Hi All -
A little history: I live in the Cleveland OH area. I had a 2008 SG with SERT, Rinehart mufflers, SE air filter. Had it dyno-tuned by Liberty HD in Akron where it was purchased, since out of business, and it was terrible. Fuel mileage sucked, decel popping continued, not great throttle response. 4 hours of supposed "dyno tuning" and countless $$$, it ran lousy. It drove to find the forum here.

Here I learned from Doc to try Zepka HD in Johnstown, PA, 4 hours away mind you, and ask for Brian Beckley. Took the trip there and Brian dialed it in perfectly. On freeway ride home, that bike average 48 mpg! No decel popping thereafter and great response and super all around gas mileage for the years I had it. Wonderful advice from Doc.

Now, I have a 2014 SG. This one has Arlen Ness Big Sucker, Vance and Hines headpipes and mufflers. Purchased off the floor that way, brand new. Ran well, you could tell the 103" motor is better than the 96".

So, to remove the lean running of it, I bought a SEPRT, had it dynoed. Throttle response is very good. Decel popping is all but gone. Gas mileage is about 40 mpg combining city and freeway. Rear cylinder is hot, even on perfect 75 degree days.

My question is: Is that a good tune? I'm not convinced it is. (Had it done in Medina, Oh at Stinger formerly Century HD - they have a very good service dept.) Having it get lousier gas mileage than before tuning and while running it seems hotter on the rear cylinder than before? Is it because the 103" engine is higher flow and bigger than the 96 that I'm expecting more than I should? Tuner there claims he was trained at MMI by the guy who trained Doc.

Thanks for any replies!
Dave

 

When you bought it off the showroom floor, with those accessories already on the bike, I'm guessing that it probably had a Dealer download already installed on the ECU to bump the AFR up a little to alleviate the lean condition and to eliminate any decel popping. When you installed the SEPRT the Tech had to try to find the best map available and it sounds like he's close but you should take it back and tell him what you're experiencing on the rear cylinder. He should be able to show you how the engine's parameters were tuned to where they're at and then he can adjust them if he thinks it's warranted to help with the heat on the rear jugg.

 

Thanks for the reply, OldEnuf2NoBtr! You're exactly right about the original dealer download. I should have added to the thread too that max hp is 80.21, max torque is 95.96. Seems poor to me, but I again welcome any thoughts on it.

 

I'm pretty sure Doc was trained by Steve Cole (not positive but I believe that to be true), regardless, it's hard saying if your tune is good or not. 103's do run a little hotter than 96"

If you decide to do more tuning I highly recommend Roeder Racing in Monroville, Ohio. They are about an hour West of Cleveland on State Route 20.

 

Thanks for the advice - I have heard Roeder is really good. I actually talked to Bevan today - very friendly and knowledgeable. Two downsides to it though - more $$$, and they keep the bike for a week to test it out in all conditions. So thorough - just hard to be without my bike for that long - lol ! Wish I had found them first!

 

I agree, I used to work there. Great place, great staff. They are very thorough like you say. The thing for keeping the bike for a week is scheduling. That dyno runs almost non stop, the last year I worked there I did 362 full tunes, Scott probably did another 50-60 or so.

 

Thanks, "Harleytuner" for the reply. Much appreciated. Don't you think with my set up though that the numbers are weak: 80 hp, 95tq? Gas mileage is a bit lower too from 42+ mpg to barely 38-40? You seem like you know your tunes!
Dave

 

Yes your numbers seam low, but dyno's read differently. Any way you can post a copy of your dyno sheet?

 

Sure - sending attachment - let me know if it worked. This is the only sheet they gave me, no baseline run done at all.
Dave

 

Actually it doesn't look to bad, lines are fairly smooth. Might be able to take a little more timing but other than that I can't tell why it would be down on power. I wonder if this was run in 4th gear.