With V&H slip-ons, and only a few cosmetic upgrades, after noticing decel popping about 6 weeks ago when the nights were starting to get cold here in Victoria, I figured I'd read up on going stage one and EFI fuel management - my bike is a 1200 custom 2008 sporty aka The Red Devil.
Lots of forums and the like, and some help some of the fine folk on this one, and I ended up buying a SERF module (Screamin' Eagle Race Fueler - not SERT - p/n 32173-07) and a Screamin' Eagle air filter. After almost a month of sitting on my Ebay purchased goodies, I was hanging to give stage 1 a shot. My PC is for communications and multimedia, a little work too. I do not want to be using it to email my Harley... All too complex. I prefer something plug n play.
I did a lot of reading and looking at videos and youtube videos - none were by any measn complete but with another info from all of these I thought I'd attempt it tonight. Here's a rundown, of hints - these are for 07 onward Sporties, and are plenty different than any other Harley model. The installation will be virtually identical if you don't have SERF but have a Doebeck TFI or one of Big Joe's Fuelshots. The Sporty battery is a bastard and makes like more difficult than the open battery access for the big twins...
The SERF cost me just $82US off an Ebay power seller and the air filter was $108US from M&M cycles. Delivery around $50 inclusive for both, so Stage 1 ability for under $250US ain't too bad. And easy enough to go back to stock if desired.
Installing SERF: Tools required - driver for removing seat bolt, socket to disconnect battery, spanner/wrench to disconnect battery ground terminal, allens key and socket/wrench for removing lower seat bolt, a screwdriver, small hook and/or long-nose needle pliers to help with the injector connectors... Small phillips-head jeweller's screwdriver for opening the SERF module.
- The first thing to do is to take off your seat (easy) and remove the bottom bolt on the fuel tank. You can now tilt the tank upwards - jam a sweater or block under this hold it up. You could take the tank off, or remove both bolts for easier access. I chose not to. - I then disconnected the ground on the battery. Open your battery cover, unbolt the strap at that holds it in at the bottom of the battery, and it will slide out far enough for you to access the ground/negative (black) terminal. I disconnected this terminal - Feed the SERF/TFI/Fuelshot injector connectors through the frame from the under-seat battery area to the LEFT-SIDE of the bike, where you horn is located. This is fiddly, try it one connector at a time. - Now, here's the fun. In between the two cylinder heads, on the left hand side of the bike, you should see the injector connectors - they look identical to the connectors on the SERF unit. - You may need a tool as per above to help you get a hold of, and remove the stock connectors, and to then grab these and put in your SERF connectors - forming a loop per the instructions. I used a small dentist style hook, though I was frustrated when I pulled out the red rubber grommet from the stock connector (it helps seat the two connectors) and it was a prick to get back in. - Elbow grease and good purhase on the connectors is required to squeeze them to get them off and push them on. Ensure you get that nice crisp 'snap' sound! - Once done, take the SERF ground wire, and crimp the ring-end to the wire. This will go to your negative/ground terminal bolt and be screwed in to power the device - I cheated, and cut the ring-end with my pliers to make it an open "U" and to have it fit easier. - Torque down you fuel tank bolt, get the SERF cables tucked snugly/cable tied away from being pinched and any hot surfaces. Torque your negative/ground terminal bolt again and ensure your ground cable end locks in with the terminal bolt. Strap up and the battery and bolt it down. - Have the SERF unit secured in a handy, yet practical and safe position. I chose wedged snugly between the two modules on the battery strap, its a neat fit. It sits here nicely, and can be opened and the pots adjusted from the side of the bike. - Now, did it work? Open the back of the SERF unit with the jeweller's phillips-head driver. Put your key in the bike and set it to on, and then set your killswitch to 'on'. The LED lights should flash up like Christmas in red and green, then momentary solitary yellow flashing to show the unit is armed and has pre-loaded...
It works, now it needs tuning. That is for daylight hours when I can run the bike and get heat in it (and another story for when I've done it)
Installing the SE air cleaner: Tools required: allens' key to remove stock air cleaner cover, torx driver to take off the filter, and a socket to remove the back plate. These will also be required when you install the SE cleaner elements.
- KingChops has great photos for this install as a sticky in this forum. This is straight forward and doesn't have any real drama. The instructions and the parts-schematic are useful, clear and accurate (for once). - The one thing I did do when installing the stock ham-tim cover back on was to remove the large rubber ring that came around it as stock. No real need to have it, and it would probably work itself off anyway without much effort. I know some people like it staying on. Your decision, purely cosmetic.
Tuning? The fun part. LIke the Doebeck TFI, the SERF tunes by setting fuel mix and RPM crossovers by using a screwdriver to adjust the required pots. watching the LEDs and listening to the engine. I need to have more time to heat the bike up and then fiddle with these. More when I've fiddled with this.
Tuning the SERF Tools required: Small jeweller's phillips head screw to open the unit and adjust the potentiators ('pots'). A sharp ear also. Here is a method to manual (read: non-dyno) tune the SERF on your bike. I've tried it for starters... Tuning: The dials (potentiometers or pots) on the SERF are oriented as follows. Each pot has 10 settings points. | 1 |____| 2 |____| 3 |____ Red LED Yellow LED Green LED | 4 |____| 5 |____| 6 |____ R = Red LED Low rpm range Y = Yellow LED Mid rpm range G = Green LED High rpm range What each dial, or pot, does: 1 Low rpm range fuel adjuster ______ -10% to +40% fuel correction (5% increase per point) 2 Mid rpm range fuel adjuster ______ -10% to +40% fuel correction (5% increase per point) 3 High rpm range fuel adjuster _____ -10% to +40% fuel correction (5% increase per point) 4 Low to Mid rpm cutover range _____ 900 to 3500 rpm (260 rpm per point) 5 Mid to High rpm cutover range ____ 4500 to 7100* rpm (260 rpm per point - * stock ECM settings max a Sportster at 6200rpm however) 6 Accelerator fuel enrichment _______ 0 to 100% (10% increase per point) Go for a ride to warm the bike up to full operating temperature. Now, open the SERF using a very small Phillips screwdriver (the same one you will be using to adjust the pots) and let the fun begin. It'll may run poorly, but try these dials Dial #____Position Dial 1 ___ 3 Dial 2 ___ 3 Dial 3 ___ 4 Dial 4 ___ 3 - (Low to Mid rpm needs to be set at around 2000 rpm which is about setting 4) Dial 5 ___ 0 - (Mid to High rpm needs to be set to 4500 rpm which is 0 on the dial) Dial 6 ___ 5 Now, for the REAL fun. Fine Tuning. Dial 1: Start the engine up and slowly increase the rpm until the red led goes out (about 2000rpm) and the yellow led comes on then bring it down a bit until the led's swap back over and we have the red one lit again. You need to hold this rpm really steady (now you can finally use that throttle lock on the handle bar). Now very slowly increase dial 1 (clockwise), the engine should start to speed up (if the yellow led comes on then set the throttle back a little so we are back on red). You will get to a point where the rpm no longer rises and then you can turn the dial back down to a point where the rpm just starts to reduce. Dial 2: Now we do the same again but at about 4500 rpm. So this time we raise the rpm until the green (third) led comes on and then throttle back very slowly until it goes out and the yellow led comes back on. Then we slowly increase dial 2 until the engine no longer increases in speed and then dial it back slightly. For both dials one and two you are looking for the point where the engine runs fastest and smoothest with the dials set as low as possible. Since I did this outside, on a cool night with a nice breeze, my oil temp was only 190 and did not rise. If it is a hot day, let the bike cool or use a large fan on the engine. It was noted on the other forum that when adjusting the SERF, if the engine gets too hot the EFI will run slightly richer to compensate and thus will mess with your results. Dial 3: This is the hardest to set up manually (not on a dyno). However, unless you are taking the bike above 4500 rpm a lot you won't need to worry. The only way to set this is to get the bike pulling hard above 4500 and the increase the dial a bit at a time until it runs about right. Advised to set dial 3 to position 5 and to give a flawless transition. Probably hard on fuel economy, but hey, you'd seldom run up here unless I need to pass a car or just want to have 'fun'. Dial 4 & 5: Need no further adjusting. Dial 6: This is set by blipping the throttle open from idle. If the engine hesitates before picking up, you need to increase the setting on the dial. Eventually you find a point where the engine responds straight away and there is no stutter. When you find this point, stop, as you want to keep the setting as low as you can without the hesitation. I settled on 3, but will play with this a little more.
