EV 27 vs EV 13

[lengbyroadking]

Talked to my local indy and he said that he has installed two EV27s on different bikes and the owners were not happy with them. He said their complaint was that the bikes idled too rough and tended to run too hot. He suggested an EV13. Any advise? I ride a stock 87 FLT (stripped down to a road king) normally 2 up and am not looking for a speed demon. I am swapping out the old carb for a CV.

[elvislee]

Heres some info on them; maybe this and others input will help ya decide 


http://www.bigwildpanheadsaloon.com/page36.html

http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/hdstage2.htm

http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/HP2.html

[98flstc]

With your current stock config the 13 would be a good choice.

[05FLHTC]

Another option would be cams by V-Thunder many happy campers here running em.

I picked a brand new V Thunder 2015 delivered for $57 bucs off flea bay a few years back, not so sure of there availability anymore, but V-Thunder offers other cams selections also. The 2015 is a nice bolt in 500 lift cam with a short duration quick closing intake that delivers a nice boost in Tq & Hp in a stock EVO. It's an old grind that was created for the late 90's EFI EVO motors back when the ability to calibrate the EFI's was not so much back then. I'm running this cam in my carbed FXD Superglide, very well behaved & lot's of fun for low & mid range huge  factor, tends to run out of steam up at 5K rpms but I don't mind, I'm normally way ahead of my buds stage 1 88 by then & really don't run my motor up there often enough to care.

Not a cam you hear much about, just thought I would share.

[fxr4mikey]

Talked to my local indy and he said that he has installed two EV27s on different bikes and the owners were not happy with them. He said their complaint was that the bikes idled too rough and tended to run too hot. He suggested an EV13. Any advise? I ride a stock 87 FLT (stripped down to a road king) normally 2 up and am not looking for a speed demon. I am swapping out the old carb for a CV.

what does that mean ?

as in 'hot rod'  ?

The EV13 will have more low end torque, and will quit making power at a lower range in the RPM band
The EV27 will come on a little later than the EV13 (maybe 500 RPMS, not enough really, IMHO, to make any difference, if you're not racing) and will make power a little bit longer in the RPM range

I have no experience with this cams ...

you're riding a heaver bike than I am, you normally ride two up, so I'm guessing that you're somewhat conserative with the throttle, and that you don't often rev the bike to the limiter
given this, I would say that the EV13 might be a good fit for you.

What is the terrain like where you ride MOST OF THE TIME ?
Do you spend a lot of time in the city ?  Or open highways and Interstates ?
What are your normal cruising speeds ?

Do you normally have to downshift to pass a car or truck on the interstate ?  Would you like to do that WITHOUT having to downshift ?  What speed are you normally driving when you need/want to pass on the interstate ?

Does you bike seem to have 'good' power today, 2 up, when leaving a traffic light or stop sign ?  Do you need more power at 'take off' time so you don't have to throttle up so much ?

[lengbyroadking]

It's hard to explain the terrain around here. It's mostly flat ground but we tend to do a number of long distance runs during the summer. We do ride the black hills every year. The bike seems to have decent power on the bottom end but when running down the interstate pushing a head wind I would rather have a bit more power. I'm not a big fan of the interstate and tend to travel the two lanes when possible.

[mkd]

i had a ev 23 in a 1988 flht and when it was time i swapped it for an ev 27 and i was very happy.maybe so happy i didn't notice the rough idle!i liked the 27!! my 2 cents!

[gofastmoose]

I have 1989 FLHTC.
I ride two up most of the time.
I had an EV-13 went to EV-27.
When I lost a lifter that took out the cam I went back to the EV-13.
I like the EV-13 better.
The EV-27 is a good cam. A little noises, because of the fast ramp up and down.
The ramp is harder on the valves.
I don't know if my bike ran hotter with the EV-27.
Your bike has 3.37 gearing. Changing the front pulley from 32 teeth to 34 teeth (3.17 gear)
may help on the highway. A friend did that, dose a lot of highway.
***What ever cam you use***make sure to use "tappet block alignment tool"
I always use two of them, some only one.

[deathwish]

I like the 13 on the heavy bike but the 27 on a lighter bike but the 27 really likes a compression bump with it to see full benifit.

[Bruno-Katz Fokkerpilot]

I just fitted an EV13 on my `97 Fatboy. Still breaking in the new parts as i changed out the lifters and fitted a Torrington in place of the INA. T he set up is as follows; Stock motor and ignition, Mikuni 42, SE slip ons and K&N filter.

The reason i changed from a stock cam to to the EV13 was i thought the lifters were getting noisy at 36,000. I needn`t have worried, when i took them out, there was not a mark or any signs of wear what so ever. I guess it was because i`d just bought a new helmet and i was hearing sounds that were probably already there but i never heard them under the old helmet!!!

I opted to keep the solid pushrods so, i went in through the rocker covers to remove and replace them. Glad i did, the umbrella valves were about as much use as mudflaps on a tortoise which is why she`d been blowing oil through the breather.

Since replacement with genuine HD items, it hasn`t blown a drop back out.

Now to the cam.....well quite honestly, i haven`t noticed much difference low down to the stock cam. I don`t have a tacho fitted so i can`t give you rpm ranges. Remember i`m still kinda taking it easy for a couple hundred miles untill all has settled in.

Where i have seen a marked improvement is cruising speeds. I used to cruise around 65 with some minor discomfort due to vibration and engine noise. The engine now seems much quieter [Or is it my new helmet?] But i can now cruise at 70-75 with great ease, vibes seem to have ironed out abit and there is noticeably more power on tap. This is mostly two up riding aswell.

Going uphill is a breeze, don`t have to shift down so often to stop her lugging up a gradient.

I`m very pleased with the EV13 so far, i`m sure it will get better as i become more adventurous with it. Gas mileage seems to be about the same as with the stock cam, around 160 miles to the tank full. [But i have been taking it easy] Which is what i needed with the price of gas here in England.
All thats left to do is change the oil and filter once i`ve done 500 miles on the new parts. Yep, reccomend this cam if you`re the average kind of rider like me, some city, some winding country and some motorway cruising.

[1997flht]

Put a ev-27 in my stock 1997 flht, didn't like the bottom end at all, always had to be on the throttle, changed it out to a v-thunder 3010 which it great, excellent low end torque, usually 2 up and pulls great through all ranges. It actually pulls so hard in the low speed range I'm thinking about changing my front sprocket to a 34 to give it 3:34 gearing. Excellent cam 

[lionsm13]

V Thunder 3010 here too. Lots of low down torque and lower mid range torque, but that's about it, not too much throughout the rest of the power band.
Many on this forum swear by the Woods W6, but I've no experience with them..

[96dynabagger]

Rough Idle??   Why are they buying a Harley?

EV-27 is a great cam.  OK, maybe a little (valve train) noisy, but again, its a Harley.  Open those pipes!

Sounds like someone should have bought a Beemer or Goldwing...

[98flstc]

I have ran both the 23 and 27 in my softail. Never had an issue with over-heating or rough idle.  The 27 was a nice bump over the 23 but with the 2.92 gearing it was still a bit doggy.

Since then I've changed to 3.13 gearing and dropped in a Woods W-6 and couldn't be happier 

[ELMARQUESO]

I have ran both the 23 and 27 in my softail. Never had an issue with over-heating or rough idle.  The 27 was a nice bump over the 23 but with the 2.92 gearing it was still a bit doggy.

Since then I've changed to 3.13 gearing and dropped in a Woods W-6 and couldn't be happier 

Then  what is the most recommendable for a Softail?? 

[misfitJason]

A softail is considered a light bike like a dyna. Mine still feels like a heavy bike to me. I consider a sportster or a crotch rocket a light bike. Anyway, I had an ev3 in mine at first.  It sucked imho. I switched to an ev27. Disclaimer: I have never had an ev27 before and it came highly recommended. So I tried it. I love it. It feels like how the motor should have run in the first place with a 2-1 exhaust and s&s carb. Waaaay better. Your results may vary

[mp]

From your description of your riding style and where you like to ride- two lane roads- I wouldn't even consider the EV 27.  The EV 13 was originally developed by Joe Minton for Mikuni and their Pass-a-Truck performance package in the late 80s-early 90s(?).  The cams H-D sold at the time were all longer duration cams that stumbled badly on the bottom, which caused a particular problem with the heavier baggers.  Minton's cam solved that problem and has remained popular ever since. 
I thought about what cam I wanted for my FXRS for a long time, and most people then and now advised against the 13, especially for a lighter bike like mine.  But I knew I had no intention of racing anybody and I didn't need a cam that didn't make peak power in top gear til I would be going ninety-plus mph.  I have never regretted my decision to get the EV 13.  The power increase from stock is phenomenal- it easily stomps stock TC88s- not that I race them really, but, you know, sometimes I have to let them know my ancient bike is a lot faster- and if anything it has improved my gas mileage.
Ultimately, it makes power at the rpm level where the average rider uses it.  That's why I got it, and that's why I like it.

[apes]

Does the EV13 need a compression bump like he EV27 in order to make it perform at it's peak?

[N-gin]

13-27 
W6 

[mp]

13-27 
W6 

Does the EV13 need a compression bump like he EV27 in order to make it perform at it's peak?

No.  My bike is stock 8.5:1 compression.  Andrews has said it will handle up to 9.25:1, but I don't know that you could tell any difference from the saddle.

[ELMARQUESO]

Explain that argument please!!

[bobrk1]

I put the 13 in my 97 road king could run 87 octane bike ran cool and was good 2 up riding, after a while did the 27 with head work for more power, depends if you want just  to putt the 13 is great, never ran a 23.

[jclark311]

I put an EV 27 in my old bike, loved the sound when idling. I gave the bike to my brother. We rode 72 miles yesterday, mostly wide open back rds. We filled up before the ride, he filled up again after the ride, and only used 1.5 gallons of gas. Thats better than 40 miles per gallon. Im a big fan of the EV27.

[tdrglide]

I run the 27 in my fxr. I don't  think it's noisy. Quieter than most twin cams. Including my own. I did bump up compression some. Heads decked about .050, .030 head gaskets.

[GunHawk]

Have an EV 13 in my 1992 Ultra, had less than 500 miles on the bike when installed. I now have 84,000 miles on it and it is running strong. Cut the valves, wisco 10.5-1 forged, se module, S&S super e, and 1.75 drag pipes with baffles. Dyno'ed at about 77,000 miles and was putting out 74hp and 85 tq. Have ridden this bike all over down south and out west, two up and pulling a cyclemate trailer. Best and first new Harley I've owned.

[dcstrng]

Somewhere I thought read that the EV13 helps with oil-temp?  I have an EV13 and lifter-kit I plan to install (someday soon – too many projects); I don't plan to bump the compression and unfortunately my heavy-bike spends much more time under 2000RPM in stop-and-go "rush-hour" than it does over 4000RPM.  I run only 87 octane (jetted slightly rich to control head temps in summer – Sportster needle) and so far, as long as I'm careful the stock cam seems okay, but am getting into bearing replacement mileage, so though to change to the EV13...