G'Day,
I have a question about original pipes on a modified engine.
My imported 08 night train came over in 2011 with a 103 kit on it with manual decompression valves(I don't know if this means other mods I don't know about). Peter stevens then sold it to the previous owner with a SE Super Tuner and Vand H Short shots with quiet baffles. After speaking with Peter Stevens this morning I was told it was flashed with the fitment of the short shots. In order to get a roadworther the previous owner put the original pipes back on the bike and I'm 90% sure Peter Stevens didn't flash it afterwards (although on the invoice it say "Miscellaneous engine work" after "fit stock exhuast system"
When I picked the bike up and rode back to Syd, it rode fine, doesn't pulse with part throttle open or anything like that. Pulls strong throught the whole rev range.
Now firstly I'm wodering if the change back to original would cause any bad dramas to mixtures or something, secondly when I go back to the short shots when they get here is it just a matter of fitting them and riding?
I don't know what air cleaner it has but it has the standard cover over it.
Any help would be great as I'm trying to work out what path to go down, I just want reliablity, the bike goes well enough.
Cheers in advance
Ryno
Hi,
what 103 kit it got in it?
it ran fine to sydney yeah? Check the plugs and see what they look like, if the ring is black/brown/tan then all going well, take photo and post if you like
thanks
robots
Cheers for the replies, I have the short shots on coming up from melb. Will change to them once I have worked out a way to quiet them right down. I have attached a couple of photos from the rear spark plug, it looks black ans sooty on the thread near the gap, but the actual area where the spark jumps is grey, whats this tell me if anything? Stop riding till I get it tuned maybe? I just dunno want to blow up the engine in the first week of ownership.
BTW I dont know what kind of 103 kits is on it. It was on before it came to Australia, but to be honest I couldn't really tell you if it has it or not. It sounds resonable even with a stock exhuast, not really that lawn mower sound stock bike usually have.
To be honest the stock headers are plenty big enough to run plenty of punch no problems. Just get ride of the butterfly valve and new free flow slip on mufflers. And I'd even say your bike has never had a dyno tune as it may still be a stock tune. Maybe why it goes so good with the standard system. A canned tuned plug in is still only a base. Each bike needs to run on a dyno to get the air flow ratio correct. Makes such a huge difference.
Hi Ryno,
By the time you make the short shots quiet they DONT work! They dont work with loud baffles! I'm yet to find an engine that short shots actually work on! . Your torque and horsepower will be nothing like what you should have .If you have the stock header pipes on the bike leave them there. Grab a set of S&S slip on turbo style mufflers. This will give you a really nice exhaust sound but more importantly the engine will love it. Then take the bike with your SE Pro Tuner for a propper full Dyno tune. Not just a download map. Download USA generated maps have no place on our bike here in AUS. The round air filter you have sounds like it's an SE Hi Flow kit. They work ok as long as it has a K&N air filter installed. The SE filters fall apart. The K&N will be there for life. I have done this change on many bikes with awesome results every time.
Cheers Brian.
Hi Dynoharley,
I'm sure were not the only tuners that get asked to tune some seriously crappy combo's. In the early days I use to try to tune what I given. Now I just dont! I have a zero tolerance to tuning with parts that just don't work!. If it doesn't work don't proceed with the job. I too have some old exhausts that may look like crap but work awesome just to show my customers that it's not all about looking cool,,,,,, you have to enjoy riding your bike. I fit my old exhaust to their bike so they can take it away for a few days to give them first hand experience with what their bike is capeable of. The most common reply is "I had know idea my bike was such a ^#@*^!^%!(*^"..... Now they know what I'm talking about we can make changes to happily acheive something somewhere in the middle. Something that performs as good as it looks. I appreciate that not everyone wants their bike to look stock. That is the freedom of having a Harley. But there are lots of exhausts that look awesome and work quite well and with injected bikes a good Dyno tune can improve some of the not so good areas of the power curve. Every bike is different and every customer is different and all have different needs. But the one thing that every customer wants is a good set up and a bike that performes the way it should. Not anyone wants to hear that the nice shiny part they have just bought for their bike is a total pile of crap. But it is much worse when you tell them 2 months latter that you already knew that and they should not have paid to have it fitted and tuned. Honesty is sometimes a bit like "shoot the messanger" but in the end "thanks for that, My bike is awesome" is what it's all about.
Are you serious? Check out the dirt and crap that builds up on your throttle butterfly and surrounding throttle body. I have tested hundreds of these filters over many years and they don't protect your engine at all. If they dont fall appart they open pour and let the fine particals go through. When I service my regular customer bikes the throttle body may need a wipe of crankcase breather oil mist but NO dirt. And for the cost of a K&N filter compared to the real engine damage that you dont see yet will be much greater.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And all the best for the New Year to you too. Cheers.
Paper filters are a "throw away" item and should be treated as such.. Depending on the environment they are subjected to most are only good for between 5-8,000 Ks.
I have had a bike with less than 5,000Ks come in on a tow truck with a throttle stuck open. Only to find an SE air filter fallen apart jamming the throttle buttrrfly open. Lucky the rider was experienced enough to not crash. But she was not a happy lady. I have since removed in excess of 50 of these faulty filters. My staff were instructed never to let one of these filters to leave the shop in a bike..
The testing I have done tells me that the tune gradually goes out over that 8,000Ks due not only to the lack of air flow through it in the beginning but their lack of enough pleats to cater for the amount of debri that it has to hold. The oil sprayed on a K&N filter, if done correctly will stop ALL particals. If you really test these filters back to back you will find a change in air flow and a result in AFR using the paper filter. The K&N will flow a consistant flow not altering the AFR for atleast 15,000 Ks. I have done some serious testing of K&N filters on my sons Hattah desert race bike. When most other bikes were breaking down due to blocked air filters or massive engine damage our bike was still going strong till the finish for over 4 1/5 hours. The filter in the end looked fully blocked but the bike still had full power and sufferd NO engine damage. The air box was still totally clean along with the throttle butterfly from any sign of dirt.
Why use a product when for bugger all extra cost you can fit something that actually works!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Robots,
I totally understand the cost involved in owning and maintaining a Harley. And save a buck when you can. Honestly I wish I could use a $20 air filter that done the job. But when it comes to what actually makes your Harley perform and last as long as it possably can I have no short cuts. Use the best possable products and services available and it will save you in the long run. I test these products. I really have a luxury in this industry to be able to do this. I have customers that put over 50,000- ks on their bike each year. They ride big Ks every day and do it hard. I soon find out what parts make the grade. The SE air filter was gone week one.
Cheers brian.
