Is a heavy breather worth it?
Is a heavy breather worth it?
Cruiser
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 119
Likes: 0
From: Forney, Texas
Nothing wrong with giving your bike more air. BUt if you want better perfomrance, I would say you need to couple the heavy breather, with a tuner, and some good exhaut.. to help it breathe in and out...
Tourer
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
From: Land of the black buggy
Keep in mind, the heavy breather is no good in the rain.
The "rain sock" is pretty much useless (I refer to it as a car wash sock)
If you frequently ride in the rain and do not have lowers (or some other deflector) it will suck water into the engine and stall it.
Also, it's a good idea to carry a baggy to put over it when parked in the rain.
I love the look on my Fatboy Lo, but wish there was a hard rain cover (possibly plastic?) that would clip over the top and side facing away from the engine.
The "rain sock" is pretty much useless (I refer to it as a car wash sock)
If you frequently ride in the rain and do not have lowers (or some other deflector) it will suck water into the engine and stall it.
Also, it's a good idea to carry a baggy to put over it when parked in the rain.
I love the look on my Fatboy Lo, but wish there was a hard rain cover (possibly plastic?) that would clip over the top and side facing away from the engine.
Last edited by Earl IV; Jul 25, 2012 at 08:46 AM.
Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 535
Likes: 0
From: Huntington Beach
There are numerous reports that the heavy breather offers no benefit over the standard S/E filter behind the football cover. But here is what I noticed:
I have a Power Vision tuner with the touch screen permanently mounted, it has all kinds of gauges that you can monitor as you are running. One of which is the intake air temperature. I'm not sure exactly where the sensor is located, maybe in the throttle body. But the running intake temperature dropped substantially when I put the Heavy Breather on. It's working as a cold intake system, just like in auto applications. It's no longer pulling preheated air from around the jug heads. Cooler intake air equals more oxygen, which equals more fuel to get the same burn, which equals more power.
I have a Power Vision tuner with the touch screen permanently mounted, it has all kinds of gauges that you can monitor as you are running. One of which is the intake air temperature. I'm not sure exactly where the sensor is located, maybe in the throttle body. But the running intake temperature dropped substantially when I put the Heavy Breather on. It's working as a cold intake system, just like in auto applications. It's no longer pulling preheated air from around the jug heads. Cooler intake air equals more oxygen, which equals more fuel to get the same burn, which equals more power.
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Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 613
Likes: 2
From: Tallmadge, Ohio
I like the aggressive look it gives and you can really hear the sucking of air when it's running which has to be very good for it. I don't hear that with other air cleaners. As far as the rain sock is concerned, I have even run the bike for weeks with the rain sock on it with no problems and it does keep things dryer when it does rain. Cant really agree with the last opinion on that.
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Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,906
Likes: 11
From: Grottoes Va.
Keep in mind, the heavy breather is no good in the rain.
The "rain sock" is pretty much useless (I refer to it as a car wash sock)
If you frequently ride in the rain and do not have lowers (or some other deflector) it will suck water into the engine and stall it.
Also, it's a good idea to carry a baggy to put over it when parked in the rain.
I love the look on my Fatboy Lo, but wish there was a hard rain cover (possibly plastic?) that would clip over the top and side facing away from the engine.
The "rain sock" is pretty much useless (I refer to it as a car wash sock)
If you frequently ride in the rain and do not have lowers (or some other deflector) it will suck water into the engine and stall it.
Also, it's a good idea to carry a baggy to put over it when parked in the rain.
I love the look on my Fatboy Lo, but wish there was a hard rain cover (possibly plastic?) that would clip over the top and side facing away from the engine.
I have that intake on my '12 King and I've been in rain that had the cages pulling over and my scoot never even hiccuped. I've had one on my '07 King since '07, and before that I ran a Forcwinder intake on my Sportster from '02, ( same style as Heavy Breather) have rode in more rain that anyone should have to ride in and no problems on any of them.
Tourer
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
From: Land of the black buggy
Really??
I have that intake on my '12 King and I've been in rain that had the cages pulling over and my scoot never even hiccuped. I've had one on my '07 King since '07, and before that I ran a Forcwinder intake on my Sportster from '02, ( same style as Heavy Breather) have rode in more rain that anyone should have to ride in and no problems on any of them.
I have that intake on my '12 King and I've been in rain that had the cages pulling over and my scoot never even hiccuped. I've had one on my '07 King since '07, and before that I ran a Forcwinder intake on my Sportster from '02, ( same style as Heavy Breather) have rode in more rain that anyone should have to ride in and no problems on any of them.
IDK, except mine has sputtered and died more than once in heavy rain.
After I got home I took the breather off and water poured out of the intake and the filter was soaked through.
