looking for panhead cylinders

[ldfly112]

Im having a hard time locating cylinders for my 1961 FLH anyone know a good source and how far oversize pistons are safe to use THANKS if you can help

[otis71]

.070 is it. I’ve seen .080 pistons before but they’re past factory recommendations.

[sswaney]

OEM cylinders in a usable bore size are getting hard to find. I gave up and had the set off of my 51 FL sleeved by LA Sleeve.
Not cheap. $700.00 for the pair including shipping. But now they are Standard bore and they honed them to my provided piston so they were ready to install.

[exeric]

I'm only going relay what a good friend who owned a bike shop, that did a lot of motor work told me. He said that he had done a number of Pan, and Shovel cylinders at up to .090" O.S. and routinely at .080"O.S. because he could get those pistons. I am not a motor guy so I'm not qualified to give a knowledgeable comment or opinion. I do know he had a 1960 Pan with .090" O.S.. cylinders and he said that he liked, and could feel the extra power of a bigger bore. I'm only the messenger boy here and have no practical experience. I'm sure Cotten has firsthand experience with big bore problems and would be able to expand on benefits, or most likely problems with big bore cylinders.

[BigLakeBob]

I can only assume that HD posted limits they were comfortable with to assure reliability and longevity. But there are also wear limits that HD mechanics were given that exceeded the manual recommendations. Attached are a few pictures of a cylinder that exceeded the recommended bore limits, it was bored to +.125 to show what could really still work. Its all your comfort level and prior experience, just posting to show the wall clearances as examples. DSC06994.JPG DSC06995.JPG DSC06996.JPG

[T. Cotten]

... I'm sure Cotten has firsthand experience with big bore problems and would be able to expand on benefits, or most likely problems with big bore cylinders.

Lots of Folks recite a long lore of legendary problems, Eric..

Obviously, it was all forensic.

My personal successes with excessive overbores were the result of excessive applied techniques, and since I've already posted several times on this subject, I must direct everyone to the search function, with key words like 'torque plate', etc.

(I think Dixie Superior made pistons to .100" OS, and I would still consider it stronger than sleeved, if properly fitted.)

...Cotten