Poor Performance!!!

REMorris · Jan 19, 2009

vej said:
... My question is; (and I'm being serious and not trying to offend) why the hell doesn't this bike have ANY balls? Performance wise I feel like I'm on a little Yamaha V-star 650, IT SUCKS.Thanks,

ej

You got something wrong. My 09 Mastiff hauls ass. The acceleration and performance is breathtaking. I got no doubt that the 0-60 figure they quote is real. And with my V&H BR exhaust and the rejet, I think it's more around the 3.5 second range.

Take it into a decent dealership.

Richard

My buddy has a really nice 1800 VTX and he has put Vance and Hines pipes on it then had the fuel injection re-mapped. He ACTUALLY HAD IT dyno'd and the best they got from it was 99 horsepower. I think the 117's with the Vance and Hines Big radius with the rejets are typically doing around 115 horsepower. The VTX is heavier than the Mastiff by around 65 pounds. So, you can't tell me a VTX will be faster in a straightline (less HP and heavier). If it is, it's the rider making the difference.

Look on this site for the dyno figures if you don't believe me.

I noticed too late that this was a pretty old thread. I guess everyone is bored and reading all the old stuff.

BigDogBro1 · Jan 19, 2009

Do the 2008's have the intake restrictor plates in them like the 2005?

Slinger2 · Jan 19, 2009

vej said:
OK, so it's been a while since I started this thread. The bike now has a little over 3500 miles on it, runs much better. Don't regreat trading in the VTX, I love the Mastiff! ... but it does NOT have the torque some of you claim, that's a fact. My cousin with his little 1200custom (with pipes, high compression pistons and cammed) used to be eaten by my VTX, he can keep up with me now and laughs that he thinks he can take me now. I've let him ride both bikes too, he agrees, there is no where near the same power. No one should take this as a slam on theirselves, their bikes or BigDog. I bought my bike because it was the bike I liked, I love the look and feel of it. What it lacks in power will be made up for in the future with some modifications. My Mastiff is a far better looking bike than my old VTX (my opinion) and the 117 is a much more tuneable/buildable engine than a Honda engine, so eventually I will be swapping out the cams, etc and producing much more HP and Torque... then it will beat my old bike, and (to me), it will be a perfect bike, my dream bike. As of now I've taken off the stock exhaust and replaced it with Hooker Darkside exhaust to match the blacked out wheels and engine. The dealer rejetted after the pipes were installed. I also had an oil cooler installed.

To answer some of your questions. No I'm not a lard ass, fat ass, etc, etc.... if the HP to LB ratio is out of whack, it would be due to poor engineering of 117"s of engine. 20 years of military service didn't let me become a lard ass.... although my weight is a little higher than I like (getting lazy).

Enjoying lurking around the boards and reading all of your posts... hope to someday ride with some of you! Again, I'll get a profile uploaded soon....
dive_padi@hotmail.com .... later. ej:flag:

Glade you love the looks of you ride.
When you do some motor mods you will get alot.
Actually though you should with a simple tune cream a VTX.
here is my dyno sheet.
I tune my bike myself.

this is a 107 inch chopper.
As stated your bike is a 117. and lighter then the VTX.
mine is lighter than the VTX as well.
here is a tuned VTX with powercomander.

The max SAE numbers are on the graph for the VTX.
Mine are on the side.
A normal VTX would have about 104 torque
after a tune it would have about 115 torque.
pretty good. But my 107 has 118.05 torque.
actual horse power on mine are up top. and worked out on the side.
don't ask me why they do that.

And the 107 has more HP.
I race My friends VTX all the time he can't touch me.

Have fun brother ride safe.

surferdude · Jan 19, 2009

Jake ... you are right ... I pushed mine 3x ... ran out of gas ... and it is still more classy than anything out there ... going riding ... ride safe ...

:flag:

T.Byrd · Jan 20, 2009

Big Dog Bro.1 No.

REMorris · Jan 20, 2009

BigDogBro1 said:
Do the 2008's have the intake restrictor plates in them like the 2005?

Good question, I want to know the same thing about the 09 Mastiff. Do the 09 Mastiffs have a restrictor plate?

HDLARRY · Jan 20, 2009

To my knowledge, 2005 was the only year that had restrictor plates.

Slinger2 · Jan 20, 2009

vej said:
Slinger,
I was told the 117 is a better engine (actually the words were "is the best engine S&S makes) than the 107 but that the 107 (in BigDog form) outperforms it due to deviations BigDog takes with the 117 (lower compression, smaller valves, smaller cam). From what I was told, a stock BigDog 107 should run with or even outperform a stock BigDog version 117... any truth to that? Wish I had a good tuner friend near to help tweak it. In Hawaii one of my brothers as a master mechanic.... came in handy. Although since he wasn't "BigDog" authorized he wasn't allowed to work on his own bike (he worked at the HD dealership).

Just the 05 BDM had inlit restrictor spacers as far as I know.
So your people all agree the 107 is a great motor but a 117 should out perform it. true though the BDM 117 has longer jugs than the true S&S.
diffrent specs lower compression(like you said).
It comes down to this.
a 107 is like 1750 CC ruffly.
an vtx is and 1800 cc ruffly.
and a 117 is a 1916.
That is lighter.
I would like to see a fairly stock 117 just tuned up.
Dyno sheet.
Take in the fact shaft loses more HP to the wheel than belt.
all though honda does the best shft drive.
but the 117 on the dog uses 300MM tires and the vtx I want to say uses 180.
Not sure though. Wheels make a huge differance.
107's have 250mm that may be the factor.

Unfortunatly I just have ones that are heavily modified as of right now.
I now the 05 only does around 85 HP becuase of the restrictors.
But once removed they also will kick but.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

watermeter · Jan 20, 2009

I have an "07" chopper with VH big radius, half baffles and the bike will hall ass, next thing is .600 cam. Runs much better after break in period too.

Guillaume · Jan 26, 2009

Hello vei
Maybe check your intake ,for a leake , it can give you headachs , ,spray some electro cleaner , if you have no leak , than take a comppresion test.
That are the easy things , that you have to check .
Spark plugs,
airfilter clean, Always try those out first,And buy a maintenance manual
and look on the trouble page . :cheers:

Black Dawg · Feb 2, 2009

Remember back in the 70's when cars still had big engines but made NO power? (My brother's T/A 455ci was rated at a measly 200hp!)??

Same comparison to the S&S 117ci installed in the big dogs, these are not emission designed engines, but have been detuned fairly seriously to meet EPA requirements.

The camshaft is an emissions grind and kills power.
The compression is lowered and they even did it the wrong way by installing longer jugs, which places the piston far down the hole (negative deck height). This too kills power.
Jetting is very lean.
And a restrictive exhaust.

All the major pieces are there to turn this engine back into the monster it is.

Throttle · Aug 3, 2009

My bike is so fast, I can barely control the throtle temptations to take off again and again. You must have major issue with the compressor(torque) of the motor. My bike fish tales in 2nd and 3rd gears as you move from green to yellow on the tacht.

bdmridgeback · Aug 3, 2009

vej said:
I'll do an intro soon... I'm at work (only time I have to write). Like I said though, I've ridden my entire life. In the first week I had 690 miles on it, by the end of the 2nd week there were over 1200 (yes, had them do the break-in tune-up). Last week was in upper 30's in the morning when I leave for work so I didn't ride to work. So it still only has about 1400 miles on it (3rd week). Torque is EXTREMELY low compared to the old vtx, (I know it's a different kind of ride... single pin vs. dual pin, etc). My cousin has a 1200 custom that feels more torquey. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the bike. That's why I traded in. When I lived in Hawaii I was a member of the Minotaur's M/C and about 16 of my brothers ran BD's, I loved the bikes then (and that's when they had some problems), and I still love them now. Just want a little more "umph" . I have a set of Hooker Darkside Troublemakers that will (hopefully) get installed this week, along with re-jetting and a general tuneup.

I Live in the Tampa area... hope to meet some of you around soon.

I have a 2005 Ridgeback...

My wife had a VTX1800C for a very short time and now has a VTX1300C. My bike runs much stocger than both of those bikes. I rode my fathers V-Max last weekend, and remembering that bike being the sh*t in the day, was still slower than my bike.

My last sportbike, a slightly built 1200 Buell Lightning, is the closest running thing to my bike. Aside from the 900 and 1100cc sportbikes I have owned that did run better, but didn't have half the class of the Dog.

Does your bike have a E or G carb on it? Should have a G but you never know. I'd say that dropping about $2000 in your bike will get you another 20+ Horsepower.

stlmikie · Aug 3, 2009

Hey Throttle. Are you the guy that Aspen and I met at Terry and Kathy's here a couple weeks back?

Throttle said:
My bike is so fast, I can barely control the throtle temptations to take off again and again. You must have major issue with the compressor(torque) of the motor. My bike fish tales in 2nd and 3rd gears as you move from green to yellow on the tacht.

garv · Dec 9, 2009

I had a VTX1800R and it has some balls, but my 2004 Mastiff spanks the hell out of it.

easyrider316 · Feb 10, 2010

the big dog 117 is not equal to a true s & s crate 117. they have lower compression pistions, taller cylinders, smaller valves and cam. its what they had to do to please the bastards at the epa. a good machinist can fix the cylinder lenght, and valve issues.

reddog06 · Mar 11, 2010

Staffy said:
Welcome - it not all bad - The good news is you can train the dog to your liking :up: :up: :up: Just don't rush it, nice and easy with the first couple of miles (which I see you have already done). Couple of great suggestions already and some order of priority -

XXX Carb:up: :up:

Nice BIG Sucking Airfilter:up: :up:

Exhaust and jet accordingly.:up: :up:

A 4" open primary will help :up: :up:

That should be a good start, if not we have the delux selection - super sized package :2thumbs: :2thumbs:

Cam:2thumbs: :2thumbs:

Deck jugs:2thumbs: :2thumbs:

port heads:2thumbs: :2thumbs:

That should do it for you...

hi bro ,did u change the cam in ur bike ? if so did u have to adjust the timing ? if so how did u do this thanx jim

Poor Performance!!!

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