I own an '04 FLSTCI that just feels anemic. I'm a big guy at 6'2", 235lbs, and my 150lb wife always rides with me. With our combined weight, my ride has poor acceleration and and struggles on the interstate around 70 mph and above. I also get the worst gas mileage of my riding group and I'm always the first one to need gas.

The person I bought it from told me it had a Screaming Eagle Stage 1, but I think he only did the exhaust because the filter looks like this



and I've been told that a high performance filter would be round. If he didn't change the filter/breather out, then I suspect he didn't remap the EFI either. This is my first Harley, so I didn't know anything about them or what to look for when I bought it.

In addition to the weak power, the exhaust pops/crackles lightly when I decel before pulling in the clutch.

I'm considering handing it over to a small local shop for some performance upgrades this winter, but before I call them I was wondering what reasonable labor costs are for the following and which upgrades I should consider:

Bassani 2>1 exhaust
Cam upgrade
high perf air filter/breather
EFI remap

My budget is a max of around $1500. I could prob do the exhaust, airfilter/breather myself, but if the labor cost is reasonable I may let the shop do it all at one time. My mechanical skills are weak (I'm an IT guy).

Thanks

 

Sorry to hear your scoots performance isn't up to par. I just bought an 03 FLSTC a few months ago. Compared to the 1500cc metric cruiser I had, mine seems to run like a raped ape. The previous owner had installed V&H Longshots exhaust and a 42mm Smoothbore Mikuni Carb. I installed a Stage 1 kit which does have a round filter. It seems to be jetted pretty close but does burn a good amount of fuel. I have no complaints on power output.

Most shop labor is probably $80 an hour or so. You might want to do some of it yourself. If I were you along the way of changing cams I would sure address the cam chain tensioner issues that our beloved twin cam 88's have. You sure wouldn't want to go to all the trouble of changing cams and end up with stopped up oil passage ways from tensioner failure.

The backfiring could be from an air leak or a lean condition. Good Luck to you.

 

You can do these upgrades to a stage one yourself with little wrenching. You can cam it and stage two it if you're savvy with a wrench. That 88 has possibilities and you do not have to sink a fortune into it if you can turn wrenches and not in a hurry.

 

Somethings wrong with your bike for sure..have the issues addressed before you spend money on it. You might be satisfied after it gets fixed..then decide.
A good indie will find out what's wrong

 

Disagree ^^^ no way to say for sure something is "wrong".

Im 220lbs and ride mostly alone and find the little 88 gutless with pipes/cleaner and jetting.

Id go one step at time, do the stage one (pipe/cleaner/jet) yourself, get a shop manual and its really easy. See if that helps, and then decide if its worth the coin to drop in cams, and maybe have the confidence after the stage one to tackle it yourself.

Goodluck.