hen the talk turns to camshafts it pays to listen to the folks at Crane. From its Daytona Beach factory Crane Cams supplies custom ground camshafts to more suppliers and vendors than you’d imagine, camshafts that are then repackaged and sold under other brand names. Crane is also the OE camshaft supplier to more than a few major automakers. These folks, obviously, know how to make a cam and that certainly applies to all the Harley-Davidson performance grinds carrying the Crane Cams name. Looking for a cam? Why not go right to the source? Everyone else does.
     There’s a full selection of Crane performance grinds for all the newest Harleys, too, those 96-inchers with their redesigned cam plates. This year all those cams carrying the Crane name come with an exclusive Mikronite® Surface Finishing Process, too. It’s a finishing process Crane has implemented to provide added strength with a highly polished surface that improves lubrication while reducing friction, heat and noise. All Crane cams shipped after October 15th of last year have that Mikronite® finishing process. Like we said, Crane knows how to make cams–and how to make them even better.
     Every Crane cam is computer-designed and there are profiles covering it all. There’s everything from the mild street/cruising applications in an otherwise stock engine to cams for the most outrageous race build-ups. Most are offered with a choice of chain- or gear drive and where applicable Crane has the complete selection of hardware to go with that cam set, everything from matching performance/race valve springs to the keepers, retainers and pushrods, including Crane’s Time-Saver Adjustable Pushrods, perhaps the strongest in the industry. Everything is precision perfect, too. The lobe-to-lobe profile accuracy is spot-on correct for everything from off-idle torque to high-RPM horsepower.
     Here’s a rundown of what’s available. For those mild-street applications there’s the Crane 1-6000 grind. It’s a straight bolt-in and the stock valve springs are fine. Performance gains run from idle to around 5,000 RPM. It’s a popular choice. The 1-6001 grind is the next step up. These cams work best in Dynas and Softails generally ridden one-up. Crane’s 1-6002 cam set works best when coupled with other engine mods, like a compression boost, and then moving into the 1-6003 grind is where things get serious. This is the cam profile for when you’re building a big-bore motor. Crane’s valve springs, clearanced for this cam’s.570-in. lift, are a must. Then there’s the 1-6004 cam set with its 254?/260? duration and .600-in. lift and the 1-6005 grind (246?/254? duration, .619-in. lift). These two are the profiles for those seriously modified engines with compression ratios of 10.5:1 and up, big-bore kits, head mods, etc. There’s a strong midrange here coupled with gobs of high-RPM power. These cams are designed especially for use with Edelbrock Performer RPM Twin Cam heads.
     Everything we’ve talked about here is available right now. Drag Specialties has it all, and it’s all pure Crane Cams. With the Crane name on the box.