pipe but will fit anyone's budget.
The aftermarket head pipe will have a CAD built collector which will give you a bolt on 4 to 5 extra ft lbs of torque and horse power.
It will be a cooler header due to some sort of coating.
The slip on mufflers are only important to your noise level or tone comfort until you get over a 2.0 baffle.
Anything over a 2.0 is difficult to tune on the bottom end to mid range and is difficult to stop decel popping due to exhaust reverberation.
That's where the pipes suck in cold air during decel, mix with the unburned exhaust gases and are ignited causing a POW when you are slowing down.
The air cleaner up to 2013 is only good to so many HP. About 80 to 90 HP if that so if you want to pull in more air for more HP you need a Stage 1 air cleaner. The 2014 air cleaners are good up to 90+ unless you change to a mid to high lift cam. The motor will want to breath. If you choke it off with a restricted air cleaner then don't install the cams.
Now, cams...
You can search back through years of threads and posts here to find the same question over and over and over... What cam should I run? What will give me the best bang for my buck? What gives the best overall performance?
What will give me the best bottom torque? What cam will give you the best performance and gas mileage.
What cam will line your pocket with $100 bills??
Answer... Assuming you did the air cleaner, catless head pipe and at least a 2.0 baffle there are several cams that will fit the bill nicely.
I haven't found any $100 bills mysteriously in my pocket yet but still hopeful.
What I want to do here is show you the difference in what makes a good cam for a Trike and why. Take a look at this cam comparison graph. It's the 245E vs the S&S 551EZ cams. I've been asked over and over again what cam gives the best bottom end and why I went with the 254E cam. The answer is because it fits my riding style and can handle the Trike. It's not necessarily the best bottom end cam. The S&S 551EZ cam is.
The following dyno chart was made on a 2014 RK with an AC, catless head pipe and 2.0 slip on mufflers.
The only difference is the cam profile. Do you see how the S&S 551 has more bottom end torque? (The Blue line)
Yes, more bottom end torque but after 4300 RPM's it falls off a cliff.
So do the 255 cams (not shown) although the 255 cams can't touch either torque profile here.
Here is a chart showing the stock 2014 cam compared to the S&S 551EZ. See the nice rise in torque for bottom and mid range?
OK, but I said I wanted to show everyone why I chose the 254E cam. That's because I wanted bottom end, mid range and high RPM torque just like you.
But how?
When you choose a cam you usually get two of the RPM ranges covered. With the 254E cam you get as close to all three as possible, get good power with manageable gas mileage. It's not a lumpy cam but with the EFI systems it's hard to manage a lump, lump, lump, potato, potato, potato sound. I also got a quiet cam...
well, as quiet as a HD cam can be.
The S&S 551 has better bottom end. The 254E cam has great bottom end pulling power for the way I ride. If I saw this chart before installing the 254E cams I would have chosen the S&S 551EZ cams and tweaked the top end. However, I don't want to go back in and start all over.
So, the 254E cams are fine for me.
Now, no... this is not MY dyno chart. There were no timing changes done here. It just shows the raw torque and HP lines that can be made before tweaking the tune.
I have made such tweaks which pushes my 254E's higher in low end torque. Call it the best of both worlds.
For you guys with other aftermarket cams. This would be a great place to post your charts with 103 motors so the rest of us can see your curves.
I will also add... other popular cam profiles are almost the same as the 254E. They vary a few ft lbs of TQ or HP here and there. I'm talking about cams with less than 550 lift and 240 duration. They are the most popular cams used for bottom end and mid range.
The higher profile cams will drag out the high RPM areas but will show a loss in the bottom end.
So, let's get a conversation going here and maybe, if it's good enough, we can have a place to discuss cam charts and compare. May even turn into a sticky.
-Wiz
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Originally Posted by Bikerbozo
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