Well the old bike has been running pretty well but just didn't have a "pep" in her step. The couple of rides I've done with the other forum guys all had me at the rear of the pack and coming out of a corner I would be lagging behind despite all my efforts. Remember this is a 1997 FLHT stock standard and only 6,000 Km on the clock.
A trip to a well know dyno tune shop in Mundaring was arranged and they went over the bike with a fine tooth comb. Nothing out of the ordinary and timing, mixture etc were all within parametres but they had a same concerns as me. Bone lazy bike!!!! For an evo to only have 48.17hp and torque og 66.26 whilst running true duel headers, V&H slip ons, Screaming eagle plugs and a K&N filter did not add up.
Then the breakthrough. They took the air filter cover off and HP shot up to 58.28 (torque 69.07). Different bike altogether. I ran home without the cover on and it rode like a 1997 FLHT should. A hole saw in the drill press and the snorkel removed from between the cylinders and it now looks "standard" but breathes much easier.
The point of the post is that sometimes it is something not quite in the normal list of ailments that you need to include in the diagnostics to arrive at the outcome you want. Thundertech were on the ball and looking for a different slant on the proverbial "why is it so" and that is why they got an answer. To all those out there pondering some little anomaly on their pride and joy I say "think outside the box".
Enjoy your riding.
I reckon he was very reasonable. As this bike had sat for 16 years before I got it going the lack of power seemed to be related to its sedentary life.
Coops (the mechanic) certainly did a very through job checking the little bits (especially the wiring on the ignition) and the dyno was also very thorough especially when we couldn't find the lag point in the performance. What I really liked was the way they thought things through and came up with the answer and then a fix that preserved the standard look I want to have for this bike (I didn't really want to change the air filter cover). Just a great experience and a great outcome but it really brought home the "think outside the box" line of problem solving.
I was sure it was a carby problem as the bike had sat for 16 years ,albeit with the fuel turned off, so the actual issue of the air filter cover just had me spinning I must admit. Now it runs like a reindeer:-)
