While 100 plus horsepower is common for modern sportbikes, creating a hundred horsepower Harley is more of a challenge. A stock FXST Softtail produces 57.7 horsepower and 71.8 foot pounds of torque measure at the rear wheel, according to Motorcycle Consumer News tests.
“People think they can get to 100 horsepower by doing a few modifications, but that is not the case at all,” said Mike Bedor, technician at Wilkins Harley Davidson.
In Bedor’s two years at Wilkins he has only seen two bikes -- out of the 50 or so that he has tested -- actually hit the 100 horsepower mark. “It’s really hard to do”.
David Ball of Milton is one customer who is close. Ball’s beautiful 2006 Softail Nighttrain is great example of how to make a hotter Harley. He has installed a big bore kit, increasing displacement from 88 cubic inches to 95, upgraded to Andrews cams, improving valve opening on both intake and exhaust, polished the heads and throttle bodies, added a Bassani 2-into-1 exhaust and a Screaming Eagle Heavy Breather air cleaner. A Screaming Eagle Super Tuner controls the ECM map.
After multiple runs on the dyno to optimize tuning, Ball’s Softail is making an impressive 94 horsepower and 98 foot pounds of torque. While these numbers are just short of the magical 100 horsepower mark, the 63% increase compared to stock is truly impressive.
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