Just received rinehart true duals for my 07 street glide from eastern performance cycles, great deal, $699. Going to have my local hd dealer install. They quoted me 1 to 2 hrs @ $75 an hr. Also se ac kit plus the download. Charging $150 for download. Is the download from my dealer ok? ShouldI be able to ride my bike out of there with no problems? They told me it is ageneric download and my ecm figures it out.Or should I go with power commander? Do you gain any gas mileage,horsepower,or throttle response with the power commander vs the download from my dealer? Need advice onwhat route to go.

 

Your ecm doesn't figure anything out except how to run too lean at the low rpms and make your ride real hot.

If price is an issue get the PCIII, but you seem to be going the whole 9 yards with the Rineharts and all so think about one of the auto-tuners. Lot's of guys are having great luck with the PCIII and lots of people are haveing excellent results with the Auto-tune systems.

Dealers that say things like "your ECM figures it out"... they either don't understand the products they sell (many) or they're just plain deceiving you (plenty), looking for the quick buck on the hardware and then the hell with how your bike runs.

 

Well, I have the SE Touring Mufflers and the SE Stage 1 Air Intake. At first, I used a V&H FuelPak and had great results. Then I was a little worried about warranty issues, took the FuelPak off and went with the Stage 1 Download. Each worked fine, and I could not tell any difference in how they managed the fuel - each gave a little more power, provided smooth delivery, and seemed to cool the engine down a little.

But with the Rhineharts, I would be inclined to go with the PCIII, SERT, or other sophisticated management system. Seems to me that you would maximize the power improvement by being able to put in on a dyno and fine-tune the settings, which would not be possible with the download of course.

 

I have the HD download, and it does richen up the fuel/air mixture. I'm running Kerker slip on mufflers and the SE air cleaner.

There will always be a lot of discussion here about the download vs other methods of 'fixing' your fuel/air mixture, but I rely on what my independent mechanic told me:

"The download is fine if all you are going to do is add a new exhaust and air cleaner. If you think that you will want to do an further engine mods (cams, heads, etc...) you get a SE Race Tuner (SERT)."

The SERT allows you to make changes to the factory ECM and is not an add-on component llike the PCIII. To my knowledge it is much more tweakable than a PCIII, of course I don't have one, nor have I used one, so I don't know that fronm experience.

The other option is to get a system that changes the fuel/air mixture on-the-fly by reading the bike's exhaust-mounted heated oxygen sensors. I believe that these units replace your existing ECM completely. To use one of these on my 06 Street Glide I would have to get an exhaust system that has the welded bungs to accept the oxygen sensors, since my bike doesn't have any sensors from the factory.

The other debate that inevitably arises is the issue of decel popping. With the download my bike pops a bit when I roll off the throttle. It is usually most apparent at around 2500-2000 RPMs when decelerating with the clutch engaged. I have read many posts about guys trying many different things, at the cost of much money to unsuccessfully eliminate the popping. Others seem to have some success with their PCIII in eliminating much of it.

Bottom line, for me, is that my indy mechanic is comfortable with the HD download. He has done hundreds of them. When I asked him about the popping, he told me to not worry about it and ride the bike. He's one of the best, most well known mechanics in my area. My experience is that if he says don't worry about it, I don't, and nothing bad has happened in 15-years of him working on my bikes.

 

Save your money and buy the Thunder Max from Zippers you can tell them your mods and it will come programed for your bike. You can change and adjust with a lap top. The only true way to tune the PC3 is to put it on a dyno. I put the T Max on my 07 Roadking and love it. It came pretuned and I instaled it myself. The bike runs great and a boat load more power and 45 mile to the Gal. Good luck.

 

Next week adding se a/c and slip-ons. The service dept. had douts in there conversation with me about the download. Now they may be trying to get more $$ out of me? But I want this done right the first time and run on a dyno. It also may have other benifits to go with pc,sert,,ect, Future mods?(we all say never), Error on the side of percaution?

Good luck

 

If you buy a power commander does it come programmed for your setup? Or do youdownload it from the internet. Also am I correct that the fuel mamagment units bypass the o2 sensors and the download from my dealerutilizes them?

 

If the Dealer does the Stage 1 download after the replacement parts...
They are REQUIRED BY LAW to comply to current EPA STANDARDS...
IT WILL STILL BE ADJUSTED ON THE LEAN SIDE!

I would also Highly Recommend:
Buying and installling any aftermarket Fuel Management System over any dealer Download\s
Also recommend the Ness Big Sucker or K&N's over the SE Air Kit - as these have a reuseable filter...

 

Call Jamie at fuel-motto he will have a map for your needs. Ive seen many hi-performance motors running PC111 'S with no problems................

 

I've got Rinehart TD's and Ness B/S a/c on my bike. I've had two PCIII's and both failed (for whatever reason - no one know's). Bike ran great with the PCIII's when they worked and mpg was around 38 to 39 on the highway. Good pep. After my second PCIII failed, I had the HD download installed for $150. To be honest, my bike runs great with the download -- no popping on decel, and fuel mileage is around 41 to 42 mpg, so yeah it runs a little more on the lean side. Not quite as much pep as before since it's running a little more leaner, but then again I'm probably more into better fuel mileage at $3.30 per gallon for 91 octane. If all you're doing is what I've done, the download will be fine. If you plan on more upgrades, then you might want to consider either a PCIII or SERT. I just had bad luck with my PCIII, but I'm not the norm, so I'd still recommend them. Good luck!