G,Day all, i have a 2008 xl883 sportster  to which i wanted to add an SE air cleaner to go with the SE pipes( boring i know but i,m building a sleeper ) . As it is fuel injected i have been told that i have to change, modify, update the ECU so that the bike dont run too hot, ok no probs. Asked the local dealer to do a stage 1 upgrade to the ECU and get told we cant do that you have to buy a SERT for $520 and then have it fitted and calibrated, another $200 or so. Fuck of i say you gotta be kidding nearly a grand to fit an aircleaner!!!!!! I have done heaps of hours of research on the web about this and its not quite true what we are being told it seems but that is for another post. Anyway i,m laying awake one morning thinking fuck this i,m going to ring HD in the land of the free ( so long as you aint black gay or democrat!) and get the truth from the horses mouth. Well of course i get a lovely customer service girl who is soo helpful ( i,m in love but that is another story too lol) who takes my deatails and i get an email back from HD via a dude called Phillip T. The following post is our discussion via emails, makes interesting reading i think.

5/6/08 from HD

Im so glad that my Bike has a Carbie , Iv'e heard lots of stories over the years about guys that have done the right thing with there bikes , Dealer only seviceing, not messing with the bikes fitting aftermarket goodies ,,etc, and still having Warranty claims knocked back , The normal line is " we will take a picture of the problem, sent it to HD and if they approve it we will fix it in due course,,,,, Just utter bull shit , I could be wrong but I have been told that most claims are knocked back.

Knowing this I took the approach that the 2 year Warranty that came with the Bike was Worth Jack Shit to me , As soon as I got the Bike home I modified it to suit my needs, Yes I get it serviced every 8000 km as per the book ,but not by A HD Dealer , I have fitted heeps of performance parts to it , some SE stuff , It's just about hit the 2 year mark next month but the warranty was void the day I took it home, Just the way I wanted , It's my bike and I will do anything I like to it and I was never going to be told by HD that I couldn't .
Find a good Bike in you area, and forget the warranty..Most of them have mechanics that once worked for Dealers and are HD Trained and they will do what you want and for a much better price

Just fit a XIED that you can remove in 2 minutes before servicing your bike.

G,day all, thanks for the replies people very interesting.

A couple of points, 1 i wasnt whinging i was just trying to get an honest answer out of HD re the ecu remap they say i have to have and then instead give me the way more expensive option only, funny that hey!

2 the bike is mine and i will do what i want to do with it i dont realy think HD waranty is worth the paper it is written on.

3 i have always had carby bikes,cars and always did me own mods. I think fuel injection is way more efficient and infinatly more variable with the right after market gear so i am learning what i need and how to do it myself.

4 for now i am going to fit the nightrider O2 IED which will richen the mixture up sufficient for the minor mods i have made so far ( equivelent of going up a jet size)

5 according to nightrider, S&S, iron horse mag you dont need to do any mods as in closed loop the O2 sensors will keep the air/fuel ratio at the factory set epa required 14.7/1 AFR and in open loop the mixture is already rich enough to handle the changes.

6 i realy  did this whole exercise just to see what HD america would say as i knew i wouldnt get anything out of them and i thought others might be interested in the results

stay safe and stay upright girls and boys