engine mod questions

[mikeLI_77]

i have been thinking about doing some performance mods on my bike and am not sure wear to start. If i upgrade the coil to a more powerfull coil do i have to upgrade the ingnition module as well? what other mods are there? i already have vance&hynes straight shots on my bike and a stage 1 screaming eagle breather kit on my bike. what is the stock carb size on a 02 1200c i was thinking of maybe upgrading to a larger size carb. what is the best products to buy for coils or ingnition upgrades? and also will upgrading the performance of the bike make the engine wear out faster than normal? I also want to put iridium spark plugs in because they burn hotter and will help ignite and burn more gas faster. i am clueless with this kind of stuff. i see all this stuff on the web sites but am hesitant to buy because i don't know if by adding one thing i may have to do another to make it work correctly or if what i am buying is the wrong part or is to powerfull for the bike. any suggestions?

[Moved On]

You might be looking in the wrong directions... more voltage on the spark isn't really going to make the fuel air mix burn any different, as long as it ignites it's going to burn... the stock CV carb is good up to near 100HP so changing the carb isn't going to buy you much either. Search the forum for discussions on cams and for head work (pollishing, valves, XB heads etc). These seem to be the next two areas that most people go toward. People that you want to search on are gwcrim and stevo (sorry if I have forgotten others, I know I am missing a few) they seem to have some of the best advice and track records. Disclaimer: I'm not an expert in this area, I'm just repeating what I've read hopefully to help you find some relavent posts. You might also want to check out this site http://www.nightrider.com.

Gary

[stevo]

G'day Mik

What do you use the bike for?????

DO you ride 2 up???? or just solo??

Do you want to run down the drag strip and make a certain time????

How do you ride??? Do you tend to run in top gear and just crack the throttle or do you change down and make it rev?????

AND the big question ......HOW MUCH DO YA WANNA SPEND ......'cos there's no substitute for cubic $$$$$$...

Speed cost money....how fast can you AFFORD to go???

Ignition and carby are tuning implements to help a bike make it's most power ... both carb and ignition system on an 02 bike are way better than you need and yu will see no apreciable gains in changing them until you have done a lot more to your motor...

[baddog32]

Mikeli, Don't spend a dime on any of this stuff until you educate yourself on what benefit you will receive. I know I was clueless when I first started off but I spent hours upon hours researching everything before I chose a performance upgrade. I have only scratched the surface and I am learning more everyday. Spend some time at Sportster.org on the tech section and on the xl list. Posts go back to 1997. All your questions have been asked by new owners and answered by some of the most experienced Sportster enthusiasts. Search posts written by the likes of Maurice Riggins, Crim, Rikko, Holt, Dale A. and a whole bunch of other guys. Don't just take the word of someone down at your local dealership or even some Indy's unless they really know Sportsters. Even then, check it versus what the guys say on the posts before spending your money. I used the information I found to do my own conversion. You'll find step by step instructions on some of the things you want to do like rejetting. Conventional wisdom is don't put the cart before the horse meaning don't waste your money and time on such things like new carbs, coils, wires and ignitions before you do your heads, exhaust and cams. Decide what you want to do with the bike and evaluate how you ride, then plan your performance mods accordingly.

BD

[mikeLI_77]

i don't drag or really race the bike at all. Just want to add some power so i would have it if i wanted to use it. the fastest i have gotten it up to so far was about 90 mph and i wasn't at full throttle so i could have gone faster. i have been reading about people getting up to about 120's on here. I have a friend that i work with which told me he got up to about 115 and he has stock pipes on his bike and a S&S air filter setup on his stock carb only so i am thinking i should be able to at least keep up with him since i have the screamin eagle stage 1 air filter with jet kit and the vance & hynes straight shot pipes. Usually i just like to cruise around on it. Normally when i ride i am with my friend and i let him lead the way so he sets the pace and were normally going around 65-75 down the highway. he doesn't drive crazy at all that's why i let him lead. i would rather stick with him than have to worry if he's keepin up to me. but anyway i am not looking to really crank up the engine to much because the bike is powerfull enough for me right now (especially since i just moved up to this bike from a 400cc honda this past october) so i'm still getting used to all the more power i have now but i would like to maybee make the bike a little bit faster. I have a 2 up badlander seat but i don't plan on ever having anyone on it. I would like to spend as little as possible but if i find something i like and want i usually get it no matter what it costs. also i do not want to do anything to the engine if it will cause the engine to wear down faster. i would rather have the engine last longer than to burn it up just to go a little faster.

[stevo]

I'd stick with what ya have for a while longer......and save ya $$$$$

later ya may have a better idea of what specific things ya may want the bike to do.

By the sound of it ya havin fun as it is.... :)


Cams and headwork are the next area to look at and I'd say ya not quite ready to go tearin into ya engine yet...... the mods ya have already are fine for most use....and will support more HP later....
Ignition and coils are not nesc... modern stock coils are way better than the old stuff and will be fine.

Maybe a bit of fine tuning if ya can find someone local that knows their stuff....

[mikeLI_77]

thanks gary, baddog32 and stevo. oh and stevo the new avitar is awsome.:) :cool:

[MRK585]

What about a t slide and open up that air cleaner box maby some good se slip ons good cheap power at least for the $$$$$$

[MRK585]

Im sorry i didnt see tose mods

[Flamin883]

mikeli, FWIW I agree 1000% with stevo. Save your dollers for now. research what is available out there. then when you need to upgrade you've got a definate goal in minde and $$$ in the bank to achieve those goals. The only thing I would add is before you decide to do anything, Headwork is & fo & better bang for buck than cams, but talk indepth with whoever does your headwork and follow their advice on cams.