Hi all,

I know everyone here is all about performance and these questions will sound very stupid to you, but nothing ventured nothing gained so here goes. I have an 07 Softail Deluxe that is all stock except for upgraded pipes and I'm perfectly happy with the performance and way it rides - not looking for more power or anything like that.

I was pretty sick of the football air cleaner for purely cosmetic reasons though and purchased a nice high flow air cleaner that I liked the look of. I didn't know tuning would be necessary though and figured it would be like a car, where you could throw on a K&N fancy air filter and the car would figure it all out on its own. Come to find out that's not the case and to use the new filter would require a tuner thingy.

So, the questions are do I NEED to buy a tuner just for this cosmetic air cleaner upgrade? Or could a mechanic tune it for me with his tuner thingy and send me on my way? Or would someone in the Chicagoland area who is kind and generous and willing to help a fellow rider tune it for me with their tuner and save me several hundreds of dollars in exchange for beer?

I'm the second owner and the previous owner had the pipes upgraded to Python staggered duals, but I don't know if anything was tuned or what have you previously. I'm just looking for the cheapest and easiest way to use my better looking air cleaner.

P.S. my buddy said to get those plug in wire resistor thingies that will fool the bike into running richer. Good enough?

P.P.S. my girl said to block off the bottom half of the high flow filter and effectively turn it into a regular flow filter. Seems obvious enough but it would've never occurred to me. Good enough?

Thanks everyone in advance for your good advice, and for not making fun of me for calling these super technical devices "thingies."

 

JMO ...... I'd always recommend a PowerVision, yeah it's a bit more but it offers more tuning options for advanced stages compared to the FP3. You might say it now that performance isn't an issue BUT, you never know!

I can't tell you how many buddies made the mistake purchasing a FP3 to find out later that the FP3 ain't gonna cut it!

 

You have the power adders on the bike so why utilize them? That's like having a 12 inch pecker and only using half of it. Go all the way and don't look back. Buy a good tuner...its the last place you want to go cheap, except maybe tires. Your bike was lean already and you'll make it dangerously leaner by not adding fuel. You girlfriends idea in theory is right but how do you know to block off half of the filter? Maybe it's 30 percent...or 70...and what will you bock it off with? Just buy a power vision from fuel moto and live happily ever after. You'll thank us all later.

 

Power Vision or at the very least a Power Commander and get it tuned on a dyno that knows what they are doing.

 

Agree.

 

If it's mild slip ons and the air cleaner no tuner is needed. Adaptive fuel will cover a 10% plus minus variance and there is also correction above that which is not saved. I would ride it and if it runs fine, leave it be based on your initial post.

 

In this case I'd listen to you're girl. An obvious no cost fix if you're worried you are flowing too much without a tune. You're probably ok doing nothing, but for peace of mind just block it off some flow and forget about it.

 

Thank you all very much for the replies. I'll get the air cleaner on in the coming days (or weeks) and try to see if I can do without the tune as the last two posts suggested. If it doesn't ride right then I'll look into the PowerVision thingy as others suggest. I appreciate the point about just getting the tuner since I'm 2/3 of the way home already, but at this point I'm just looking for the simplest and cheapest option. $500 for the tuner, finding a good speed shop with a dyno that won't take advantage of me, etc. It's all just way more than I was looking to get into when I thought to myself, "You know what, I'm kinda sick of that football." Thanks again, gents.

 

Just a quick follow-up for the experts here:

If I do end up getting the PowerVision thingy, will I need to still deal with a dyno and a professional tuner, etc.? Or are most people who run these devices just doing it on their own? I thought the whole point of these was that you tune your bike via the thingy, but a lot people talk about using the thingy and still dealing with a tuner shop. Seems like a LOT of expense and hassle for just a few extra horsepower.

And also, when you look at the options on the Moto website they have the option to add the auto tune and/or target tune (both very expensive, by my standards). Is the PowerVision sufficient by itself? I'd hate to drop several hundred dollars on the tuner, and then find it's not even able to do whatever it is I want it to do. Do most people run PV by itself or do they add the "upgrades?" Thanks a bunch!

 

+2 on the Power Vision

I get the fact that you are not into the more performance idea, but! With the new high flow air cleaner and the upgraded exhaust, with tuning, you will be eliminating a lean fuel condition and your bike will run cooler with a possible slight HP gain