I have an 07 Ultra still stock with no mods sitting in the garage for the winter. I have been doing a LOT of reading on the subject of the heat issue. Most of my riding will be done up here in Montana this summer (cooler) but I do plan on making a trip down to west texas, big bend country (damn hot) and have decided that I want to address the heat issue with my bike before I go. I really don't care about anything which will allow me to "tweak" or "tune" the bike myself as I really don't feel comfortable doing that. I like the stock pipes just fine for now but what I was considering was either a SE or K&N stage one kit to allow the engine to breathe better. My understanding is that this by itself will go a long way toward addressing the heat issue. My question is, since I have no intention of doing any other performance mods right now or for the forseeable future, should I just have the dealer do a remap, get a sert, TFI or what? Thanks for your input.

 

Well, you just opened the exhaust/intake/tuner Pandora's box. Lots of posts will be headed your way!

From all that I have read, the intake will require tuning the ECM to avoid getting even leaner than stock and aggravating the heat issue even more. I have the Vance & Hines FuelPak, and it is not going to work for your application because it cannot be custom-tuned for the stock exhaust. The PCIII from fuelmoto.com will be a suggestion offered by many, and it can be tuned for your specific setup; that would probably be my choice and will run a little less than $300 with shipping. But if all I was going to do is replace the air intake, I might be tempted to go with the HD Stage 1 ECM download which from what I understand is considerably less expensive (around $100 I've heard).

On the other hand.... when I bought my '07 FLHRC, I told my wife that it was just perfect right out of the box. Now that I have spent around $4k on various stuff, I realize (as someone said earlier) that the stock bike is just the canvas on which to create "my" bike. Fair warning....

 

If you're trying to get the bike to run cooler, the H-D Stage1download will not help (from what I've read). The bike will still meet EPA requirements and still run lean. Your twomost recommendedchoices are the H-DSERT (screaming eagle race tuner-- about $400) or the Power Commander III about $300).

Based on all the recommendations I've seen (and assuming if you'll have someonedo it for you), whatever your dealer is most familier with is the way to go.

 

If the only thing you are concerned with is the heat, forget the A/C just get a SERT or a PCIII and have it tuned at the dyno....A/C is just a way to make the bike breath better, the sert/PCIII is where to adjust the mixture, thus a richer condition=cooler running bike JMHO

 

Adding air will lean out your bike more and it will not run right and even hotter, add it and a PCIII or other fuel mangement system and it will run right and 60 degrees cooler, you can keep your stock mufflers. You can not change the parts, air or mufflers without adjusting the fuel. Unless you use harley 50 state epa legal parts in the SE line. and these are a waste of ytime and money as they will do nothing to enhance sound or performance or heat reduction. If you just want less heat the dealer is said to have a program you can use with stock parts BY adding the race tuner "SERT" At this time thats the best thing you can do if you want to keep it mostly stock.

 

Ok, so the gist of it is that I should get some type of fuel management system first? I think I will go ahead and get a SERT, I see some on ebay for much less that the HD retail price. I may just buy one and then when the frozen tundra becomes green again, take it to the dealer and get the SE air kit at the same time. Then if I decide on adding anything else later I already have one of the necessary components to get it tuned properly. Sound about right?

 

Be careful what you buy, FYI, a "SERT" is not a object like a PCIII or others it is a just a piece of hookup hardware called a "key"that allows the dealer to program in new download programs to your FACTORY ECM. I would suggest watching for sales, many hd dealers have there SE parts on sale including sert for 20% off. Also updates are being made daily, so buying from your dealer means you can get the latest available downloads or it can be tuned to your bike by a dealer that has a dyno tuning tech.

 

be careful of serts from individuals on ebay, once a sert is used on a bike it is married to that individual bike forever. That is one of the advantages of the pcIII is if you trade bikes you may be able to tranfer it to the new bikes or at least sell it. if you go pcIII then fuelmoto is the way to go, there are many post on this site why.

 

I'd go w/ TFI/DFO for what you want to do. No muss, no fuss, no maps, no dyno runs. Plug N Play, will handle adding aftermarket A/C & exhaust should you want to. http://www.techlusion.com/ .. Just my $.02

 

PCIII solved my heat issue. The HD stage I download is a waste of $150. Still runs hot with the download. PCIII added power5-7 HP and runs much cooler. I am finally happy with mine. I live in Florida and could not sit on mine at a light. Fixed my problem.