I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out the stage 1 hoopla. I got a set of rush slipons and am now thinking of adding an air cleaner. Some say get a fuel management system, some say xied, and some say dealer download.

I called my dealer to ask his opinion and he said I would not need anything! The ecm would adjust. He said 08 and later bikes don't need anything. People hear they do and keep wasting money. He then said to wait for a fuel system until the 103 kit.

WTF! This dealer is a top 25 dealer in the country. They love me as a customer (trust me) so I don't think they would BS me.

Has anyone actually experienced the consequences of not getting a fuel system? Or is every listening to everyone else and just buying one?

 

I am not trying to be a jerk. I really want to know before I become the forum guinea pig and do it and see.

This isn't about the money. I just hate group thinking that basically says do it because that is the way it has always been done.

 

I have heard the same thing....
Your stock ECU will adjust so that you will continue to run at the lean epa mandated A/F ratio...
I have also been told that all a stage-1 download does is increase your rev-limiter

I installed a thunermax because I wanted to run a a lower A/F ratio... more power & cooler running....

CC

 

I cant comment on running with nothing at all. but Ive got 6000miles on my 07 with nothing but the dealer download and my scoot purrs like a kitten. also changed plugs at 5000 miles and they looked fine also. this is with se/ac and 2"rush slip ons.

 

Your dealer is half right... As long as you run in the closed loop mode, half throttle or less, all will be fine as the O2 sensors will adjust the fuel. However if you like to run it hard in the open loop mode, you will be running real lean. For everyday riding you will be fine but for hard riding you should get some type of fuel management system ...

 

Your bike, your money. You've spent $20,000 on a motorcycle, fuel management will cost another $150 for the dealer download, or up to about $800 for a TTS and a dyno tune, with everything else falling in the middle.

Your bike runs lean. All Harleys do. Increase the airflow, and it's going to run leaner. That's bad. You can play guessing games going with a canned map. You can pretend to be an engineer and program your ignition and fuel curves yourself. You can pay to have someone tune your bike based on the way it actually runs. For me, it was a no-brainer. I'm planning on keeping my bike 'till I can't ride anymore, and I'm planning a much larger engine at some point. The TTS MasterTune with a custom dyno tune is simply the most cost-effective way for me to manage my engine. Since you've got an '08, you can use VTune to change things based on the way your bike runs in the real world (should you want to). Add to that, you'll be using the factory ECM, and not an inferior 3rd party unit.

I've had both the dealer download and the TTS, and I can tell you that there's a world of difference between the two.

Research them. If you happen to see that a lot of a certain type of tuner seems to be appearing in the "for sale" section of this or other forums, PM the people selling them to find out why they're getting rid of them and what they're replacing them with. It's eye-opening.

Like I said, I'm very happy with the TTS. I rode 4-1/2 hours up to PA to get my tune done. I work 10 minutes from Zippers where I could have bought a Thundermax and had it set up. After a minimal amount of research, it was never a serious option.

 

I have a 2009 Fatboy I ran it about 100 miles with BSS pipes. When I would get home it would tick like crazy. I later added an Arlen Ness Big Sucker Stage II and a power commander V from fuelmoto.com great people it came with a map. My bike no longer ticks at all. I'm assuming because the motor is running less lean therefore cooler. I agree if you are dropping 20 grand on a bike put the money into some sort of fuel management to make it run right. Harley's come lean to help say they are getting huge MPG's.

 

recently been hearing the same that the 07 or 08 and up ECM do not need to be retuned for just pipz and airflow.

Personally I still prefer to have them properly dynoed after even a small change like that...just to get best performance/millage and no backfiring.

 

Interesting thread. The folks at nightrider (Xied) have said the same thing... that the ECM will be able to manage the change to the AC and pipes. The ECM will compensate and keep the bike at the same "lean" setting. Adding an Xied will richen the mixture a bit to get it cooler.

However if one wants the maximum "performance" (which one would assume you want if you went with the AC) than a fuel management device seems most likely.

I am in the same boat...just trying to figure out the perfect balance between price / performance / temperature . (High temps is what started this for me...then I couldn't stop

 

to follow up....
when i first got my XB i ran around stock for the first 100 miles....
Then I decided to get a set of he Xied's... the bike ran noticeably better... smoother and cooler..

at about 500 miles I added the RSD pipes. A/C, and Thundermax... it ran even better!

as I said earlier the stock ecu will make the adjustments for the added A/F... but you are leaving performance on the table....

I changed my A/F ratio on a stock bike with the Xied's and it ran better... that's gotta tell you something.... Stock is too lean!

Personally I would not add the after market parts with out also increasing my A/F ratio!