PERFORMANCE PLUS

OUTFITTING THREE DIFFERENT MOTORCYCLES WITH NEW CAMS, EXHAUST, INTAKE, AND TUNER

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You’ve heard the old chestnut: “Your motorcycle is just a down payment for the accessories.” This definitely rings true in V-twin land, especially in the horsepower and torque departments Yes, factory motorcycles are perfectly fine, but we ’ re not fine with perfectly fine, are we? We want more!

You’ve heard the old chestnut: “Your motorcycle is just a down payment for the accessories ” This system. But stop there? There are so many more ponies of course, the technological advancements of

One common V-twin upgrade is a new exhaust system. But why stop there? There are so many more ponies to be gained from new cams and intake as well. And of course, given the technological advancements of

Harleys and Indians as of late, these upgrades require a fuel tuner to achieve proper air/fuel ratios. We picked three popular models to test the power packages we put together: 2018 Indian Chieftain Classic, 2018 HarleyDavidson Street Bob, and 2018 Harley-Davidson Road Glide. We then swapped out the factory suck-blow bits for new cams, pipes, intakes, and tuners and tested each on our dynamometer. Overall, we yielded some pretty nice gains. Hopefully our efforts aid in your search for selecting performance components for your bike.

SCREAMIN’ EAGLE M-8 HOP-UP

The three most common engine upgrades for an American V-twin are—hands down—high-flow air cleaner, a high-flow exhaust, and for the most power gains, a cam swap. Well this is exactly what we did with the 2018 Harley-Davidson Softail Street Bob equipped with the 107 Milwaukee-Eight engine. We used all parts from Screamin’ Eagle and racked up a total bill of approximately $1,450, including a tuner to reflash the ECU. If you are looking for a nice bump in power with minimal effort, this would be a great setup for you. If you desire a little more, bumping up the displacement would be your next move. Running this setup, we went from 73.9 hp and 104.8 foot-pounds of torque to 92.4 hp and 106.3 foot-pounds of torque.

SCREAMIN’ EAGLE MILWAUKEE-EIGHT STAGE II TORQUE KIT

The Stage II Torque kit from Screamin’ Eagle will cost you $399.95 and comes with all necessary O-rings and gaskets for the job, which aren’t many. It also comes with, of course, the new cam, as well as a set of adjustable pushrods, new pushrod tubes, and keepers. The benefit to this kit with the adjustable pushrods is that they allow you to keep the rocker boxes intact, saving you time and money. This is possible by simply cutting out the old pushrods using a pair of bolt cutters. Another positive about this kit is that it retains its original-equipment factory warranty.

SCREAMIN’ EAGLE STREET CANNON MUFFLERS, LONG

The new set of mufflers known as the Street Cannon slip-ons from Screamin’ Eagle will run you $549.95 from the dealer. The decibel rating is still within the legal limit, and these are all 50-state U.S. EPA compliant, so you won’t need to worry about ever getting a ticket because of your exhaust system. With a large 3.5-inch diameter, the Street Cannon mufflers offer a nice path for the exhaust gases to flow without compromising back pressure.

SCREAMIN’ EAGLE EXTREME-FLOW AIR CLEANER; ROUND, CENTER BOLT

Air cleaners are a dime a dozen; everyone makes a handful. There are some stinkers out there, but most are going to do the intended job just fine. This essentially limits your decision to aesthetic. With the Extreme-Flow air cleaner, you get more of a naked, raw-power vibe. With no fancy cover, all you see is that filter. For the direction we went with the Street Bob, it fits perfectly. The Extreme-Flow from Screamin’ Eagle will cost you $199.95 from Harley-Davidson. The air cleaner is 50-state U.S. EPA compliant, and the kit includes all hardware needed for the installation.

SOURCE: HARLEY-DAVIDSON harley-davidson.com

S&S CYCLE M-8 HOP-UP

The founding of S&S Cycle goes back to 1958 in Blue Island, Illinois. George J. Smith started the company out of his basement, and the rest, as they say, is history. If you are in the motorcycle industry, you have no doubt of the high standards and dedication to quality of S&S Cycle’s performance parts. This is why we chose to install three major performance upgrades on a new Harley-Davidson Road Glide equipped with the stock Milwaukee-Eight engine. We slapped a chain-driven 465C cam, a Mini Teardrop air cleaner, and a Sidewinder 2-into-1 exhaust system on our M-8, and got some happy gains in the horsepower and torque departments. We went from 77.34 hp and 101.46 foot-pounds of torque to 93.26 hp and 112.44 foot-pounds of torque. For the cam, exhaust, and air cleaner, our wallet lightened by about $1,420.

S&S CYCLE 465C CHAIN-DRIVE CAMSHAFT KIT FOR 2017–’18 M-8 TOURING MODELS

The 465C kit comes in at an MSRP of $189.95, and includes the cam itself along with all necessary O-rings in the cam chest, as well as a new cam bearing and cam chest cover gasket. The 465C is compatible with all stock valve-train components. To make the job even easier for ourselves, we used a set of S&S Quickee adjustable pushrods so we wouldn’t have to pull the rocker boxes apart. The Quickee adjustable pushrod kit cost us an additional $224.95.

S&S CYCLE 2-INTO-1 EXHAUST

When going with an exhaust system, a full system is much more beneficial to your performance increase than going with a slip-on muffler option. This is why we went with the Sidewinder by S&S. It is a black 2-into-1 system with a machine-cut end cap that pairs well with the black-and-chrome Road Glide. The Sidewinder will cost you $929.99 from S&S and is available in black or chrome. The finish is a high-temperature ceramic black coating, and the end cap is machined from aluminum. The exhaust also comes with a removable decibel reducer to lower the noise if desired.

S&S GLOSS BLACK MINI TEARDROP STEALTH AIR-CLEANER KIT

The Mini Teardrop Stealth air cleaner comes with all necessary O-rings, gaskets, and hardware needed for the install, and costs $299.95. This air cleaner is CARB compliant for all you California residents out there. The installation is a breeze, and the gloss-black cover pairs well with the paintand-chrome contrast of the motor. The teardrop design has been around for a long time and has nostalgia written all over it. The Mini Teardrop is available in chrome or black for the 2017–2018 Milwaukee-Eight engines.

SOURCE: S&S CYCLE sscycle.com

INDIAN CHIEFTAIN HOP-UP

With Indian Motorcycle’s Chieftain, there aren’t a ton of aftermarket manufacturers making performance products for the Thunder Stroke 111 engine just yet. But many are jumping on board because of the increasing popularity and interest in the lineup. However, companies like Lloyd’z Motorworkz, Arlen Ness, and Fab28 Industries are making some pretty killer components for the Indian Chieftain models. After securing an Arlen Ness air cleaner and Fab28 Industries exhaust, we grabbed a new set of 558 cams from Lloyd’z Motorworkz. Last, we had to tie these new upgrades all together, so we went to DynoJet for its Indian-specific tuner, the Power Vision CX. Running this new setup got us from 76.3 hp and 106.8 foot-pounds of torque to 87.5 horsepower and 113.2 foot-pounds of torque.

LLOYD’Z PERFORMANCE INDIAN MOTORCYCLE 558 CAMS

The 558 cams from Lloyd’z are equipped with exclusive decompression releases, so you don’t have to swap out the decompression arms from the stock cams. The 558 cams will run you $625 and will come with a new cam cover gasket. While swapping out these cams in the Thunder Stroke 111, there are tools to make the job a breeze. These are the gear backlash tool and the cam changing tool, both of which have been designed and perfected by Lloyd’z Motorworkz. Save yourself some time and make sure you get these tools for the job. You’ll thank yourself later.

FAB28 INDUSTRIES 2-INTO-1 EXHAUST

The bare, stainless-steel short 2-into-1 completely screams raw power. Just the raw look with exposed welds gives off the vibe of putting down high numbers. The Fab28 stainless 2-into-1 not only looks rad, but it also sounds amazing paired with the cam upgrade in the Thunder Stroke 111 motor. It produces a very deep, choppy rumble, definitely letting you know there is some motor work hiding in here. You are looking at a price tag of $1,499 for the stainless short 2-into-1.

NINETY-DEGREE AIR-CLEANER KIT FOR 111 THUNDER STROKE ENGINE; BEVELED COVER, BLACK

A new air cleaner is a must when upgrading performance pieces on your motorcycle. No matter what you do, you need that high-flow air cleaner pulling in more air to supply the beast. The Arlen Ness 90-degree air-cleaner kit does just that. It pulls in more air for you while adding a rad touch of flare to the left side of the bike. The air-cleaner kit will run you $439.95, and comes with everything needed to install and get those performance gains. The company offers six different color options, ours being the beveled cover in black.

SOURCES: LLOYD’Z MOTORWORKZ lloydz.com

FAB28 INDUSTRIES fab28industries.com

ARLEN NESS arlenness.com

Conclusion

Once the performance packages were installed, we did some initial dyno runs. We used the Power Vision for the Road Glide and a Power Vision CX for the Indian Chieftain. For the Street Bob, we used the Screamin’ Eagle Pro Street tuner.

As you can see from the Milwaukee-Eight graphs (top, middle) we made some good low-end torque from the start. The S&S package’s torque curve shoots straight up to around 1,750 rpm and keeps climbing to about 3,000 rpm. The Screamin’ Eagle upgrades are relatively the same in the low revs but remain more consistent throughout the power band and do not drop lower than 100 foot-pounds until about 4,500.

Indian’s Thunder Stroke 111 produced some quality torque and horsepower gains with the components we installed, too. We went from 76.3 hp and 106.8 foot-pounds of torque to 87.5 horsepower and 113.2 footpounds of torque.

We’ll keep working on tuning all these packages to see if we can find more power. If we do, we’ll report our findings at hotbike.com. HB

WE’VE NEVER BEEN EASY ON THE GEAR WE TEST, WHICH IS PRECISELY WHY YOU CAN TRUST THE GEAR WE MAKE.