I bought a 2014 wide glide and had the stage 1 upgrade with a Dyno tune performed by the dealer. It is specifically V&H big radius with screaming eagle filter and a screaming eagle pro super tuner. I get 40 miles less per tank than a friend on a 2014 street bob. Is this loss of mpg normal?

 

When you have more air flowing through the motor you need to add more fuel so it doesn't run lean. So I would expect to use a little more fuel with a free flowing air filter and open pipes. I will also never get my bike tuned by a dealer again. The best tune I've had in my bike is the one I started, and was finished by a very helpful member of this forum. Dealers don't care about your bike, they just care about lining their pockets. JMO!

 

Nope. Your tune seems to be off a little. You should see some loss of range but 40 miles is a bit much. Go back and have the dealer retune it as they more than likely gave it a quick once over flash tune. Did you actually see your bike being run on the Dynometer? Also don't trust the gas gauge on the bike, they're notoriously inaccurate.

 

Okay, good info. I did watch the bike on the Dyno. They had it on there for about 5 hours so one would think it would be good. The bike seemingly runs good and I expected some loss of mpg but wasn't sure if 40 miles on the range was reasonable.

 

Probably just in the gauge then.

 

I know when I tune bikes at work, I tell people that they will see a little loss in range for 2 reasons. 1) Like stated above, more air in, better flowing exhaust = more gas used
2) They will probably be on the gas more to hear their new exhaust. LOL.
I would give the bike a little time to learn the new tune and your riding style. While the ECM was tuned on the dyno, the bike still has a learning/adaptive ability. Give it a few good rides and see how your fuel economy/range is doing then.

 

Cool....someone that tunes bikes! I had it tuned 1800 miles ago and haven't noticed any change in the bike during that time (post tune). I didn't realize they are still adaptive after a tune. Would it be worth having it checked out at the next service? Do bikes frequently need additional tuning? Thanks for the help guys.

 

If you had it tuned 1800 miles ago; more than likely your bike is good. With your bike having O2 sensors, it will always have a little bit of an adaptive function. Depending on how many miles are on your bike, you could have it checked at your next service. If you really want to see what/if your bike needs; take it to another dealership for your next service and have them put it on the dyno. Don't give them any of your current numbers, see what they say your bike has. We get a lot of bikes from other dealerships with people doing exactly what I described. About half the time, we can better the tune that's in their bikes. About half the time, their existing tune is dead on and doesn't need any change.

 

Question. If the bikes are running very lean from the factory (which most agree are) and then you add the free flowing exhaust and air cleaner, shouldn't you expect that your mpg's will go down once you get a proper tune?

 

In theory that is correct to a point but too lean is inefficient and can decrease the mpg. By enriching the mixture and getting it to the best efficiency (mpg), that is not necessarily the best performance you can get. Then you fatten it up a little more and you get better performance but your mileage drops. It's actually way more complex than that but that's the jest of it.