Hi All,

Sorry for all the newb questions. I'm a newb but eager to learn. Point me to existing topics and posts and chastise me if necessary.

I currently have Rush Slipons on my 2013 FXDC. At first I didn't care for them too much, but now I really like them.

Can I now go to a full Stage 1 conversion and retain the same slipons?

I need a different intake and a tune, right? How about changing the exhaust back to the mufflers? Is that required?

And what will this gain me? Will there be a different sound? Run cooler? More HP?

Thanks for reading.

 

If you go back to stock muffs you reverse the whole stage 1 process. If anything you need to open the exhaust even more, add air then fuel and you will get power gains from 6% to 8%. mods go\ on and on and you just proved that by saying you want more! Cheers and have fun!

 

Whoops

I meant change the exhaust piece than runs from the engine to the new slipons. Poor wording choice. On cars it is the manifold and mid pipe. Not sure what they are called on motorcycles.

Told you I was a newb.

 

Your bike had the cats in the mufflers. When you put on the slipons you eliminated them. I have the Rinehart 3.25" slipons with a K&N Streetmetal intake and added a Vance & Hines FP3 tuner a few weeks ago. Bike runs better than ever.

 

You can leave your slip ons-on, just need to get a better A/C for more air flow, but then you'll want to install a tuner for more fuel. You don't need to change your header pipes.

 

Get a better flowing A/C and a good tuner. Your exhaust is fine as it now is.I wouldn't recommend any sort of hokus pocus download the dealer try's to offer you. Buy a Power Vision and be done with it. You will thank me later

 

Truth.

 

You can keep your Slipons if you like them. As others have said when you took off the stock mufflers you also got rid of the catalytic converters which restricted air flow and create a lot of heat. Next you need to get more air into the engine. If you like the look of the stock air cleaner cover you can buy the HD Screaming Eagle Stage One kit for around $150. Part Number 29406-08. Or their are loads of options from many companies. Your choice.
Once you are shoving more air through the engine you will need to add more fuel thus the need to adjust or "tune" the bike's EFI computer program or "map". You can buy a tuner and do it yourself or have others do it for you. The most popular choice here is to go to a company called Fuel Moto and use one of the products from a company called Powervision. Another popular option is Vance And Hines just came out with a new product called the Fuelpac3. You will save money on the Fuelpac but are limited to stage 1 with it. If you have even the slightest thought of switching cams or more then bite the bullet now and go with the Powervision. It's the only tuner you will ever need. Fuel Moto gets excellent reviews from customers. You can install either of these yourself however if you do not feel confident in a do-it-yourself then you can pay others to do the job. HD dealers offer a dowńload which is a canned program and the consensus on this forum is to pass on this. The best bet is to do your research and find a local independent business that can do a Dyno tune. If done correctly this will give you the best and most precise mapping for your setup. The operative words here are "done correctly". Apparently not all shops are equal here and you must do your homework and get references. Btw a tuner such as the Powervision is required in order to do a Dyno tune so buying one and installing it yourself won't be a waste of money if you ever opt to upgrade your engine beyond Stage 1 or just want the luxury of paying for a professional Dyno tune.

That's my take after reading this forum for one year after buying a 2013 FXDC. Corrections or opinions welcome.

 

The Cats that come stock on the newer bikes don't do anybody any favors.

But they're not all that important in the grand scheme of things.

Because your camshaft sucks. So does mine, don't take it personally.

There is no overlap in our stock cams. None. In fact, there is negative 'overlap'. So, somebody please explain to me how the exhaust can make a difference in the air/fuel mixture entering the combustion chamber.

It doesn't. It can't unless the exhaust system is so bad (possible on the stock exhaust) that it's not allowing the exhaust gases to even exit the combustion chamber. Possible on the stock exhaust. It's pretty bad.

Your other confusion is in the term you're trying to find for the headers. They're about as good as it gets. You have slip-ons and like them? Great, don't fuss with the header tubes. They've even got a nice crossover/balancing tube in them, IIRC.

Can you go back to stock? Sure. If you sell your bike to a European someday, he'll need the stock exhaust so he can import the bike into Europe.

Other than that..... Why would you want to go back to stock?

On the intake side, all you need is the Dealer download. It's all I got and my bike runs like a striped-assed ape.

Good enough for me and good enough for a Harley. You can put $5,000 in your Harley and you'll still get sucked up the exhaust of a 600cc Honda as he goes by you. If I wanted to go fast, I'd buy a cheap motorcycle and big helmet.

No thanks.

I put my Stage I Air Cleaner on myself and, believe me, if I can do it -- You can do it.

I then rode it to the Dealer where they put the download on it.

Maybe I got lucky, maybe I got the right guy doing it, maybe this and maybe that...... But I'm telling you...... It runs good. Really good.

For a Harley.

My neighbor has 95CID Wide Glide withe Screaming Eagle heads and an SE204 Cam and I have NO trouble keeping up with him.

Over 100MPH? I am NOT interested. Been there, don't like it.

Bottom line; it's your bike, do what you want. But don't go looking for problems. You start fiddle-farting around with piggy-back systems and bull squirt like that, you're asking for trouble.

If you want to make the bike run FAST (don't know why you'd want to spend all that money so you can still get embarrassed by a 600cc Honda), then you need to replace your cam post haste.

Then you need to have it professionally tuned by someone COMPETENT. Usually a Dealer or an Indy using the TTS system.

Keep something in mind.... You're riding a legend. A legend using 1930's technology.

And Harley Davidson doesn't make Motorcycles, they make Harleys.

If you gotta ask

 

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Just for the record, I'm not intending on going back to stock...ever. Poor wording in my original post may have caused some confusion.

I've done some research and have some follow-up questions. I think below I've listed all the ones available. I know that sometimes you get what you pay for, but is there much of an advantage to the $500 unit over the $200 one?

$331 Fuel Pack 3 (I think I've seen it as low as $300)
http://www.fuelmotousa.com/harley/10202203.html

$499 Power Vision
http://www.fuelmotousa.com/harley/10201494.html

$299 Power Commander
http://www.fuelmotousa.com/harley/15-022.html

$199 Micro EFI Tuner
http://www.fuelmotousa.com/harley/fm-021.html