Hello all,
Been a long time since I've been here. I have a 2005 FXDLI with 24k miles. The previous owner installed what amounts to a stage 1 kit, with SE cans on the stock headpipe and the backplate removed from the filter housing. The bike ran ok before, but I just had a geardrive installed and tc-2 cams. I have about 60 miles on it and pulled the plugs today. The front one looked good, maybe a little rich. The back plug was the exact opposite: a tad lean. The bike is running great.......no bogs or burbles, just strong and clean.
Also, a local shop told me they would have to install a tuner, at an additional cost of $450, but my mechanic who installed the cams and geardrive, who also reccommended the tuner, said they could just flash or reflash or whatever using the OEM unit. Advice and suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

You're going to need a tuner and somebody that knows what to do with it. If you don't, your bike will run dangerously lean amongst other things and do bad things to the motor that you really don't want to happen. Although a "Flash" job will get you in the relative neighborhood of what the bike needs there's no excuse not to get it tuned correctly IMHO.

 

Thanks for the reply. My excuse is money, or lack of it specifically lol. Is plug color an accurate enough gauge to check the state of tune? Because going off that and just seat of the pants, things seem pretty good. I'm waiting to hear back from another shop, but the truth is that my budget for this is about $300. Thanks again for the replies.

 

Some things in life are best done with eyes wide open and a deep pocket - including this one! You are asking us advice after the event, instead of before. As for what to do, the more you ask around, the greater will be the variety of replies you get. You've got this far, so take the advice of the mechanic who installed the cams - at least you can shake his hand and look him in the eye, which is more than you can do with any of us!

 

Well to be truthful, I have not received a variety of suggestions on the topic....only one for the most part, what oldenuf2nobetter suggested: the bike needs a tune. I'm not arguing that it doesn't, just seeking options.
My original mechanic who installed the cams is an old school guy, and almost as inexperienced with the new FI systems as I am. He can make a Knuckle do things unheard, and he knows how to make a Cammer run too, but he lets someone else handle the tuning chores. He felt that I could get away with a flash (reflash?), but most people I've spoken to, including several members here, feel the bike would be better off with a tune. I'm still trying to fully understand the differences, but have to take some things people say at their word simply because I dont have the knowledge.
So I am doing a tuner, the only question is which. I know there are 10 million threads on here about it, but this is my thread so I'm asking the question here. I've been talking to Kevin at DK Customs and he almost has me talked into a Power Vision. I'm also considering a Power Commander V, but I admit I like the simplicity and added features of the PV. My local shop will install a TTS Mastertune for considerably more money than either the PV or the PCV. Thoughts?

 

Dan, the electronics on our bikes are designed to maintain an EPA compliant bike. They will compensate for altitude, hot and cold, wet and dry etc, but are not designed or intended to let us change stuff as we feel fit. That is the way for manufacturers of new vehicles around the world, they have to build and sell compliant vehicles.

So when we start messing around with our bikes, we upset the fuelling in particular. Dealers have a limited ability to 'flash' or 'reflash' slightly different software onto the stock module, but that is also EPC compliant and limited in what it can do. We cannot use the stock electronics to radically change the fuelling or ignition timing, to compensate for significant changes.

Which is where a 'tuner' comes in. These things vary greatly from fuel-only devices, which 'piggy-back' the stock electronics (they are additional to the stock module), or replacement modules that enable total control and reprogramming of the fuelling and ignition from scratch.

As to which one to use that is largely down to the expertise available to you, or how far you are prepared to travel. There is no point buying a Brand X 'super-promises-everything-you-could-ever-possibly-want' module if nobody in easy reach will touch the darned thing with a very long pole. So IMHO you should go with what your local shop recommends.

As for this being your thread, not everyone who has contributed to the other 10 million threads is going to see or reply to this one! So if you want a better understanding of the subject, get readin'!

 

I don't think Dynas had O2 sensors in 05. As far as I know O2 sensors are only on -06 and up Dynas. That being the case you probably don't want to go with a PV or TTS as they are both flash tuners that use feedback from the O2 sensors to adjust VE's.

I think you will be better off with a PCV of Fuel Moto Microtuner for your 05. Call Fuel Moto and discuss it with them...they will provide the best direction for you as far as tuners. You'll also find them more in your price range.

http://www.fuelmotousa.com/

I do believe it's possible to add the O2 sensors to an 05 if you're willing to wire them into the ECM. The 05 ECM will support the sensors per the TTS Mastertune manual, but it's probably more work than you'd want to do.

I'm considering adding them to my 05 FLSTNI.

 

I've wondered about that. I'm fairly certain there are no O2 sensors in my exhaust system. Been awhile since I had it off, but I'm pretty sure I would have remembered removing/unplugging them. So in that case, how does the tuner work? Just sticking to whatever map is programmed in at that time?

 

Tuners have been around since before O2 sensors, it's just a matter of selecting the right one. I'm sure that FM can advise you on a suitable one for your bike.

 

I have an 08 FXSTC, 96", SE Heavy Breather, VH Big Radius, Stage 1 download to stock ECM, Brawler one-up seat, drag bars, relocated front turn signals, 21" Reaper on the front.

I'm going blind reading all of the posts about tuners yet still don't know which is best for me. I generally want to improve low end and mid range throttle response. I want a system that can grow with me as I make future changes. I'm learning about the pros and cons of piggyback systems vs systems that reprogram the stock ecm. I want to have options, and I need to be able to put a stock or near stock tune back in when it comes time for emissions inspection. I don't want to have to take the bike to the shop every time I want to tweak or change a tune.

My goal is to increase throttle response on the low end and in the mid range, improve general driveability and acceleration. And, I know this sounds juvenile, but I don't like the "lag" when I crack the throttle at a stop light. The pipes make it plenty loud once the RPMs come up, but I'm looking for that "top fuel" like crack when I blip the throttle. Call me crazy...kids will be kids, I know. Question is can I get there with fuel and air management or do I need to get into mechanicals (cams, compression, etc.) to get that racey throttle response?