Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Performance Mods Thunderbike Cams

My 1st Post To all --I have read and learned alot from all of you the past 3 years and here is a BIG THANKS !
My Setup
2005 speedmaster
Scepters
Uni pods
AI removed
Homemade Freak
Thunderbike Cams - Turned my bike into a beast It is the best mod by far

I do all my own work so there is no Dyno Yet.However I mostly ride with Harleys . I can now keep up w/my friends screaming eagle 103 if you know what that is.I also own a Beautiful 2006 Harley 1200 custom that my wife rides.Harleys are like riding lawn equipment to me .It reminds me of when I was a grounds keeper and used to drive one of those 3 wheel carts with the v twin.I would rather ride my speedmaster.Anyhow going from Nevada to yellowstone starting sat 6/10 I will let you know how it goes
Thanks again Chris

Welcome Chris, sounds like a nice set up bro and safe journey

where you from? would love to see a dyno chart on those cams. your the first guy on here to buy them i believe so any info you can provide will be appreciated

Frank

Hey Frank
I also could not find any info on the Tbike cams thats why I decided to post.I probably won't Dyno for a while but I do have a Veyper Computer hooked up to the bike so I can do some comparison runs before and after when I get a chance .I will tell you it is a totally different bike with a much deeper sound and much more responsive and my maniac friends can no longer pull away from me on their modified Harleys which makes them sad and me happy.

Visual Observations of Cams

Tbike Cams have approx 3/16 taller cam lobes and are much thicker adding to the duration
Cam also is not spring loaded like the stock cams
Thats as technical as I can get right now

At the end of the day it is the best money I have spent on performance for this bike
Chris

Hey Chris,

Welcome to the forums. Thanks for the performance updates on your ride along with the comparison with the Harleys. Could you fill us in on what jets you are running? Were the cams a straight drop in or did you have to mode anything?

Hey Gregger
It has been awhile I think 132 and 42 I live at 4500 ft near Lake Tahoe.The Installation is very easy if you know how to adjust your valves.All info for adjusting I found here but I have worked with shims before.Make sure you use proper torque on all bolts and I shimmed to the looser side of the range as clearances will tighten up over time.Note I only had to change 2 shims when I changed cams also the exahust cams use 2 small lines to line up the intake has 2 small dots that line up that are hard to see on the Tbike cams.
Chris

Hi and welcome to the site Chris, as you know a wealth of knowledge in here, 3 years and 1st post, impressive, how could you hold back for so long...
I got my cams installed by thunderbike a year ago now and yes they sure made a big difference, they also did my head work and by their dyno gained an extra 21hp... Granted low to mid range much the same it's the top end where they come in... If I ever get anymore money I'd luv to do a BB but, at least dreams are free...

I installed a set of Tbike cams in my 2006 Speedmaster about 6 weeks ago. It was pretty much a plug and play effort. I put the anti-backlash gears from the stock cams on the Tbike cams. I needed to replace all the shims because the gap was wider with the Tbike cams. I had to stone a thou or two from the sides of right intake and exhaust cam caps to prevent binding in the cam journals. The hardest part was keeping all the timing marks in the correct position and getting the proper shims (thanks Hermys). The power seems more linear and really comes on strong at WOT. Current setup Tbike short pipes, freak, 155 mains, 42 pilots, TBS needles with 2 shims. I have a dyno appointment tomorrow mainly to check the A/F ratio.

Nevada, is your bike a 790 or an 865? I notice that brent has them and advertise them to be for the 865's. I would like to try a set of cams but the general consensus for the 790's is that they are hard to beat.

I have a 865 I do not know about the 790 I would Email Thunderbike and ask as they are very helpful.I can't imagine the 790 cams are anything like Tbike cams as they are dramatically different and I have never heard a 790 sound anything like mine does now.
Here is their Email FYI Jason Howcroft [tbikeproducts@thunderbike.co.nz]

Just back from the dyno. Set the pilot screws with the A/F probe. Max HP= 65.49 Max torque 50.11 No further jetting tweaks needed.

those are nice numbers, can you scan the printout?

Frank

The operator had a hard time getting steady RPM readings due to my Nology plug wires so he printed it in mph along the baseline. Operator said it runs good, pulls hard and has about the same HP as most of the Harleys he sees. I could raise the main up one size and take one of the shims off to flatten out the air/fuel ratio but it really runs well and I am finally happy with the performance of my Speedmaster.

looks good, nice curves you got there

Frank

There was a lengthy thread about the thunder bike cams a while back with some folks skeptical about the hp claims. The guy from thunderbike was included in the thread too. One of his comments as to why they didn't make a cam for the 790 was that particular cam was hard to improve on. I'm glad some one finally put some thunderbike cams in their 865 and had dyno reports to show the results.

mike

This is great....now I wish I coud compare a 865 with 790 cams in it to see if 800 + $$$ is worth it or if 790 cams are just as good.

Oh no. I see another mod on the horizon. Thanks for the reports.

I could be wrong but I think it was the exhaust cam from the 790 that was the one to put in in the 865. I haven't looked it up as to difference so I don't know how much of a difference there is with the intake cam.

MastaN bought stock 790 cams and installed them in his 865. He said it really "woke it up."

Good deal, it's set. I'm getting a 790 exhaust cam after Thunder in the valley.