Just thought I 'd post a quick update since I've seen some threads where people were asking if it was worth tuning their bikes with stock exhaust but new AC.

I added a DK Customs Outlaw 587 to my 2014 Street Bob a couple of weeks ago with external breather kit. Noticed that the engine ran a little cooler, maybe overall a bit different in performance but not really anything that I could tangibly put my finger on.

Saving up for a nice exhaust but noticed while practicing slow speed maneuvers how bad throttle control is with stock and primary acceleration (maybe first 10% of throttle feedback). I would say that maybe this is a skill level issue but I also thought that when accelerating in 2'nd or 3'rd through some turns that throttle was not particularly smooth either.

Got a FP3 and used a canned map (suggested was to use the V&H 3" slip ons with quiet baffle.

First thing I noticed is that the bike idles a little higher than before. Definitely big difference in throttle response and overall smoothness. It's really quite incredible the difference in how the bike rides. I wasn't so much interested in making the bike more powerful but the responsiveness is completely different.

I definitely understand why people who are not necessarily interested in HP or Torque gains pay to get their bikes properly tuned. Who would have thought that EPA rules affect the performance of the bike so much?

 

Thanks for the info robbyville. I have been thinking about the FP3 because I can use it with my iphone. The Powervision tuner only woks with a PC so that is not user friendly for me. I have a SE Nightstick muffler with a Supertrapp performance core and open end cap. Now that the exhaust is a little more open, I have noticed some decel popping. I also have a SE high flow AC that I will be installing as soon as I decide on getting a tuner or a stage 1 download. It sounds like the FP3 is pretty easy to use but some have had problems with the auto tune feature. I believe that you need to have WiFi turned off on your smart phone (using cellular) to use auto tune correctly. Have you had any problems?

 

Couple of things. I actually received a bum unit initially that didn't work with my Iphone, a few others told me they had the same issue but that their's worked with Android. I called V&H and to their credit after a simple 5 minute conversation they overnighted a brand new unit to me and sent me a shipping label to ship the bad one back. This one paired with my Iphone no problem and everything was complete within 10 minutes. You just need to figure out which canned map to start with, and then they suggest you run at least one tank with it.

I haven't tried the auto tune yet but will be soon. I've heard of the challenges, but in looking at V&H's FAQ they do a good job of explaining what needs to be done and the order to do it in. Nice thing about the auto tune is that your phone does not have to be paired while doing it so you don't need wifi or cell coverage (I don't have good cell coverage in many zones). Basically before you start the ride you need to be in a place to flash the canned map to auto tune (wifi or cell), then you just leave the unit on the bike and go ride for a while. The LED's on the unit will illuminate based upon the required amount of information to finish the auto tune (or so I understand), if at the end of your ride or during you re-connect using your phone then you can also look at the various cells to see what still needs to be populated but it's not a requirement to be paired throughout.

I may not be the best resource on this since I've had the unit all of 24 hours but that's how I read it.

 

I have another question. At some point does adding more fuel (enriching the AFR) increase exhaust heat on a bike with the CAT still in place?

 

Not sure on that one

 

I was thinking the phone needed to be paired with the FP3 during auto tune and one if the reasons that I haven't used the feature yet, that's cool that it doesn't. I'm more than okay with starting it and putting 100+ miles on it! repairing and updating the tune.

 

yeah that was one of my first thoughts since I live in a place that has spotty regular coverage. Here is the link to the FAQ, scroll to the autotune part
http://fp3.vanceandhines.com/faq.html

 

Yep it would . The richer the exhaust the hotter the cat gets. You can actually melt the cat with to much raw fuel. Like a really bad misfire over a long period of time. But we are talking raw fuel, not a richer AFR of 14.3 at cruise and a low of 12.9 At idle and wide open throttle.

That is why when you do a power balance test on a car you have to let the car run in between each test.
I saw a cat catch a car on fire when a tech didn't follow the proper procedures.

So you will notice a little more heat on the right side of the bike from the cat but the engine it self will run cooler.

As far as the auto tune problems , I was having trouble with mine ( 2013 FXDF) about two months ago . When they released the update (for auto tune on the iPhone) it worked great.
I was able to do a full tune and flash the bike.

 

That clears up a lot. I had trouble tuning it when I first got it and tuned (took forever and bike wouldn't turn over) but I put it on the charger for a bit and tried again and it flashed quick and all was well.

 

I was intially very happy with the canned map with the FP3. Once I tried to use the autotune feature things went down hill....I worked with V&H for quite some time to try and sort it out, but they couldn't get it worked out so I sent it back for a refund. Several weeks later and still no refund...I recommend the PowerVision from FuelMoto. I hope you have better luck than I did, as the product has potential.