Harley Davidson Performance

I know that car engines can be "balanced" (I think that is the term) so that the engine can tolerate higher RPM's.

Does anyone know if this can be done to a Harley Davidson 1200?

I am interested in increasing the performance of my Sportster....

Thanks

Semper

If you want to increase the performance of your motorcycle, sell the Hardly and get a bike that actually has some performance...

40 year old technology, a $5000 HD Sticker, and the the biggest marketing scam every perpetuated on the American Public just isn't going to run fast, I don't care if you put the screaming chicken parts and everything on it.

Do you have all the clothing too?

Hey, Semper, I found a link with some suggestions for you:

phoenixbikers.com...

Good luck!

I had a Yamaha 650 that a friend welded Harley tailpipes to for me. Sounded really great! I'd kick that bike over and car alarms up and down the block would go off.

I called it my Yamaharley.

Hmmmm. I guess I was a little harsh. Sorry Semper. It's not personal. I'm sure you love your bike, as you should.

I just dispise Harleys and to see the words Harley-Davidson and Performance in the same subject title just brought out the demon in me.

I had one of the early Yamaha V-Twins in 1982 and and caught sooooo much crap from Hog riders and Hog rider wannabes, dispite the fact that my bike was usually quicker, would handle much better, stop much faster, looked cooler, NEVER broke down or leaked oil, and cost about half as much.

I do take the opportunity to bash Harleys, revenge being a dish best served cold and all that, but when I ride with any, I always do wait on them to catch up.

Seriously though, what should matter is that you ride, not what you ride. So, have fun. Be safe. Wave at the next metric cruiser you see.

hey semperfortis without have to rip the engine apart you can do a couple of things, SS carb with tuned jets and exhaust my favorite and cheapest is change the sprockets add a tooth to the front and drop two off the back. this set up gives you the hole shot off the line but decreases top end speed slightly, talk to some of the local flat trackers that run HD's to see what set ups they run.
Other than that you can go with some big bore kits, stroke the piston arms, over size the valves. I used to mix premium gas and aviation fuel in one of my bikes man it went like a bat out hell and wheelie till I put the front end back on the ground.

or cough up the coin for a XL1200N Nightsters



link

[edit on 5/6/2007 by Sauron]

Sauron,

I love that Nightster, but as you can see, I have the 1200 Screaming Eagle package and it is on the Sportster "Rally Sport" so I think it is the same engine..

I will check on the Flat Track racers, thank you, I never thought of that.. Harley is famous for their flat track bikes if I am not mistaken...

It just makes sense to me that I have 1200 CC's on a small 500lb frame, it is really fast, but of course I want it faster.. LOL

Semper

Another way to go.................

Strip as much weight off it as possible:

Single lightweight seat and lose the rear footpegs,
Carbon fibre as much as possible, eg: all the light housings, fenders, covers etc,
Aluminium handlebars, footpegs/shifter, mirrors,
Lightweight rims would do great for handling too,
Replace all steel bolts with titanium ones,

Also, would you do any engine work yourself?
Polishing as much of the internals as possible can help reduce friction of air and oil. Eg: inlet/outlet on head and valves.
Crankshafts are balanced as standard, but there's nothing stopping you having it lightened a little and re-balanced.
A "competition" clutch with stronger springs will get the power down a little quicker.

All depends what you want to spend and who does the work I suppose.

Saurons idea of improving the fuel and exhaust system is a good start and will show noticable difference.

There are probably some after-market camshafts that would also add performance.

So basically......"Chop it" and "Blow it"! Have fun and be safe.

take off everything that does not make it stop faster or go faster!
jet it. get some drag pipes or something like that.
get the motor stroked out.


i'm a huge motorcycle fan, ex mechanic(disabled) and love my harleys but i am not too into 'hopping them up'...

strip it, add the stuff and head on down the road

edit* those swing arms are pretty heavy if you know what i'm saying

[edit on 28-6-2007 by Boondock78]

Originally posted by Ambient Sound

Seriously though, what should matter is that you ride, not what you ride. So, have fun. Be safe. Wave at the next metric cruiser you see.

with ya on that. i love harley's but what matters is that you are in the wind. my last was a kawasaki vulcan classic.
obviously there is personal preference but the only thing i wouldn't ride is a rocket and that is no so much cause i despise them but of my back.

i like cruisers....harleys or metric, as long as you're in the wind