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Posted by John Hopkins
- February 18, 2015, 18:18:08 PMI have had 107 mph from my VN1500, an extra gear could increase that considerably.. Trouble is if they did that nobody would ever want to buy a Harley.
John.
Posted by DC
- February 18, 2015, 14:40:46 PMMy Drifter seems to have more power than gears it could effectively use. There's so much power waiting to be tapped in 5th. It really is begging for a 6th gear.
Posted by jmbo
- February 07, 2015, 18:27:19 PMMy son and I ride together a lot. He has a Harley-Davidson FLHRI Road King. Both he and I have five speeds but on the highway his bike is alway running at a higher RPM than mine. So I checked the torque spec on the two. They are within 3 lbs of each other but the Drifter hits max tourque at. 2800 vs 3400 RPM. I was told the Drifter's top two gears were overdrive. Perhaps that is why I can cruise at a lower engine speed. I'll check that out next.
Posted by pcarrell
- February 07, 2015, 11:38:33 AMQuote from: John Hopkins on February 06, 2015, 17:13:13 PMThat is correct, but how and when they do that can effect horsepower and torque.I always thought the cams are simply there to move the valves open and closed.
John.
Posted by Troll
- February 07, 2015, 08:38:22 AMNo, you don't personally do that, unless your are a machinist/engineer. I bought several cams for my 98" shovelhead from different manufacturers and tried them. I still have a few around. I liked the powerband, for instance of the S&S 495, but it didn't make enough peak power for what I wanted. My final decision, with the low end torque and the top end rush I wanted was an Andrews "C" grind but with a custom .590 lift. The timing and such can be altered within a small window by pressing the cam gear off the cam and putting it back on, using a degree wheel to get the numbers right. I had enough time and money, at the time to do this, so I went ahead. The final result was a SuperGlide that ran 11.91 seconds, 115.7 mph in the 1/4 mile, at the top of third gear/6,600 rpm, and was still quite streetable. I sold that bike with 254,000 miles on it when I bought my W-650
Posted by John Hopkins
- February 06, 2015, 19:16:54 PMQuote from: Troll on February 06, 2015, 18:11:38 PMNot that I will ever do this at my age but I'm curious.. how did you do this..Lift, duration, overlap and timing all effect power output. Depending on how they are done, they can make a usable powerband as wide as a table top, or as narrow and peaky as a few hundred rpm....I experimented with cams in my Hotrod HD. The stock cam makes usable power from just off idle to about 4500, the one I settled on for most uses made power in several steps, starting at 2500-4000, and then a huge spike from 4000 up to 6600....
Did you simply buy several stock cams and grind them to different shapes to change the inlet opening duration and test each one on a dyno, or did you do something completely different? I haven't had that sort of dedication for about 40 years, although I can understand it completely.
John.
Posted by Troll
- February 06, 2015, 18:11:38 PMLift, duration, overlap and timing all effect power output. Depending on how they are done, they can make a usable powerband as wide as a table top, or as narrow and peaky as a few hundred rpm....I experimented with cams in my Hotrod HD. The stock cam makes usable power from just off idle to about 4500, the one I settled on for most uses made power in several steps, starting at 2500-4000, and then a huge spike from 4000 up to 6600....
Posted by John Hopkins
- February 06, 2015, 17:13:13 PMQuote from: pcarrell on January 23, 2015, 23:00:38 PMI always thought the cams are simply there to move the valves open and closed.Drifters have a little different cam grind then the other similar sized Vulcan bikes. The grind is designed to offer more bottom end torque at the loss of a bit of top end.
John.
Posted by capnconch
- February 05, 2015, 13:26:40 PMQuote from: John Hopkins on January 23, 2015, 18:53:15 PMThe difference between a Drifter VN1500 and a Meanstreak VN1600 is only 3mph.. I wouldn't bother.
John.
The MeanStreak is cranking more rpm to get there, different gearing. Putting the 1600 cylinders, pistons etc with the Drifter gearing who knows what the top speed would be.
Capn
Posted by pcarrell
- January 23, 2015, 23:00:38 PMDrifters have a little different cam grind then the other similar sized Vulcan bikes. The grind is designed to offer more bottom end torque at the loss of a bit of top end.
Posted by holycow
- January 23, 2015, 22:29:49 PMTop speed is not so important, I've never tried to max out the speed on either of these bikes- but I do really appreciate the power of the motor in my Road King vs the power in my 1100 Honda. The Harley really seems to cruise along effortlessly. I suspect the engine in the Drifter and the Road King are similar in their performance. On paper the Drifter seems to have more torque (I suppose due to its being slightly higher displacement.) I need to pretty up the Harley a bit and sell it- going to test ride a Drifter or two and see where it takes me.
Posted by John Hopkins
- January 23, 2015, 18:53:15 PMQuote from: holycow on January 21, 2015, 21:11:55 PMThe difference between a Drifter VN1500 and a Meanstreak VN1600 is only 3mph.. I wouldn't bother.I came across this just now. http://www.thundermfg.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=169
Kicks it up to 1550 CC! Anyone here tried it? was it worth it? Did it take away comfort or reliability? Any info would be great.
Thanks.
Jeff
John.
Posted by John Hopkins
- January 23, 2015, 18:51:07 PMQuote from: holycow on January 22, 2015, 19:53:15 PMThe top speed on a VT1100c is much faster than a vn1500.In the past I have stayed away from "making engines bigger" for all the reasons you mentioned. I was hoping someone would say something along the lines of " oh yeah this is just a drop in and go modification." Oh well.
I'm 99% that my next bike will be a 1500 Drifter, I have an 1100 Shadow Aero (good aesthetic- but is carbed and low on power) and a Road King With the 88ci engine (good on power but lousy aesthetic and has... ugh... belt drive.)
I'm fighting hard to keep myself from buying one of those new Indians... I just need to hold out for 5 or six years for the used prices to be reasonable.
-Jeff
My Drifter has a top speed of 107mph which drops to 90mph in a very high crosswind.. Both bikes are great to ride but I think the VN1500 has the edge in reliability.
I jumped on the "I want a new Indian" bandwagon when they first came out, but after a cooling down period I have decided that I really don't want to change my Drifter for an Indian after all.
John.
Posted by Troll
- January 23, 2015, 18:13:56 PMHave you had a chance to ride a well sorted 1500? My '01 is a much better overall motorcycle than the FLT it replaced, and has LOTS more power, though not as much as the SuperGlide....
Posted by greenbarn
- January 23, 2015, 17:27:27 PMQuote from: holycow on January 22, 2015, 19:53:15 PMOnce you get a Drifter, who knows... you may not want an Indian....I'm fighting hard to keep myself from buying one of those new Indians... I just need to hold out for 5 or six years for the used prices to be reasonable.
-Jeff