Big Twin High Performance Guide, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

D. William Denish (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1995

Jam-packed with scads of hard-to-find street, high-performance and racing information on the Harley-Davidson Big Twin, The Big Twin High-Performance Guide, Volume One is your key to making more power and getting it to the ground.

Choosing compatible performance parts and building the right engine combination can be confusing, difficult and error prone. And getting the combination to perform at its best requires an enormous amount of trial and error. As such, today's performance enthusiast needs a library of reliable information that will help minimize costly and time consuming pitfalls while providing a "performance edge" for accurate parts selection, engine assembly, power tuning and race preparation.

The Big Twin High-Performance Guide is the ultimate resource that you or your mechanic can rely on when searching for higher performance. It is crammed full of performance secrets for getting the most from your engine and bike and will help you not only do things right, but also do the right things. Discussed in incredible detail are different engine combinations, why certain combinations work better than others, and how to choose and install the right combination of parts for big power improvements. The comprehensive text offers expert advice on: performance theories, stroker and big bore engine combinations, big bore carbs, power cams, high compression, high-flow exhausts, and hot ignition systems. Also included are in-depth discussions on engine assembly secrets and performance tuning techniques as well as a list of performance parts suppliers and a chronological history of the V-Twin's heritage. The new sixth edition contains updated Camshaft and Performance Directory appendices.

The Big Twin High-Performance Guide is loaded with over 123,000 words and 216 illustrations of hard-to-find street, high-performance and racing information on the Harley-Davidson Big Twin. It is an easy-to-read manual designed for both the novice performance enthusiast and the serious racer, and its wealth of information will also benefit automotive enthusiasts, vocational school students and avid do-it-yourself engine builders. If you want performance, read The Big Twin High-Performance Guide. You'll find yourself racing to the very last page. It's your "bible" for higher performance.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

The Big Twin High-Performance Guide, Volume One is part of a three-volume set by Crystal Publications called the Performance Pro Series. Over 20 years ago my 86 ci Sportster was completely disassembled and meticulously packed away in storage boxes. After spending 18 long months building a custom house and encountering Murphy's Law on more than one occasion, I thought it was time to again have some fun and rebuild the 86 ci Sporty with contemporary performance parts. What I discovered was that I had lost touch with current performance technology and was rusty in the procedures for designing, building and tuning the engine and bike. At the time, I wished there was a book that could provide me the information needed to build an engine and bike that would run at the front of the pack. After much research and review of my notes, I finally broke the code and built what, at the time, was a very competitive hot street Sporty. The experience of not having a source of reliable and detailed performance information planted the seed to someday use my writing, marketing and computer technology skills along with my Harley engine building and racing skills to write a comprehensive book with useful information for Harley performance enthusiasts. Although that "someday" took 15 years to reach fruition, it resulted in my writing The Big Twin High-Performance Guide, Volume One, the first book in the Performance Pro Series.

To write a comprehensive performance book takes an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the needs of the high-performance enthusiast. Moreover, compiling useful, compelling, hard-to-find performance information is extremely time consuming and difficult. (This is why such information is often conspicuously absent from some manuals, and why one author of a performance book recently extensively plagiarized The Big Twin High-Performance Guide.)

The Performance Pro Series is jam-packed with hard-to-find power secrets including advanced theory and application that provide the Harley-Davidson enthusiast the best in high-performance information for the V-Twin. The Series includes The Big Twin High-Performance Guide, Volume One and The V-Twin Tuner's Handbook volumes one and two. The Big Twin High-Performance Guide is highly acclaimed by performance enthusiasts, racers, aftermarket companies and dealers worldwide and is considered by many the bible for Harley performance. Hopefully, the Performance Pro Series will provide you a deeper understanding of the internal combustion engine and save you much time in your performance endeavors, while helping you optimize your motorcycle's performance.

About the Author

D. William Denish grew up in the Midwest and as a teenager was introduced to Harley-Davidson dirt track racing by his Uncle Leo. At 14 he got his first motorcycle--a 10 horsepower Mustang. Before the summer ended, the Mustang had a big Amal carb, high compression cylinder head and racing cam.

In 1964 William bought his first Harley--a XLCH Sportster. Although just the sound of the Sportster's idle discouraged challengers, the only way to fly was with a stroker motor. So during the winter the engine was punched out to 65 cubic inches, which pushed quarter mile performance to 12.10 E.T. at 110 mph. Eventually engine displacement was bumped up to 86 cubic inches and performance improved to 11.10 E.T. at 121 mph. Not too shabby considering the narrow 4.00 rear tire and lack of a wheelie bar. Other projects included a bored and stroked 98 cubic inch Shovelhead and modified Evolution "dresser" for long distance touring.

D. William Denish has an extensive background in information technology. He enjoyed a successful 20 plus year career with Honeywell Information Systems as a software programmer, Education Product Manager, Product Marketing Manager, and Sales Training Program Manager. D. William's motorcycle experience spans more than 40 years of which the last 35 have been devoted to building, riding and racing Harleys. He is a contributing editor to popular Harley magazines and the founder and owner of Crystal Publications, publishers of quality high-performance books for the Harley-Davidson enthusiast.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 238 pages
• Publisher: Crystal Publications; 3rd edition (1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964011522
• ISBN-13: 978-0964011526
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,003,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT !!!, November 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Big Twin High Performance Guide, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

I'm pretty thorough when it comes to investigating which books to buy for any given topic. Based on my "research", THIS was my choice for learning more about modifying the Harley V-Twin engine. I couldn't be happier with my selection.
It's well written, easy to comprehend, and offers tons and tons of useful information for the novice who wants to learn more about the performance aspects of the Evo and Shovelhead V-Twins.
It begins with a brief review of the basic 4 stroke principles, then gets into the details of what creates power, then offers various combinations to do so---to meet YOUR bike's purpose and how you intend to ride it.
Do you know what defines a Stage I, II, III motor? At what RPM does torque and horsepower always cross over on a chart? At what RPM is the optimum shift point for YOUR bike's engine?
Buy it and find out! I highly recommend this text !! And, I'm picky !!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best HD performance book I've read yet, February 22, 2006

By 

I like cake - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Twin High Performance Guide, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

And probably the best I'll ever find. Denish's coverage is thorough. He explains WHY certain modifications do what they do and the compromises associated with every performance gain. You'll never look at straight pipes the same again. Know that this book doesn't walk you through a build-up. I don't think that was his goal. Rather, you'll learn how to build a balanced system where all components complement the builder's intentions. I held back a star because certain aspects seemed a little too drag-racey.

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Twin High Performance Guide, September 27, 2010

By 

J. M. Edwards - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Big Twin High Performance Guide, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

An excellent exposition on tuning and running Harley Davidson twin cylinder engines.http://www.amazon.com/review/create-review
Goes far beyond any other publication I have found in detail and clarity of content on this subject.
In my opinion the best written guide to big twin tuning.