I'm new to Harley, bought an 03 RK about three months ago. In the meantime I've been doing as much reading as I have time for about the brand in general and what I can do to my bike in the future. This post is more about helping out a buddy who used to be my partner when we were motor cops, we road Harleys back in the 70s. He left the PD in the early 80s but we maintained a friendship to this day and since we are friends I thought I would try and help him with his Heritage Softail. I feel kind of obligated since back in 04 I came by his house to show him my new Ducati Supersport and later he told me it was because of that he went out and bought a new Softail. However, I never hooked up with him to go riding except for once because I hung with the sport bike crowd and it was just plain odd going on a ride with a Harley. I was a full on Ducati and sport bike enthusiast and he was not. He rode very little being a workaholic in the finance business and I suppose not as obsessed with motorcycles as I was. His bike is an 05 with only 4K miles on it. I'm close to 4k miles already in less than three months. On sport bikes I would never accumulate that many miles in that time period, that tells me I like this bike and what it brings to the table.

My riding choices changed when I bought the Harley, I decided to get into cruising since I felt I was missing something in the motorcycle experience by not going on extended road trips. You just can't (or I can't) ride a race bred bike for long periods of time, I was more into aggressive hill riding and track days. But after a near fatal motorcycle accident in 05 my riding style changed, especially after not being able to ride for almost four years post accident. Needless to say he was very pleased I bought the Harley and we began talking about riding, instead of the usual mundane life stuff.

To celebrate Memorial Day, we went on a nice ride in the hills of the Sierras, his wife loves to ride pillion, mine doesn't, shes afraid to now. At one point he mentioned he would like to get louder pipes on his bike, he asked me how his sounded and I told him it sounded like a Cadillac. On the ride I purposely accelerated past him so he could catch the sound of the Cycle Shack pipes and hi flow a/c, he liked it a lot. After the ride he told me he scheduled an appointment at the dealer for his 5k service, he has the same oil in it as what the bike came with, but I'm sure he likely had it changed at the 1K service.

On the way home I thought since he wanted louder pipes maybe he would be interested in taking it one step further, upgrade the a/c, get some pipes and throw on a power commander to manage the change. Essentially what many others have done, that I will have complete after ordering a Fuel Moto PC (the less costly one with the PC guts). I called him and hes all for it and since his bike is out of warranty I told him I'll introduce him to my outstanding indy and let him do the 5K service and also sit down with him to discuss the options. He was all for that.

After that boring background, my question to you gentlemen is guidance for a set up that will be the "best bang for the buck" on his bike. I know the exhaust note is a personal one and he doesn't seem too picky there, but I wouldn't assume that. He did like my Cycle Shacks that I thought were too loud when I first heard them, but now I think they are outstanding. Speaking of which I think Cycle Shack makes a nice product for the price. I would like to get him into a system that is affordable, I don't want to scare the dude off, he is a frugal person eventhough he can buy me out five times over. You know the type. Another path is by way of Fuel Moto for both the a/c and PC and the pipes will fall into place once he has a chance to hear some others. At this point my bias points to the Cycle Shacks. So we are looking at hi flow a/c, pipes and a PC. Excuse my ignorance, but is that the full on Stage One?

The install of the above parts don't seem that difficult, even for an non mechanical person like myself. But I do know stuff happens too. I did learn (it took me a year) to adjust my own valves on both the Desmoquattro and newer Testastretta Ducati motors. However, if I had to do a valve adjust tomorrow it would still take me three days and some phone calls later to get through it. Better me doing it than paying a dealer $800. Unfortunately most of my tools are metric, but my buddy told me a client of his has a full on Snap On Harley tool kit valued at around $800 that he would sell to him for only $100. He said he doesn't do mechanical and wondered if I would be interested in the kit, you think I should buy it? YA THINK? The install seems pretty straight forward and I've installed and downloaded maps from PCs before, so thats done. Even more so with Fuel Moto since they provide a custom map with the unit. Isn't an SE type or aftermarket a/c plug and play? Lastly, I don't see any install issues with slip ons.

Sorry for the long post, I suppose its because I want this to go right. But once its done he will be that much happier with the bike and likely ride more. Besides, it kind of feels like a payback to a good old friend as well. Thanks for listening. Also, I've used the search feature here and will continue to use it, each case is a little different though.

 

Wow. That cured my insomnia. Maybe someone smarter than me can figure out your actual question. Good night.

 

yes, pipes/slip ons, high flow a/c, fuel management is stage 1
I have rush slipons and love 'em... deep, loud not raspy or harsh
If you want one stop shopping and support..Fuelmoto could hook you up with all you need
Good luck, have fun with it..not hard to do the upgrades

 

just put some Rush 2'' slip ons on...