Dumb Question....Retune?
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Road Master
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 975
Likes: 315
From: Bolivia, NC
Dumb Question....Retune?
Should I retune?
Story line and History: I bought a 2012 Softail Convertible CVO a little over a year ago with just 4000k miles on it. It went back and forth to Hawaii (long story) and was not ridden as much as I had envisioned, and now has 8800 miles on her. It came with a Screaming Eagle Pro tuner, and 2 into 1 Vance and Hines pipes on the CVO 110 engine, and ran great till now. It is popping and backfiring on deceleration and also when up-shifting....I have changed gas to different brands, all without ethanol, and still the popping persists.
The Tuner became lost on its way back from Hawaii, so I do not have the original it was married to. Yesterday I went down to Myrtle Beach bike week to talk with the Vance and Hines vendor (they are very helpful!!) regarding the FP3 tuner they promote (and on sale during bike week). Glad I did as it won't work with my bike, and is not supported. Do I bite the bullet and purchase the Harley supported tuner, look into other tuners, dyna tune, or let the dealership figure it out? The bike runs real smooth has plenty of power, torque and is a blast to ride...it just pops....do I live with it? Thanks for any insight!!
Story line and History: I bought a 2012 Softail Convertible CVO a little over a year ago with just 4000k miles on it. It went back and forth to Hawaii (long story) and was not ridden as much as I had envisioned, and now has 8800 miles on her. It came with a Screaming Eagle Pro tuner, and 2 into 1 Vance and Hines pipes on the CVO 110 engine, and ran great till now. It is popping and backfiring on deceleration and also when up-shifting....I have changed gas to different brands, all without ethanol, and still the popping persists.
The Tuner became lost on its way back from Hawaii, so I do not have the original it was married to. Yesterday I went down to Myrtle Beach bike week to talk with the Vance and Hines vendor (they are very helpful!!) regarding the FP3 tuner they promote (and on sale during bike week). Glad I did as it won't work with my bike, and is not supported. Do I bite the bullet and purchase the Harley supported tuner, look into other tuners, dyna tune, or let the dealership figure it out? The bike runs real smooth has plenty of power, torque and is a blast to ride...it just pops....do I live with it? Thanks for any insight!!
Forgive me, because I really don't know anything about the newer bikes, so I'm mainly just curious.
What does "The Tuner became lost" mean? I thought tuners were little boxes of digital magic you permanently attached to the bike that intercepted the signals going into the ECM and fooled it into behaving differently. How did it get lost? Did someone physically steal it?
In "it used to run correctly, this thing changed, now it doesn't run correctly" situations, seems to me the first thing to do is to undo whatever changed. You can't replace the Screaming Eagle Pro tuner? Does something about them being "married" make that impossible?
What does "The Tuner became lost" mean? I thought tuners were little boxes of digital magic you permanently attached to the bike that intercepted the signals going into the ECM and fooled it into behaving differently. How did it get lost? Did someone physically steal it?
In "it used to run correctly, this thing changed, now it doesn't run correctly" situations, seems to me the first thing to do is to undo whatever changed. You can't replace the Screaming Eagle Pro tuner? Does something about them being "married" make that impossible?
Road Master
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 763
Likes: 15
From: New Jersey
Also check out the powervision tuner by Dino jet. Think it runs around 4. I've had one for awhile and it's pretty user friendly and good support for it. There is also the IEDs from night rider. They plug into your O2 sensors and act like a resistor. They richer the far in the 13 area. They run about $100. Not a true tuner but they do work decent.
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 284
Likes: 5
From: Pa
Omaha, Tuners are that little black boxed you plug into ECM. You can leave them on BUT usually just tune it & remove it. The V&H FPK3 is "Married" to VIN bike so they have a monopoly sort of so you can't lone it to a friend or keep reusing it in different bike. Like a copy write protection. I would guess they all are like that. Sounds like it needs to be re-flashed i.e. buy another tuner.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 28,520
Likes: 3,953
From: Vermont
Forgive me, because I really don't know anything about the newer bikes, so I'm mainly just curious.
What does "The Tuner became lost" mean? I thought tuners were little boxes of digital magic you permanently attached to the bike that intercepted the signals going into the ECM and fooled it into behaving differently. How did it get lost? Did someone physically steal it?
In "it used to run correctly, this thing changed, now it doesn't run correctly" situations, seems to me the first thing to do is to undo whatever changed. You can't replace the Screaming Eagle Pro tuner? Does something about them being "married" make that impossible?
What does "The Tuner became lost" mean? I thought tuners were little boxes of digital magic you permanently attached to the bike that intercepted the signals going into the ECM and fooled it into behaving differently. How did it get lost? Did someone physically steal it?
In "it used to run correctly, this thing changed, now it doesn't run correctly" situations, seems to me the first thing to do is to undo whatever changed. You can't replace the Screaming Eagle Pro tuner? Does something about them being "married" make that impossible?
Road Master
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 763
Likes: 15
From: New Jersey
Forgive me, because I really don't know anything about the newer bikes, so I'm mainly just curious.
What does "The Tuner became lost" mean? I thought tuners were little boxes of digital magic you permanently attached to the bike that intercepted the signals going into the ECM and fooled it into behaving differently. How did it get lost? Did someone physically steal it?
In "it used to run correctly, this thing changed, now it doesn't run correctly" situations, seems to me the first thing to do is to undo whatever changed. You can't replace the Screaming Eagle Pro tuner? Does something about them being "married" make that impossible?
What does "The Tuner became lost" mean? I thought tuners were little boxes of digital magic you permanently attached to the bike that intercepted the signals going into the ECM and fooled it into behaving differently. How did it get lost? Did someone physically steal it?
In "it used to run correctly, this thing changed, now it doesn't run correctly" situations, seems to me the first thing to do is to undo whatever changed. You can't replace the Screaming Eagle Pro tuner? Does something about them being "married" make that impossible?
some me of the tuners you have to connect to the bike and run it to establish the MAP so they can be lost. I always leave mine at home when I'm not using it. The married part is that the companies make it where it can only be recognized to that bike so you can't go tuning every bike you want. But you can purchase a unlock license to switch it to another bike.
Club Member
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 11,175
Likes: 2,483
From: Nor Cal
EDIT: posted before seeing above post 
That would be like a "Power Commander" that goes in Series between the ECM and the the existing cable...NO changes to ECM Programming.
What he has (as most current Tuners) are "Flash" Tuners...they Reprogram the ECM and can be removed from bike afterwards.
To keep people from Paying Once and reprogramming every bike they come across, they "Marry" them to that ECM. You can buy another License to "Flash" another bike (I don't know if all vendors do this though)
...So yeah, What changed?... You might need to check out other things.
BTW, V&H shows a FP3 for 2012 Softails (I guess unless something different about yours)
.
What he has (as most current Tuners) are "Flash" Tuners...they Reprogram the ECM and can be removed from bike afterwards.
To keep people from Paying Once and reprogramming every bike they come across, they "Marry" them to that ECM. You can buy another License to "Flash" another bike (I don't know if all vendors do this though)
...So yeah, What changed?... You might need to check out other things.
BTW, V&H shows a FP3 for 2012 Softails (I guess unless something different about yours)
.
Last edited by multihdrdr; May 13, 2018 at 12:22 PM.
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Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 975
Likes: 315
From: Bolivia, NC
EDIT: posted before seeing above post
That would be like a "Power Commander" that goes in Series between the ECM and the the existing cable...NO changes to ECM Programming.
What he has (as most current Tuners) are "Flash" Tuners...they Reprogram the ECM and can be removed from bike afterwards.
To keep people from Paying Once and reprogramming every bike they come across, they "Marry" them to that ECM. You can buy another License to "Flash" another bike (I don't if all vendors do this though)
...So yeah, What changed?... You might need to check out other things.
BTW, V&H shows a FP3 for 2012 Softails (I guess unless something different about yours)
.
That would be like a "Power Commander" that goes in Series between the ECM and the the existing cable...NO changes to ECM Programming.
What he has (as most current Tuners) are "Flash" Tuners...they Reprogram the ECM and can be removed from bike afterwards.
To keep people from Paying Once and reprogramming every bike they come across, they "Marry" them to that ECM. You can buy another License to "Flash" another bike (I don't if all vendors do this though)
...So yeah, What changed?... You might need to check out other things.
BTW, V&H shows a FP3 for 2012 Softails (I guess unless something different about yours)
.
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Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,736
Likes: 8,515
From: Bates County MO
Find out what changed. Tunes don't change, unless acted upon by external input. Intake seals/Exhaust gaskets leaking can cause changes. Fuel pressure leaks inside the tank can cause changes. Reversion can cause tune drift if unchecked, but that usually takes a decent amount of time riding in an area of the map that has poor 02 feedback.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 4,354
Likes: 1,967
From: PA
I'm dealing with some tuning issues on a newly acquired bike, so I feel your pain. What others said is correct. Some tuners are connected and must stay connected (for example, FuelMoto MicroEFI). Others flash the ECM and can be removed (like Power Vision). If you make any changes, like to the intake or exhaust, you should retune. But a bike that's already been tuned doesn't suddenly lose a tune. Leaks can throw things outta whack though.
My bike pops, and I'm not OK riding around like that, because that's an indication something is off. The condition of my spark plugs also indicates the engine is running lean.
My bike pops, and I'm not OK riding around like that, because that's an indication something is off. The condition of my spark plugs also indicates the engine is running lean.
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