I was told my bike does indeed have the Stage 1 upgrade, but how can I verify that? It does have a K&N air filter and V&H Short Shot pipes, but I'm not sure if the air cleaner assembly is stock (looks like it is, though.) So, how do I verify?

Also, I get some popping on decel when going down a hill in a lower gear.I always just shift up into a higher gear andthat gets rid of the popping.

Is popping normal in that scenario or does the carb need to be rejetted to keep the bike from running lean?

Chris

 

If the air cleaner is all boxed in, its stock. If you can look behind the cover and see the filter, its highflow. Aftermarket pipes have less back pressure, so you will get a little popping from time to time. Jets are cheap though if you wanted to retune it...

 

Thanks for that info. I'll have to check when I get home, but I'm thinking the filter is all boxed in. Are you talking about theback side (engine side) of the assembly that connects to the carb? The black plastic part that you screw the air cleaner cover to?

Chris

 

Thump, stage 1 is defined as higher flow a/c and higher flow exhaust along with tuning to compensate.In other words, removing, orat least relieving, the stock restrictions on air flow through the motor and air/fuel mix via the carb or efi's ecm. Tuning means rejetting on a carb'd bike or ecm download, fuel manager (fuelpak), or tuner with stage1 map settings for a efi bike. If you are getting excessive popping on decel, that is indicative of a possible lean condition and the carb or efi needs to be adjusted by one of the means above to compensate for that.

A K&N filter will always be higher flowing than a stock filter. However, changing the filter to a K&N inside the stock air box is most likely not going to flow air enough to qualify it as stage 1 because the air box itself is restrictive. With the slipons and the K&N, though, you could be getting it lean enough to cause the popping.

Best advice is to get the carb rejetted and probably go ahead and replace the a/c with a higher-flowing one or a higher flowing backing plate that will fit your K&N filter.

 

The backing plate attaches to the cylinder heads and, on newer bikes at least, is black plastic. When assembled, it just has a single hole facing forward that allows air in. If that piece is not there then you should be able to see the filter by looking behind the a/c cover. If you can see it, you have a stage 1 a/c - probably a K&Nor possibly Arlen Ness kit.

Regardless, you need to look into getting the carb rejetted. But, if you are going to do that and don't have a true stage 1 a/c, bite the bullet and bolt one on.

 

Yeah, the whole plastic backplate goes away with the highflow. However, if you are haveing popping from a lean condition, more air will make it leaner. Does it pop when you load up the throttle, and let off real quick?Because too rich can cause a differnt popping as well. Best bet, look at you spark plugs. If they look to be burning rich, and you have a stock A/C.....easy fix. Get the high flow kit. If they are burning lean, you may need to play with the jets.

 

Thanks for the info! I don't consider the decel popping "excessive," but I'm new to this. Here's an example... There's a fairly steep hill by my house. I come up to it in 2nd gear going 20 mph or something. If I let off the gas to coast down it, the speed increases to 25-30mph and if I don't shift into 3rd gear OR hold the clutch in (which I don't do), I get popping.

My bike also "growls" like a **** when upshifting fairly fast to get going. But I like that part. Sounds badass!

Chris

 

Yeah, a little popping is normal. Like I said, check your plugs to make sure you have a good burn, and run the hell out of it![8D]

 

The growling is your pipes and that's a good thing. V&H has some very nice sounding pipes across the board IMO.

Do this next time you go out and ride: Come up through the gears and throttle up hard in each one and then let off fairly quick in each gear; also, get out on the road and open her up in highgear then let off the throttle fairly quick -do you hear popping? If so, that's popping on decel and needs to be looked at. Like Grizzly said, check your plugs. If they appear white, the bike is too lean. If they are really dark, too rich. You are looking for a light brown color.

 

Yeah, I think my bike sounds SUPER bad ***. I want someone to ride it, so I can hear what it sounds like from a bystander point of view. My guess is that it rips!

I'll try what you said to see if I get popping in that scenario. I'm honestly not sure if I will or not?