It all depends on the operator. A highly skilled tuner will not beat the crap out of your bike on a dyno. I have seen both.

 

The guy that does all the work on my bike says the same thing. He doesn't do them and will likely discourage anyone from having them done. He is a good friend of mine and I trust what he says. I just have stage one on my 2000 RK and it has quite enough power for me and I get 43 mpg.

 

All this"good enough" talk is just penny wise pound foolish imho. A proper dyno tune is the only way to get your bike running properly. You guys have no problem throwing $1000+ on exhaust and A/C but won't spring for getting it to run right afterwise???? Every dyno guy I've talked to goes on and on about poor maps of every bike they see?? You can chalk that up to making a sale but I know my "good running" bike (fuelmoto map + autotune) had a terrible fuel map. Your bike, treat it the way ya want...

 

 

I have to agree with the above...I good dyno tuner will not beat the crap out of your bike any more then most that like to go at full throttle at times.

What do you think would beat up your bike more...running it at WOT on one day or riding it out of tune for the life of the bike?

Most people that disagree have never had a bike that was fine tuned into perfection

 

I had a 2000 Dyna with a 95" that I dynoed about 150 times (150 pulls). Not going into why, but it had 40k on it when I sold it and has at least that much more now and it is still on the road. I also drag raced it numerous times. I would say a good tuner will probably do about 15-20 pulls during a tuning session. I wouldn't think there would be damage unless there was something wrong in the first place.

 

I call real live BS on a dyno will kill your bike. That IS ridiculous!

If I were to tune your bike, I won't but just say i would... I only 'tune' all of the cells up to say.... 4500 rpm. Then, I tune WOT until I get max HP and TQ from fiddling with the timing. All of the cells above 4500, I will run thru them one time to make sure everything is safe. The 80+ KPA or the 90-100% throttle is whats happening, and that too can be fiddled with one or two pulls ABOVE 4500 for verification purposes. A decent tuner will NOT make the bike rev to 7k and hold it there for and hour.

Reason for this is simple... How many folks RIDE at 5k rpm's? A Lot will get to 5k and even surpass it, but isn't that at, or near WOT?

Most here have NEVER had a bike dyno tuned, nor have they seen it done, so they just believe about anything said... most of which is FALSE.

Most tuners will agree with me on this... once a customers bike is up on the wheel, THAT is the most important bike in the world. I have my bike and a few others to 'play' with and a customer's bike is ALL about the business at hand. I, and others, will NOT tune a bike to its ragged edge either. There WILL be a horse or two left. MY goal, and most others is to generally maximize power across the board, but more importantly make the bike the best riding bike it can be! EXCELLENT manners with no surging, popping, bogging down, etc.

 

don't care if I loose a mile to the gal or get to the end of the 1/4 mile last , no way would I put my bike through a dyno tune , would fix it some other wat if I had problems

 

The author of that article you read does not know what he is talking about. That's all a pile of made up crap. Tuning an engine with a dynamometer does NO harm to an engine or bike. NONE! Saying that it simulates extreme driving and drag racing is totally untrue. That doesn't happen. Watch a video of a dyno tune or go to a dyno shop and see one done in person. Yes the engine will rev high. It's made to do that. All HD engines are operated well within design limits set in place by engineers who know what they are doing. Of course if you allow some dummy, like the author of that article to dyno tune your bike, guess what?

 

Dude, you have such a TOTAL lack of knowledge. here is the deal on a dyno tune, and it ultimately is NOT about MPG NOR MPH!

A dyno tune will make a custom map for inside of your bike that matches THAT bike... not any other bike, but THAT bike. Everyone on here can surely think what they wish, but a pro tuned bike will RIDE and DRIVE so much better than a stockish bike it is silly.

Name the problem a bike may exhibit? When it is cold it is hard to start? GONE. It surges? GONE, when I give too much throttle it bogs and slows down? GONE. The list is endless, and most of these riding issues will be corrected.

Don't ANY of you guys, old farts, ever RIDE and not cruise? I AM an old fart, too, but damn... I like to wind it out once and awhile and get with it merging with traffic, etc. THAT is all of the stress that a DECENT dyno tuner will put your bike under. Like ten fast highway merges. WTF?

If you think this will actually hurt your bike, you need to see a mechanic right away, is all I have to say. Some on here find it hard to believe that it takes TIME and miles on the bike to tune. These a holes are the guys that kill me. One is NOT tuning Wide Open Throttle anymore like the 90s. Flash based tuning can change the WHOLE ECM set up. That DOES take time. Getting the VEs set is the LEAST of it. Timing in EACH cell takes time. Setting the IAC steps, crank to run steps, etc takes time. Working simple things like hot idle, cold idle takes time. Making sure that the engine transitions from cell to cell properly really takes time. Tuners and customers that chase 'numbers' is NOT whats happening in 2013. It's NOT! It IS about a joy to ride bike, plain and simple.

Just look at timing on a late model bike. There is what most think of as 'timing', just like the PCs could adjust. But... there is hot timing, cold timing, decel timing, start timing, and ... timing. Doesn't THAT sound like, if one worked all of that, it just MAY take more than a pull or two? Getting ALL of those correctly, make for such a NICE bike to ride, even if the power nor MPG has not changed.

And... I can hear it... ya ya ya... HE has a dyno, of COURSE he would say that. I just recently bought the dyno. I am a hobbyist to the EXTREME. Later this year, I will start tuning others bikes, because I have a $400 a month payment on this machine..... but..... I bought it mainly for MYSELF.

5 years ago, I did NOT know what a dyno tune was, nor how it was performed. Today, I know that and much much more. I pretty much know how the ECM on our bikes function and what each internal function is and does. I have 'street tuned multiple bikes to where they were really a JOY to ride. The Dyno is just another extension of that. It's a tool. SOme use any kind of tool better than some others.

My luck shot is I have the best in the industry helping me along. Some of THOSE call ME to ask all the stupid internal ECM questions anymore. This is fun, for me. And.....

Street tuning. What is actually harder on a bike? Tuning that PV or TTS on the street or on a dyno? What also is harder on a bike? Breaking in a new top end on the street or on a dyno? Both answers is... the STREET is way *** harder as the conditions cannot be monitored as well at all.

Some on here do not value TUNING a bike period, and feel stock is good enough. Some here feel that using mickey mouse things to enhance their fuel when doing a Stage 1 is good enough. Over the years, I have TRIED all of that crap too, and have come to the conclusion that altering the ACTUAL ECM without add on boxes, things in the wires, etc.... makes for the BEST riding bike in all conditions. I have used PCs on my bikes, XIEDs on my bikes. Fuel Pack, and ALL of that crap to get a better running bike... Then in 08 TTS came along and changed the game completely. We now have TTS, SEPST AND PV. The game HAS changed with FLASH tuning.

I use three tuning systems mostly, TTS (of course); PV, and... direct link for pre O2 bikes. I FLASH the ECM and can fix all kinds of issues. To me, over the years, I have learned the hard way and tuning these damn bikes to ride very nice has become a passion of mine. Until one ride his bike before and after a REAL tune, you simply can NOT speak on the subject.

The 'money effect' plays on THIS forum more than others. Most here use shops to do the work on their bikes. That's cool, and I get that completely. But... if I bought it and spent my OWN money... this MUST be the best since sliced bread, does NOT apply. Not at all. Folks on here will install some tuning doo dad and feel an improvement... it must WORK! Not on your life. That is flawed thinking. I HAD flawed thinking too. But me, the money effect has no sway, as I will repeatedly spend money on the same crap over and over until I find what actually works best. I am screwed up in that way. I WILL spend money until it is RIGHT and the best it can be, as opposed to that's 'good enough'. Just my own personality in that regards. I tinker ALL the time.

I 'get' a whole lot of what we all go thru as bike owners. In 09, I bought one of the first S&S 106 kits for my 96 bike. AFter a welded crank, that kit, some andrews 54s, and a port job, I thought I had it all! Bike was noisey though. In the course of that... I spent an EXTRA $1500 trying to figure out WHY. The 106 kit was junk. The cylinders were out of round AND out of taper, so I had that made into a 107. I also bought all kinds of bore gauges and micrometers. Next was valve train noise. I bought the then 'new' Woods lifters. Played with all kinds of timing, etc. Burned up the valves fooling around. Sent the heads to a DIFFERENT porter for new valves. He installed the valves to their correct height, my new ROUND cylinders, and a decent tune... that 107 was nice and quiet for 40k miles afterwards.

After I lost my house in 09, I have rented houses and duplexes. Always need a garage, ya know? NOW? I have rented a shop and converted the offices into living space. I AM whacked in the head over these bikes of ours!

Hence... my now owning a dyno and doing flash based tuning. ANd for ME... it is ALL bout making the bike a joy to ride. NO stupid **** annoyances.

I AM a NUT! I have now spent MORE on tuning equipment than I have on my 2010 Ultra with a 120R. I told you guys that I have looked, researched, etc on HOW to make MY bike run really really nice and it all sent me to where I am right now.