Evo Lifters

[evoKENevo]

In addition to replacing valve guide seals etc over the winter,I'll probabley be replacing my stock breather valve with an S&S reed type...along with new lifters @ almost 60-K miles now...which will be my first HARLEY upper-end job, so to speak.

Does anyone have a lifter brand or type preference ?

I'm running an EV-27 cam that starts falling off at around 5500-RPM..which I rarely take it up to anyhow. But,although I'm not interested in making a "race-engine" out of it..and know that lifters are'nt going to change the cams charactoristics...JIMS claims their big-wheel (heavier duty) hydro-solids add up to 6 more hp from around 5500-RPM on up (for what seems to about the same cost as other heavier duty lifters) by eliminating the pumping up at that point, or somewhat lower. Yeah,and,since I'm not really all that familiar with the technical inner workings of hydraulic lifters, my question would be weither anyone thinks that would be of ANY benefit at ALL in my case...or just for 6000(+)RPM cams ??

[Wrightturn]

Hey Ken,

What ignition are you going to use ? What rev limiter ? How strong are the valve springs ? I seldom see 4800 so I wouldn`t have much use for them. I have used a different Jims and will find the part number. They were mainly to quiet down a noisy high lift short duration cam.

[evoKENevo]

Hi Wright
I'm running the EV-27 with the supposedly adequate stock valve springs...and a Dyna 2000i single fire ign. on the advance curve just one setting quicker than the "standard" setting...noting that even the standard setting is supposedly a bit quicker than the rather sluggish stock Evo advance...which seems to get the job done best for me. As for the rev limiter (?) I think I set it at like 6200-RPM (or so) figuring that'd be safe enough AND that I probabley would'nt ever get the revs up that high anyhow...especially since you can FEEL & HEAR it when you're just wasting RPM which even w/o a tach I can TELL is at a pretty low range on this bike.

BTW the EV-27 is'nt what you'd call HIGH lift at .495"...but both the open & close ramps are pretty fast/steep, with durations of only 236* int. and .240* exh...if that helps you any.

[frisco-rigid]

Hey Ken

About 4 years ago my buds shop saw 2 diff sets of Jims Lifters disinegrate and ruin both motors.. At about the same time I snapped 2 Jims Kicker shafts..
I am wary of their products now.. Hopefully those temper/hardness/metal problems have been cleared up by now..
I also used but had no probs with a set of the Jims Hydro-solids..

In my Jims and other catalogs I see Big-Axel (not big wheel) lifters and Hydro-solids but not a Big-axel hydro-solid.. It says in my Jims cat that the Big-axel lifters are not re-buildable but their normal axel lifters are.. Doesn't state why..

If I remember correctly, the hydro-solids simply have rev-limiters like the S&S rev-limiters.. The S&S rev-limiters are removable, they do the same thing-- turn kinda sorta solid at high RPM's.. I've used both and really cannot say I felt any diff.. Maybe on the strip..
At present I am running S&S (with no rev-limiters) in the 120"..
If I remember correctly, there are 2 diff sizes of S&S limiters--one for S&S lifters and one for "others"..

V-Thunder is made by Comp Cams, I've used them too, works just fine also..
Have a ball..

[Wrightturn]

Hey Ken,

The EV27 will be "all in" way before you are anywhere near 5200 much less 6200. You have about the same lift and 10 deg more duration than I have in my Dyna. I don`t see any need for Big Axel or Hydro Solids. Still haven`t found the ones I used.

[evoKENevo]

Frisco:
2 sets of JIMS lifters "disentigrateing" does'nt encourage me...but then you say that YOU had no problems with them...and that makes me wonder if the difference is'nt in the owner-rider and/or the installers more so than the product...knowhutImean !?! Yeah,and,in keeping with your experience with the hydro-solids I would'nt expect an extreme engine like yours giving you much more NOTICABLE seat of the pants improvement from them..like might be more noticable in a lesser engine !?!?
BTW...yeah BIG AXEL vs WHEEL...musta had a brain-fart left over from the grandkid's old toys

Wright:
Sorry,man...gotta disagree with you on the EV-27 being "all-in" long before it gets to 5200-RPM,etc. I mean there's no way it'll take the engine to 6200-RPM with any power...if at all. But, it's designed to pull HARD from around 2000 to 5500 and it DOES that...not that I'd expect much more out of it (if any) with the hydro-solids or S&S lifters with limiters. Meanwhile...the "fast-ramps" (open & close) on the EV-27 and 46 cames DO have a reputation (true or false) of being even harder on cam-bearings & lifter-rollers,etc, than most of the other aftermarket "bolt-in" cams. Because they tend to "slam" things more...which is where my interest is getting the heaviest duty lifters/rollers comes into play.
BTW...the EV-27 specs. are very similar to those of Andrews 37 and S&S's 510 twin-cams, that friends have in their bikes...and did'nt experience nearly the difference performance wise as I have in my Evo...other than that their bikes cruise a lot better at 70 (+) MPH where it used to feel like they were kind of "pushing it" and/or "straining it" a bit before. Which I only mention as a reminder (as if necessary) of how it's kind of hard to determine what similar spec'd (or not) cams will do in EVO compared to TC engines...noting,as I'm sure you're aware, that LESS than 10* difference can make a BIG difference in any cams timing,duration,LSA,etc..not (?) to mention shape/grind..complicating that much more in "mymind"

In other words,Guys...I still "jus dunno"...and am still open to other lifter choices...with all winter to not lose any sleep over that issue...thanks for your input though...all good food for thought.

[Wrightturn]

Hey Ken,

No problem. The assumption was stock heads and springs. I have stuff on the EV27 and it is comparable to a 37 that I have more experience with. Even with a bit of slam it should not be that rough on lifters. The EVO I worked on was 3yrs ago and I will get the exact specs. I was in the bike for a top end job and lifters. It was a ham and egg job. You bring the ham and eggs and I will cook. The lifters were going south (stock) and were noisy. Major improvement when it was done but might have worked just as well with stock lifters. BTW the 37 in a TC with stock heads is "all in" around 4800. After that you are pretty much just making noise.

[evoKENevo]

Yeah,Wright
I guess I could get away with new stock lifters...noting that's what's been in there for 60-K miles. But,here again, just figured that as long as I'm replacing them anyhow...might as well go with heavier-duty ones for about same cost...maybe/possibely/conceivabley even squeezing a few more "working-rpms" out of it, for "whatever" reason that just might include doing a little more to the heads (mentioned earlier) than to just replace valve quide seals etc. Which is a whole 'nuther thread of questions in store for you guys.

Oh,and...almost forgot to mention...according to stories heard/read here and other places the stock EVO lifters seem to be as much if not more of a "weak-link" as the EVO stock inner cam bearing. Which is the only reason I'm replacing them (seeming to be Okay) in the 1st. place.

[evoKENevo]

Yo,frisco/others:
I did a little more digging on JIMS web and FWIW their Hydro-Solids are not (as you say) listed as Big-Axel,Hydro-Solids...but (as I'd ass-umed) one of their photo/illustrations had an arrow pointing out the big-axel as one of it's features.

So"anyways"...I'm still wondering if they'd be kinda-sorta "over-kill" in my engine or not...but figure they can't hurt anything...so like WTF why not as long as they're better than what's in there,now...right !?!

[Pajoe]

Most I know have good luck with the stock 18523-86B and the EV-27 but it's best to check them every 20,000 miles. They are probably the lowest cost as well, I purchased a set at $23.00 each a couple years ago.