I've been reading posts on the pro's and con's of Vance and Hines Fuel Pak, problems and solutions encountered using this FI system. First, a little background on myself. I am new to this forum and this is my first post. I am a 84 graduate of MMI, have wrenched for HD dealers and a previous independant motorcycle shop owner. I only say this so folks will understand that I have a above average skill level working on and with Harley's. Ok, now onto the installation.

My bike is a stock 07, with stock ECU. I purchased the Vance and Hines big shot duals, fuel pak and K&N high flow air filter kit for the FLHTC. I also own a 05 V-Rod and 06 Dyna Wide Glide. I purchased the Power Commander for the V-Rod. There are pro's and con's to both FI systems.

Once I installed the fuel pak, I took the bike out for a test run to see how it performed. The map provided by Vance and Hines seemed to be a little flat from mid to full throttle. Other than that, the engine felt smooth through circuit transitions from idle to full open. I did not experience the deacceleration popping that some have with this system. No hesitations or misfires were present during the test ride. Having said this, the bike still felt "flat" during the test. I am old school and my dyna is the seat of my pants and from this I believe the setup is still running a little on the lean side from mid to full open.

I called Vance and Hines support, told them what I experienced and the Tech gave me new set points for my particular bike and mods. I have not taken the bike out for a test run yet, I will post again my results later. I also changed the settings in mod 16 & 17 based on another post I read here in this forum to rich'en up the idle circuit. It did help at the idle.

Now onto the Power Commander. I purchased it, Rinehart duals and the K&N air filter with stock ECU settings. When I installed the PC and downloaded the map provided by Dyna, the bike was way too rich. It took a few times adjusting the settings to finally get the bike to run correctly. I average 39 mpg with the settings I have and the spark plugs show good air/fuel mixture. Both systems, Fuel Pak and the PC have there own quirks to them and the factory settings never work out. You will have to tweak them both to get the optimum performance out of your engine. I like both for different reasons but, I'm still testing this Fuel Pak out. I will post more when I have more to give.

 

well one thing you will want to note is that you won't be able to tell much by the plugs because it is fuel injected. Only way to know the AFR is a dyno.

 

True statement. With the Power Commander, it was running so rich that I didn't have to look at the plugs to know it. I was getting 26 mpg and when I twisted the wick I looked like a diesel going down the road . I was able to dial it in by looking at the plugs but, you are correct. With today's FI's, the plugs will have a tendancy to look like your running lean, not like the old days when you looked for a nice tan color on the center electrode. I also look at the color inside the ends of the exhaust pipes to tell whether or not the air/fuel is within the correct range. The only way to really "dial" in these systems is with a Dyno but, I don't want to pay my local HD rip-off the money and I don't trust others wrenching on my bikes. I can get pretty close, atleast enough to where I'm satisfied with how my bike(s) are running.



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Try e-mailing Frank at www.dragosbikeworks.com. This guy is a freakin' wiz on this stuff.He just installed a Fuelmoto Pak w/fuelmoto mufflers{78 hspr.95ft/lbs.of torque} on my '07 FLHTC .It flat-out hauls.He had to mess with my PCIIIto get the fuel right also. I formerly had a fuel-pak on this same bike and he also had to tweak it.If need be he can probably send you some mapsfor your PCIII and or give you some different settings for your fuel-pak.Ride Safe {or Like You Stole it} LOL

 

Road test - Ok, I put on 70 miles. City, highway and freeway speeds. With the new settings that the Vance and Hines Tech gave me for my setup the bike ran great. No problems, hesitations, deacceleration popping, engine running hot, etc.. Overall, I'm happy with the setup. Installation was pretty basic and simple to install. The exhaust took longer than expected but I like the sound of the big shot duals. Pipes look good out the rear and the "flat" spot went away after the new settings. I really noticed a difference in 6th gear. On a scale of 1 to 5 for a stock engine and ECU I would give the Fuel Pak a 4.5. The Power Commander would probably be a little better for tweaking the air/fuel mixtures but, for what I wanted the Fuel Pak did just fine. Both require about the same amount of time installing but, without a dyno the Power Commander takes a bit more to tweak in. I am happy with both systems for what they do. The V-Rod flat gets it down the road and the dresser pulls smoothly through the gears. That's all for now. Keep the rubber side down

 

Wildman - Thanks for the lead. Right now, I'm happy with both bikes. They do what they are intended to do, get on down the road with the least amount of trouble I liked the Power Commander on my V-Rod but, on the dresser I was going with the big shot duals and figured I'd try their setup. I'll ride with it as is for awhile. If I decide it isn't giving me the hp/tq that I want then I switch it out with a Power Commander or look into the setup you suggest. Thanks.

 

Update - Since install I have put over 250 miles on the bike and experienced no problems. After talking to V&H and putting in the new settings he suggested, the bike ran smooth with a average of 39 mpg. So far, so good. A couple of pops on deacceleration but I believe that is more to do with rolling off the throttle then anything else. Oveall, I'm happy with the product.

 

Tbones, I bought the fuelpack because i bought the v&h 2-1 big radius and v&h recommended it, and it was cheaperalternative for me. I have been calling around to the local dealerships to see who has the lowest labor rates and telling them what i want done. You know what happens next don't ya? They tell me how untweakable the fuelpack is and then tell me how i void my warranty if it is installed. They tell me i should buy sert because they can tweak it alot easier and then they tell me the cost of dyno and sert and icant believe the cost. I went from the happiest guy in the world to a guy who wishes i had just left things alone.

My questions to you or anyone else who can offer advice is, am i worrying too much? how many fuelpacks have fried ecm's before? Also i installed the k&n filter if that matters. Thanks for any help.

 

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