So, I went to the HD shop today to get some prices on each stage kit installed. I kept going back and forth between the stage 3 and 4. Anyways, the owner's bike is a new RG with the 114 stage 3, 14 inch bars, and a 26 inch wheel and he let me ride it. Big wheels and apes aren't my thing, but what the heck, it was free, so why not. His stage 3 was exactly that, 114, stock header with Street Cannons, and HD's tuner.

At first start up, I was very surprised at how much louder the exhaust was than my CVO 114. Cruising around, the bike felt good. When twisting it at 2500 RPMs, it felt softer than the stock CVO 114, but shortly after 3k, it started to take off and then felt stronger than my bike. Never did the bike feel weak, just the bottom end wasn't stronger than the long stroke CVO. It was a lot better than my last 110 ever was though.

So, back at the dealer looking at prices and dyno charts, I ended up ordering the 117 stage 3 kit. On paper, the stage 3 is a stronger build where most of us ride 90% of the time and at $2K installed price difference, the stage 4 just didn't make sense to me. Especially, if I ever start chasing numbers, either head will need to be worked over.

Anyways, I know comparing the stage 3 114 against the CVO 114 is an orange and orangutan comparison, but I somewhat knew the bottom end would be softer. I wanted to hear those mufflers and listen to the top end. I would have liked to really test that bike, but I wasn't going to beat someone else's ride (I never shifted higher than 4500 RPMs).

Just sharing the experience...

Chris

 

my 117 stage III is all but done, waiting for the wideband 02's.. and I too battled the idea of the stage IV, no more tho.

 

Ultra, did you get the new hiflow exhaust with yours? I skipped that option and went with the Street Cannons to tide me over for a bit. i know my bike won't stay warranty friendly forever.

 

No same as you.. I was not going to go w smart tune and wideband, ends up in a roundaboutsway dealer ended up owing me so why not, and get some tune then when we go out west, and weather is moving around all the time here in PA.

 

Smart man. The price difference between the Stage 3 and the 4 does not justify the negligible power gain.

 

Chris,

So you sticking with the MoCo for upgrades, in addition to your appointment with FM?


(PS- Keep an eye on the mailbox)


YB

 

I just added the 114" stage 3 to my RG. I swapped cams to the 447 which pulls in the 2500-4500 rpm range. You may want to look into that cam if it works with the 117".

 

It depends on how the bike runs/rides when I get it back.

Man, it's like Christmas for the next couple weeks! You sent a package, got a new top for the Jeep in the mail yesterday, put the 10 inch wind splitter on yesterday, and the end of next week the bike will have a big bore... now if only I could get 2 weeks above 50 with no rain!

 

Oh, one other thing I asked about:

I asked the master tech and the service manager, if I have you install the stage 3 using all HD parts, and then I install a PV, copy the original tune, then make O2 bias changes to drop the afr down in closed loop... and then, let's say I spin the cam bearing or grenade a lifter. If I flashed the original tune back in, before dropping it off at the shop, could you tell I messed with it? Their response was, "I have nothing here that could see the computer was ever reflashed." I didn't dig any deeper on that...

Chris

 

I assume the additional $2K was both parts and labor, so with that said the dealer is trying to make a bunch of extra labor on the Stage IV! The work required to install the kit except the clutch is less on the Stage IV than a Stage III. The Stage IV comes with complete heads and the Stage III does not. So there is more time in cleaning the old heads then removing and installing the valve springs to them. That time is about 45 minutes and that just about how long it takes to install the upgraded clutch that comes with the stage IV kit. Guess they got to make it where they can, but that's about $750 extra for installing a clutch.