Wheres all the cam'ed buells at?

[rodimus prime]

Cams seem like a simple swap for our bikes? Who the hell actually has them? Its on my winter mod list now. I saw that revtech has them for like $400 and you appear to pick up a solid 10hp. Anyone?

 

[dave_xb12r]

They do these things to their bikes and they never run right again, so they sell them. It's risky business. The amount of power these engines are putting out is high enough as it is. Trying to squeeze that extra power out is just asking for trouble. Keep it reliable.

 

[rodimus prime]

Thats great and all but I want to know where the cammed bikes are, not why I shouldnt do it.

 

[theoctopus]

Talk to Mike (xopti). He has some experience with what you're interested in.

 

[dave_xb12r]

Thats great and all but I want to know where the cammed bikes are, not why I shouldnt do it.

They're sitting in garages not being ridden and not being bragged about because they aren't reliable, that's where they are. I thought my first answer was pretty clear. I'm not saying it's not doable and I'm not telling you not to do it. I'm just saying I know people that have done it and regretted it and sold their buell because it never ran right.

 

[dmp0001]

I'm not saying it's not doable and I'm not telling you not to do it.

+1, if you want more power you are much better off getting a 1250 kit and a tune. Hot cams don't play well with buell motors.

 

[rodimus prime]

Well Ive always been thick headed and done what Ive wanted to do, not what people advise against, otherwise I wouldnt have a buell in the first place. I like to do things that others wont or dont necessarly like to do. I figure if I cam it, and I dont like it, I can simply replace the stocker and go back to my current tune.

I have a good time building things and breaking things. Reliablity isnt an issue...I do it for the experience and fun factor. I have a good rep for building things that should be unreliable...some were, some werent, but I had fun with them all.

All b.s. aside, do you have any insight on what makes them not run right? Is it mechanical failure? People trying to garage tune their bikes without experience? Something else?

 

[Kole_DeWoody]

Well i had the rev tech cams for over two years with out a problem. However if you do it you have to do it right. You have to get adjustable lifter different rockers and valve springs i think it ended up costing me a litle under 1k said and done. also there is the tunning side but thats really not a big deal

 

[Kole_DeWoody]

People dont do it because they dont really understand engines or think everything is much more fragail then it actully is not to mention the tunning can be tricky, Yes you will loose some of the "smooth" ideal but other then that its not really a big deal.

 

[dave_xb12r]

All b.s. aside, do you have any insight on what makes them not run right? Is it mechanical failure? People trying to garage tune their bikes without experience? Something else?

It's the tuning from what I hear. You can dyno tune it, ride it for a little while and it all goes to shit and have to tune it again. Call JT&S Performance, they probably have the most experience doing big bore kits and cams in buells. They are the providers for ASB's tuned maps.

 

[rodimus prime]

Thanks Kole, thats the type of info Im looking for. I cant even count how many cam swaps, engine builds Ive done for cars, but its really hard to find info for buells.

Does rev tech sell everything or just the cams?

 

[Kole_DeWoody]

I think they do its been 3 or for years now since i did it but just give them a call. I know the valve springs are just chevy springs if i remember correctly.

 

[squidbuellie]

yo prime... your on the wrong forum to ask that question. you might want to check a xl board. maybe some racers can give you some info. but xb's already have a mild cam in them as soon as you go bigger you run in to problems.
a buddy of mine had a xb9 that the owner before him put crane cams in it yes it did make it a little faster but it created more headaches.
your best bet and bang for your buck would be to go a bolt on big bore kit or a 88 inch kit the only thing that sucks about the 88 kit is that you will have to machine the case
but that just my .02

 

[rodimus prime]

Hehe, well Im going to try and get some more rpms out of it as well, thats where I dont think a big bore kit would help.

 

[squidbuellie]

more bang less strain

try and get some more rpms out of it as well, thats where I dont think a big bore kit

but andrews and nrhs would be the cams i would look into

 

[black_xb12r]

ive been runnin red shift 630/585 cams for a few years now in my 12 with a 1250 kit in it... the redshift 630/585 is a very high torque cam and thats what i built my motor for, motor makes more torque than horsepower believe it or not, but with my build i lost qiute a few rpm,s... but i can bang gears on the drag strip like no tomorrow!

building a motor all depends what you want it to do... and everything you use in that motor has to match, intake has to match flow rates of intake valves and cams and exhaust has to match flow rates and stuff of exhaust valves and cams...

 

[twobuells]

Turning more rpms is the fastest way to shorten your cranks life.

 

[snrusnak]

If you really want to do this I second nhrs. My brother dealt with them alot when he built his sportster motor(practically the same engine). He did the 1250 kit and the guy at nhrs talked him through the whole build. His bike runs great, has a ton of torque, and is smooth and reliable. It dynoed at 91hp and 84ft lb at the wheel(thought it was more, but I dunno why, I was trying to think back 2 years....this is what the dyno sheet showed when I saw it this weekend). His is carbed, and has ported/polished heads and bigger valves. Other than that it's an identical engine to the xb12. I just rode it this past weekend over 1,000 miles through deals gap, and a bunch of other roads around those mountains, it is very strong and runs just about perfect. I think he had the motor built about 2 years ago, maybe a little longer, he hasn't had an issue since it was built. I'd imagine a fuel injected bike would be easier/better to tune...

 

[black_xb12r]

NRHS is who i got all my parts from, and i called them with a few questions during the build and they will take as much time out of their day to explain something thats eve needed...

NRHS is an amazing company! id refer them to anyone on here

 

[ah555666]

I'm looking to do the same thing in the off season. I just started checking prices and research today. I want the low end power and more rpms myself. Try a heavier flywheel to smooth it out a bit. Let me know if you get any where with this. I'd like some more direction.