Is it possible to do an all-HD stage 1 or is it necessary to go outside of HD to do so, i.e. to a good Indie shop? I have my Fat Boy exactly the way I want it now excepting that I have done nothing to the engine and I have the original exhaust.

Is about all the dealer will do is add a cooler and slip-ons, and tweak the chip, or how does that work? I love my HD dealer and I am reluctant to take my bike outside of that.

Comments?

 

No need to go to the dealer if you're handy with a wrench and have a service manual. Get an air cleaner and set of pipes of your choice and a tuner, install and ride. It isn't rocket surgery despite what you may see in here from time to time.

 

High flow A/C, new (open) exhaust and remap (tuner) or better a proper tune....that's it.

Your dealer can do it. He will probably use the HD tuner unless you request something else and remap the ECM with a canned map instead of properly tuning the bike....

 

if for stage one you need slip ons(screamin eagle, V&H etc) and a high flow air cleaner(again screanin eagle, VH etc), you can yourself install them both, took me 3 hours in total to do it myself. taking out the old exhaust are bit of pain, once they are off wont take much time to finish.

to update the chip or ECU, you can buy FP3 or power vision and update it yourself. 5 mins job at max plus you can also auto-tune it and load many custom/canned tunes yourself later as well.

 

Absolutely. Use the HD Stage 1 air cleaner, SE performance mufflers and if you are REALLY intent on all HD have the Stage 1 reflash done. A lot of people bad mouth the Stag1 one download as doing nothing. That is incorrect. Most people that have actually done it are fairly happy with it. It is an epa reflash but it does add enough fuel to get it back to stock fueling. If you are willing to look at the aftermarket there are more choices. I REALLY like the Rush slip on mufflers and they are reasonably priced. I bought the 1 3/4 baffles because I didn't want it real loud. I like the SE Stage1 air cleaner because of its synthetic filter media. I don't like oiled gauze but that is another story. For a tuner I wasted some money. Should have bought the Power Vision to begin with. You will get a lot of responses so this is just my opinion on the matter.

 

I appreciate all the help, folks. No, I am not handy with a wrench; I greatly admire and envy those of you who are, but I am not.

Will look into the HD/dealer solution explained here and thank you again.

 

HD has all the OEM parts you need for a Stage I upgrade. It's good that you like your dealer and trust them.

Sit down with the parts person and (s)he can show you your options for the air cleaner, exhaust and tuner. If you don't want to purchase a tuner, they can download a new map directly to the ECM. It is still an EPA compliant map but it will work with the free flowing exhaust and open air cleaner.

Once you know what parts you want, go to the service manager/writer and ask how much labor would be to install the parts.

 

Exactly the plan. I would be interested in hearing opinions as between buying a tuner and just having the download to the ECM.

 

Screamin eagle stage 1 intake and slip on's will get the parts for your upgrade . The dealer flash should be ok - if better tuning performance is what you want , you can keep it HD with the superpro tuner . I have the intake and tuner but have V&H twin slash and love the combo .

 

So basically slip-ons to the stock pipes, and HD A/C and flash. I will talk to the dealer about the superpro tuner.

Thanks! I've learned a fair amount in this thread.

For the record, the guys at my dealer sometimes recommend third party stuff -- they are very honest about that because they are all HD riders and enthusiasts themselves. But I do not want to tie myself to an Indie shop at least at present.