Is there any issues with lowering the idle speed of a 96 TC? You hear some Harley Davidsons with idles around 600-700 and they sound awesome, but it seems my idle is aroun 1050 to 1100 RPM.

I was just wondering if it would starve the heads of oil, or if there were other issues. Thanks for the advice.

 

This.

 

Your Idle is that high because of the EFI. The only way i know of to lower the idle speed is with another ECM. I know the the Thundermaxx will let you lower your ECM to 600 rpm.

Now Harley does not recommend going lower than 900 because of oil pressure issues. This being said you normally don't sit and idle all day...
So the only place i can see this being an issue is cold startup's though normally the ecm should compensate by raising your RPM's at startup

Older bikes which had carbs idles really low and this was not usually a problem on startup as this could be compensated with the choke. And on old EVO's when the idle you can actually watch the oil pressure light blink on and off..
So unless you are planning on idling for hours on end it should not be a major problem...
I am planning on doing the same to mine.

 

I have heard about charging system not working well below 900 rpm, might be a myth but one to look into.

 

there is a good reason that your bike idles that high and that is for oil pressure to the top end , if you had a oil pressure gauge on your bike you could watch it drop at idle the hotter your bike gets, if your idle was lower you would end up with no oil pressure and you no what that will lead too....... new motor !!!!!!

 

Thanks, everyone. That is what I figured. I was thinking oil pressure, and charging issues. Sounds fine now, but I like that sound. You know what I mean? I will take the reliability over the cool factor on this one.

Thanks.

 

My Wide idles a bit high; my RKC lopes a bit low (but sounds nice!)

 

You won't a low idle? Dump the ECM all together. Don't spend a penny on a Thundermax. Buy an S&S carb kit and a Thunderheart ignition and convert that baby back to the way it should be. CARBED!!

 

TTS Mastertune will let you set it as low as you want BUT they caution against going down below 900 rpm for the oil pressure reason mentioned above. I've got mine set at 938 now (increments up/down by x number of RPM's so it's not a round #) and it sounds ALOT better at idle than it did around 1050. I'm not going any lower than that because I figure the people who know had a reason for saying don't go below 900.

Good Luck!

Have a good one,
Dave

 

Yeah, and while he is at it, he can send me all his EFI stuff so I can even out the AFR between my front and rear cylinders!