I have a '11 street bob, with VH slip ons. I 'm wanting to install a stage one air cleaner. Will I really need a tuner?

 

Most says yes. Some says no.

The general rule seems to be when changing exhaust and air you need to change tunes. Think this way, add more air...fuel supply staying the same...burnt fuel leaving faster...all equal to a lean burn and hotter engine. Than again is is just my way of looking at.

 

Yes...air + pipes = tune, or you'll be running too lean (hot).

 

Since the factory tune is already on the lean side, I'd say yes. I ordered the PC V from Fuel Moto, along with the Auto Tune.

I got a pair of Rush slip-ons and a SE stage 1 kit. I'll be installing all these items when I return home from work (I work on the road). I also plan to remove the catalyst from the head-pipe.

I don't feel the need for added performance, but I do feel the need to cool it down a bit from the factory tune. That's the main reason I'm spending the extra cash on a programmable tuner.

 

in theory no , the 07 and up Harley,s use a closed loop efi that should be able to cope , but i would do the fueller as well , it will run a lot nicer . how did your bike run when you changed the mufflers ?

 

You're bike has o2 sensors, if they are working correctly they should sense the lean condition and correct it. If theres any doubt, check you're plugs now, ride a few hundred miles after intake mod, and check em again. If they look the same (healthy) then you have no problem. And remember, alot of EFI engines plugs run kinda light colored because of how the factory sets them up. Trucks, cars, bikes, etc.
Not saying lean is good, but thats how they make em.

 

Nope, no tuner required on o7 and newer, note the following from Nightriders web site:

Do I need to remap my ECM when installing exhaust and air cleaner upgrades to my 07 and later Harley?
NO, you do not have to do anything. You can put the mufflers/air cleaner upgrades and ride the bike without having to worry about the engine The simple truth is the 07 and later HD's will run just fine with exhaust/air cleaner upgrades and you do not have to do anything to the ECM at all. Closed loop EFI operation uses feedback from the O2 sensor to maintain a constant AFR, even if changes are made to the exhaust and air cleaner. The amount of information about what has to be done '07 and later Harley when installing exhaust/air cleaner upgrades has been the subject of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt). Riders, Dealerships, Parts Suppliers and Aftermarket Shops have presented old-wives tales, bad technical information, mis-information and in some cases, just plain flat lied about the capabilities of the Delphi closed loop ECMs on these bikes. Most people hold on to their old ideas about what was required for the early EFI ECM's. Shops and Dealerships never bothered to learn new the new technology. Marketing information did nothing to dispel the differences between the old and new bikes. Sales staff did not know the difference or mis-represented what was required on the new bikes. There is more independent proof that you do not need to remap the HD EFI when installing mufflers. The March 2009 (page 66) CycleWorld dyno tested a set of slip-on mufflers on an '09 FLH, getting 5% more HP and 9% more torque on a "bone-stock, including EFI mapping" bike. Cycle World is not known as a big Harley cheerleader, so it would be a reasonable assumption that they are not going to do any special favors for MOCO. The CW information is right in line with what HD published in the Fall 2006 Enthusiast Magazine showing a 3% HP and 7% torque increase with slightly more restrictive mufflers and air cleaner kit. American Iron Magazine has also published similar articles about "no remap" upgrades involving exhaust/air cleaner changes. How much information has to be presented to Harley Riders that remapping of the ECM is not required for exhaust/air cleaner upgrades for closed loop bikes? When it can be shown that much of the "gain" in power for bikes remapped with expensive tuning software and piggyback controllers would have occurred without spending $400-$1000, riders need to start thinking about what they are really trying to accomplish on their bikes rather than blindly following the "you must remap just to add exhaust/ac" advice that has been discredited. American Iron Magazine routinely presents exhaust/air cleaner upgrades on 2007>later bikes without doing any ECM remap's. As one of the premier H-D magazines, you must assume their technical staff has some knowledge about how the Delphi closed loop ECM works. So you can be fairly sure that when AIM publishes a dyno sheet with improved power and the bike did not have an ECM remap, that the information is accurate.

 

Very intresting... Here is the link: http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/h...erformance.htm

 

What annoys me about this you cannot even seem to get a consistent answer from different HD dealerships.

The accessories catalogue does state that with the Stage 1 air cleaners, some kind of ecm modification is necessary, which raises the rev limit. Perhaps this is all that the ecm modification actually does.

I hope I can find a definate answer since I inted to get a stage 1 air cleaner later this year. I'm inclined to make no modification to the fueling after fitting the heavy breather.

 

+1, now that has me thinking about dumping my PCV now. Damn it!!