Yeah, its been in there about a month now and works great. This is in response to a e-mail I got from forum member PolarisXpedition. I thought I'd share it with the Forum.
It really doesn't help top speed much, this thing could pull a much taller- even a 6th gear, which could improve spacing as well. 1st gear is really a granny gear, we use 2nd for regular take-off, that only leaves three gears to get you up to 52-54 mph. Bigger tires are the only thing you can do to get any more top speed and that may not be to your liking. My H.O. Sportsman isn't much quicker but it will get up to 65.
I don't know how you could regear any of the Shaft drive machines. If you go for more rpm out of the motor you gotta go all the way, crank, piston, cam, carb, port and head work and for what, 1,000 more rpm? (and more hp)
Where the cam works is in torque and acceleration. It is a simple swap. Took me 3 hours just feeling my way. The only thing I had trouble with was the decompression gizmo on the end of the cam. I got it right on the 1st..and 3rd attempts. I could do it in 2 hours now that I've done it.
It costs about $159 and by itself is a good performance kick. You can get it from AAEN or your Polaris dealer. If you did a K&N and a better flow muffler (under our X-mas tree) I think that's a good extra bang for the buck. But I think a bigger carb too would blow the crank. Just my opinion.
Anyway, pull off all the covers on the cylinder head, and the thermostat housing. You'll lose a little coolant, catch it if you can. Have a strong piece of baling wire handy to tie the cam sprocket off to the frame ahead of the engine so you keep tension on the cam chain and don't
skip or jump a tooth. Otherwise you have to retime the cam and that's the hard way. Loosen the chain tensioner on the back of the cylinder,
and loosen the bolts holding the rocker arms down onto the cam and valves. This releases tension on everything. Then unscrew the sprocket and slide the cam out and then the new cam back in. Oil up the new cam real good just before you stick it in. Pay attention to the cam and sprocket positions and put the new one right in there.
The Decompression gizmo on the end of the cam opposite the sprocket is held in by a small spring. It is easy to get this spring reversed so it holds the decompression cam out instead of in. This leaves you without a decompression assist for starting. The spring is suppossed to hold it in till centrifugal force overcomes it,
restoring normal compression as soon as the engine fires over.
Then adjust the valves for .006 clearance. No fenders or tank to remove, just seat and sidepanels. Piece of cake.
Silly Later,,,,Fourlix