hi all,
So I put short shots on my 13 street bob 103, followed by an arlen ness big sucker stage 1. so I went to Harley and got the stage 1 download. I am not really wanting to spend 5 or 600$ on a tuner so they told me if I wasn't riding across country or doing anything else to the engine (which I am not) then the download would do fine to fix my air fuel mix where it should be. on the way there with exhaust and breather on it ran pretty good crackled and popped a little bit when deaccelerating. after the download I have rode 50 miles or so and the acceleration is better but the backfiring is deacently worse and when maintaining a mid range rpm in a lower gear it feels like every 2 or 3 seconds it hickups a little bit. so with that out of the way... I didn't change out the gasket at the head of the short shots when I bought them cause I only had 200 miles on the bike. would that be the problem? or should I contact them about the download or take it off or what? any advice appreciated thanks...

 

Check for exhaust leaks 1st. If you have none take it back. This is one of the main reasons I dont like having a tune that I have 0 ability to edit when needed. Paying $400 - $600 for a good tuner is worth it in the long run.

 

Do you think if the gaskets where slightly different sized than stock it is worth taking them off and changing them? I haven't found any exhaust leaks. I was gonna just take it back but I figured maybe the gasket rings had something to do with it.

 

If the pipes are seated correctly and you are not leaking from the front of the header pipe at the gaskets you should be fine. I used my stock gaskets when I installed my throwbacks with 0 issues. Is the bike running hot at all?

 

it isn't running hot. if I get around 3000 rpms when I shift it will throw some back fires out. I am more worried because if I am holding say 2300 rpms going down main street, every 3 seconds or so it will feel like it misses or hickups. I don't know if it is loading up or starving for fuel. and I figured that combined with the back firing means it is running lean.. I don't have a lot of experience with efi. I would want an adjustable tuner but like everyone I am on a budget and the way they described the download made it seem like it judged my air intake and out and adjusted the fuel accordingly but It seems to me more like it is just a set thing where it turned up the fuel a little bit. kind of funny tho cause it ran better before the download.

 

I have a 2011 FXDC with Vance and Hines slip ons and SE air cleaner with the dealer download, and my bike runs great. I agree with your dealer and you, why spend all that $$$$ on a tuner ( I have on other bikes already) for a simple stage one. Something's not right however, but it may be the air box is flowing too much air for the exhaust.

 

it realy does seem like it is getting too much air in.. I have thought of that but not a simple solution if it is that.. would a rain sock help at all?

 

I guess it wouldn't hurt to try, just to see if that helps. As I said, something's not right. My bike runs great, and I know of at least a dozen or more people who have just the download and they're very pleased with the way their bikes run. My brother-in-law has a 2006 Street Glide with the dealer download, and he has over 55,000 trouble free miles on his bike.

Hope you get this solved.

 

thanks for the input guys much appreciated.

 

Let us know how things go!