I just bought and installed new V&H short shots on my 2011 street bob. It is all stock except bars and cosmetics. I haven't been able to ride it with the new pipes on it yet cause my tire blew the day before the pipes got here. I was just wondering if there is anything I am gonna have to do with remapping the ECU. I have asked plenty of people and the majority of people have said I should have no problems with it, but then a select few throw doubt into my head. I just don't want to get down the road burning too much fuel and get a bunch of carbon build up and damage my engine. Like I said I havent been able to ride it yet and see how many mpg im getting. I just figured the O2 sensors would pick that all up. Just hoping someone else has done the same thing and could tell me exactly what they did.

 

Welcome to the family!

I don't know the answer to your question because I haven't changed my exhaust yet, just modified them with cycle shack baffles and used Xied's to adjust my fuel mixture. Hopefully some one with some good knowledge on this will chime in and answer your question, there is a wealth of knowledge on this forum.

 

I had the exact same question when I did mine, so I contacted V&H Tech Dept.. The fellers down there said that it requires a remap because of your overall change in back-pressure, regardless of an intake mod or no, if it was just a slip on than yeah, no reprogram is needed but a slip does't change backpressure it just changes exhaust note. If you plan on Harley remapping it then save up and get an intake too, it's the same cost and you'll only have to pay for it once but if you plan on getting a tuner and can map it yourself, screw it, throw those bad boys on there and let it fly. I did the Harley tune with my Big Radius 2+2 without intake, but I haven't really had the money for an intake and am waiting to do all my stuff at once.

 

If you wanna draw out more power for not a lot of buck, go with cams, they'll give you torque where you want it pending model, SE-254 cams are good in the low rpm range, they're great for 1/4 mile, 0-60. If you want more mid-high rpm torque the way to go would be SE-255 or any aftermarket equivalent such as S&S and such.

 

You're not going to damage your engine from a rich condition, but possibly from a lean condition. Changing exhaust and/or intake will not make it run richer, but possibly leaner. The ECM can adjust for one or the other usually, but not both together. Just doing the open exhaust may or may not necessitate a tune of some kind, but if you change the breather (which I recommend) as well, you will need some kind of fuel management to keep the bike from running lean. In your case with just the current exhaust change, you may not have to have a tuner, but I would recommend a set of XiEDs from Nightrider at least.

Lean = heat = problems.

There are many options on this, depending on how much $ you want to spend, how well you want your bike to run, and what you plan on doing in the future. Sounds like you haven't done any mods to your engine besides the exhaust, so a set of XiEDs from Nightrider may suit your needs fine. They richen up the AFR in closed loop operation (less than 40% throttle & less than 4,000 rpms). They are about $100, install in less than 15 minutes, and work well. On the other end of the spectrum is a good tuner like the SE Pro Super Tuner or TTS Mastertune with a good dyno tune. With a good tuner and dyno tune you will have about $800 in this. However, a proper tune will adjust AFRs and ignition timing for the engine mods you have done and your bike can be tuned to fit your needs, and can be used to re-tune for future engine modifications. Anything beyond a stage one, you will have to have a tuner of some kind...just doing exhaust and breather, XiEDs would suffice if you don't have or want to spend the $.

I have had a bike that I did a stage 1 and just did the XiEDs, and my current bike is stage 1 and dyno tuned with the SE Pro Super Tuner, so I have done both ends of the spectrum.

 

SE-255 not a mid-high rpm torque cam, but just the opposite...a low rpm torque cam (a school bus cam).

 

Ah yes, I see that now. It's more of a passing CAM.

 

Some good info. I'm definately going with the short shots on my Super Glide when I save up the moolah. Looks like the smart approach is to do a breather and an XiED at the same time?

 

Kickstand23

Welcome to the forum ...

Seems the real problem is ...

Cost of exhaust ...

Cost of opening up the intake air restrictions with a free flowing air cleaner assembly ...

Cost of an electronic fuel injection remedy (to the lean condition that is exacerbated by the two above) ...

For those of us who are married (and not raking in the big bucks), any one or maybe two of the above will (may) slide beneath the threshhold where the spouse won't get too worked up ... (this is assuming one's spouse is not 'on board' ... but, merely tolerates 'this nonsense') ... but, doing all three in 'one fell swoop' will likely exceed the $1,000 mark ... and may lead to heated conversations ... or otherwise contribute to marital discord ...

So, a lot of guys 'go cheap' ... slip ons ... xIeds ... etc. ... and later regret it ... and have to drop the same money as they would have originally ... on top of the 'cheap' option ...

One option is to try to find stuff 'second hand' ... check out the Forum classifieds, or e-bay or craigslist ...

Or ... be a single guy ... or ... make a lot of money (so the spouse won't mind) ...

Good luck getting it done ...

R/
'Chop

 

Yeah, also keep in mind that 2+2 lose about 5-10 HP, they gain TQ but lose on HP due to un-equalized back pressure. So if you're looking to make power, do NOT get a 2+2, get a 2+1, I'll be switching in the next year to a V&H Competition pipe.