Guys and Gals, I have a Softtail Slim that I bought new, it's bone stock other than a Memphis Shades windshield I put on it. I, just like 90% of all others want my Harley-Davidson to sound like a Harley-Davidson... It's sounds more like a lawn mower now than anything else. I researched until I'm blue in the face and come down to a couple options.

Option 1. Drill the baffles
I called the Dealer to see if doing this would void my warranty, they said .. Maybe. I guess it depends on what was wrong, if something did go wrong and whether or not Harley could blame it on the baffles being drilled. I know all about the hundreds of thread and the big debate about whether you need a tune doing this or whether it would be okay... it's about 50/50.. some say yes, some say no. I say, most likely not going to do this.

This option would just be a quick mod to get some sound NOW.

Options 2. Aftermarket air, pipes, and tuner
I love the sound and looks of the Vance and Hines Bigshot longs, so I asked the dealer about me installing a set of these along with the Naked VO2 air intake and their Fuelpak tuner. He said that would be fine, no worries about warranty issues but I would need to bring it in for a Dyno tune... I told them that I don't see why that would be necessary since I would be using a Fuelpak tuner from V&H and I got a long speech about optimal performance and whatnot. My question is ... If I take it on for a $400 dyno tune, then the fuelpak is not necessary.. Correct? Wouldn't the fuelpak better since it would allow me to change the tune on my bike if needed in the future rather than having to go to HD each time?

Thanks in advance .. I don't want to start a great debate on this as there are plenty out there already.. I'm just a little confused on this tuner stuff. As long as I have a tuner of my own whether it's a Fuelpak or Power Commander or what have ya, then I don't need the Dealership to do anything... correct?

 

Welcome to the forum.
You will get so many more responces if you post this in the softail area. As far as the tuner goes. The dealer can't Dyno tune your bike with out one. They would have to sell you a tuner such as the SE tuner are some other tuner. They can't just hook up to you ecm and tune it. If all you want to do is pipes and an air cleaner let me recomend a great forum sponsor here. Fuelmoto can set you up with a better tuner then the fuel pak for about the same price. They will pre load it with a tune to match you mods and offer life time fuel maps. Check them out at www.fuelmotousa.com

 

Thank you I'll check out Fuelmoto for future purchases....

I ended up going with some Vance and Hines 3" Twin Slash slip ons, no tuner, no hi-flo air cleaner.

I have to say.... WOW! Really woke up the bike. Sounds like a Harley now and just seems to run better, throttle response is better too. I do get a little decel pop but that's negligible... Plus that's debated over and over as to whether it would even stop with a tuner added.

I'll probably go ahead and do the breather and tuner later, however, this guy right here says you don't need the tuner and air, just do slip ons and enjoy your Harley.

Vance and Hines 3" Twin Slash slip ons for 2013 Softtail Slim
$293/shipped to my door and a little bit of time is all I spent to get a great sound and a noticeable performance increase out of my 2013 Slim

Summary
1. Sound over Stock - AWESOME! Deep and Throaty
2. Decel Pop - A little on high RPM decels
3. Throttle response/power - Noticeable improvement!
4. Heat - no change
5. Has my bike exploded because I didn't put a tuner on it or have the Dealer put their SE tuner and HD download on it PLUS dyno tune it? ($800) ... NO, it sure didn't.

 

Just wanted to come back and change my tune on the "Do I need a tuner and air with my pipes" song and dance in the case anyone ever runs across this thread looking for answers.

After riding the bike for a week or so with just the twin slash slip-ons, I noticed it was running hotter, and just seemed doggy, the decel pop had become so annoying that I didn't even want to ride it. The answer to my problem was the Vance and Hines Fuelpak and VO2 air. All, (and I do mean absolutely ALL) decel pop has been eliminated, my bike runs so much cooler now, even cooler than when it was stock... no more surging in different gears, no more back fire or pop in between shifts. It runs better than ever, it's so silky smooth in every gear and buttery as butter on hot toast with a side of butter.

In my humble opinion you do need a tuner and high flo air and my assumption in the previous post that I didn't was blinded by the fact that my bike finally sounded good and ignored that it didn't run good with just the slip-ons.

For my 2013 Softtail Slim with stock ECM. The following mods made the bike what it should have been from the dealer in my opinion:

Vance and Hines Twin Slash Slip-Ons $293.39/shipped
Vance and Hines Fuelpak $260.96/shipped
Vance and Hines VO2 Naked Air with Skullcap $170.92/shipped

Installed everything myself, didn't need the dealer for anything.
Total cost: $725.27

The dealer wanted $1800 for their tuner/slipons/air/dyno run

 

Looks like you answered your questions