Also consider V-IED to richen up the fuel mixture just a bit. No tuning, just plug and play. Get cooler running motor and better throttle response. Runs smoother and feels better to ride.

 

Check with your dealer but normal if they install any HD product they wont give you a hard time with warranty issues. I went with the Screaming Eagle Performance super tuner (SEPST) and had my dealer install and tune the bike. Bike is running great and I'm starting to get familiar with the Smart tune functions so I can do my own data logging and make changes to the tune. Using the dealer for things like this usually keeps you in good standing for warranty work. But at the same time thousands of people use the Power Vision or TTS and have no problems getting warranty work performed. The Download is cheaper that a true tuner but it is also limited. When it comes to warranty there is no difference between the download and the SEPST, they are both changing the ECM settings and they are both performed by the dealer.

 

In my view a stage 1 down load shouldn't be considered a performance upgrade. Because it's EPA friendly it's designed to keep the factory mapping within specs after minor changes such as opening up the air intake or in some cases the exhaust. It's very effective at that. I used it on SE Road king years ago after putting an air filter and slip on exhaust. I had no intention of doing any other mods so it was perfect for me. Bike ran fine with no real change in mpg. A PC will net you better power but throwing more fuel at the mixture has its trade offs if you care about economy and range per tank.

 

I have found it will work with the stock head pipe catted or catless. If you put true duals or 2-1 it will not work right. It will cruise fair and have ok power. Problem is it will pop off idle and if you try to lightly accelerate at slow cruise it will likely pop. You can do just about as well without it. I have looked at several stage 1 downloads with PV and all the download is it adds some fuel in the high load 90 to 100% from 2000 rpms to 6000. It takes away some timing in the cruise area and adds a little in the idle area. It adds some timing in the 10 and 20% area from 2500 to 8000. Not sure what this is for.

 

Check out the V-ieds if you don't want too complicated and slightly adjustable.

 

Decel pop is not a symptom of a bad tune. Tuning out the pop will give you a worse tune than a good tune with decel pop.

A stage 1 download is fine for a high flow filter and pipes.

I think most peoples' prejudice against the Harley pro tuner stems from their distrust of Harley mechanics and the fact that it costs more than an aftermarket tuner, with which they can **** up the fuelling for themselves, as many times as they want.

 

The last thing I want to address today is the subject of deceleration backfire, or “popping”. This topic generates a lot of concern from inexperienced riders, or even from experienced guys who just hate the noise, so lets take a look at what causes it. But first things first, lets define the issue:

Deceleration Backfire is caused by fuel burning in the exhaust manifold or header.

No ifs ands or buts, that’s what causes it. But the bigger question is how does gas get there in the first place, and that’s a bit more complicated. Generally, there are a variety of ways it gets there, and a variety of things that can make the backfiring worse. But there’s a kicker, and something you should understand before we go any farther:

A motor in perfect tune will exhibit deceleration backfiring.

Therefore, just because your motor is banging it up, doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong. And consequently:

Getting rid of the noise means de-tuning your motor.

Yup. If you’ve just got to eliminate that popping, you’ll have to accept the fact that your motor is going to be forced to run rich to do it, and that isn’t necessarily a good thing. So lets talk about what causes the problem.

Ok, so you’re riding along at some given rpm, and suddenly you decide to decelerate, and you reduce the amount of throttle. This causes an “overrun” – that is, the motors rpm is turning faster than the fuel provided can support, so the motor begins to spool down. This causes a couple of things to happen.

First, when you close the throttle, you are also closing the throttle plates. This reduces the air and fuel flowing into the motor, and increases the vacuum (lowers the pressure). This results in less air and fuel in the cylinder during the power stroke, which in turn results in a lower pressure in the combustion chamber. Remember I said earlier, that the A/F mix burns faster in proportion to the pressure applied? Well, when we reduce pressure this way, the mix burns slower. This results in two things happening.

1. The lower burning fuel generates less heat, and the cooling effect of the non-burning fuel tends to “quench” the flame front, or slow it down even further. Because the mix is burning much slower, the exhaust valve can open before all the fuel is consumed, and the unburnt fuel is ejected into the exhaust.
2. The engine designers, in order to promote smoother idling and better combustion, retard the spark when the throttle is shut, and this results in the mix being lit later.

So, now we end up with unburnt fuel in the exhaust, and burning fuel being ejected into the exhaust, and bang! Backfire. In addition, Manufacturers have added a device called a “programmed air injection valve” (Pair Valve) that actually injects some fresh air into the exhaust to help this process along – since fully burning the fuel results in cleaner exhaust. So the backfiring is not only a normal part of the engines operation, it’s also intentionally amplified by the manufacturer! Of course, normally, that massive bazooka pipe hanging on your bike hides most of the noise, but it’s there, even when you can’t hear it.

So the bottom line, is: That backfiring is perfectly normal and expected. If you’ve just got get rid of it, that’s up to you. You’re entitled to set your motor up the way you want, and your goals are your goals. But don’t refer to it as “fixing” the popping. Rather, the correct way to think of it is “de-tuning a bit to get rid of the popping”.

There are a few ways you can do this.

First, use the stock pipe. It will hide the sound, by absorbing it into mass, and masking it with the larger baffle space. Second, you can add more fuel during deceleration. This has the effect of raising the chamber pressure slightly, which burns a little more before the exhaust valve opens. Lastly, you can remove the Pair valve, which reduces the amount of available oxygen in the pipe to burn the unburnt fuel.

The above is one of many articles on this subject. My thanks to the original Author, I did not write this, but covers most of what I wanted to say.

 

You're kidding, right?


Or it could be that most with any REAL experience with the tuner understands the value for the end user is simply not there. Even a lot of HD wrenches don't care for the program either.


Once, just once I wish people like you would stay the hell away from this topic. I mean really...you're just looking foolish.

The cut 'n paste job (which, BTW, has lots of misleading and inaccurate statements) and your "bad tune, good tune" statement speaks volumes as to your serious lack of knowledge on tuning in general.

And no, I'm not going to debate this with you...I'm confident you'd only cut 'n paste some other dribble trying to pass it off as either your own or reflective of your superior understanding of it.

 

Sweet, thanks for the feedback.

 

Had Put S,E, II mufflers my '09 St.Gld. with Stage 1 intake and Stage 1 download. I got 5yrs.and 71k mi. on it with no problems.70.27HP,81.4Tq. on dyno. OK for a stock 96" motor. Runs just fine.