Hi! I am new to HDForums and have been reviewing the post and find a welth Knowledgeable people with the willingness to help others that are just learning! So my first post is a THANK YOU TO everyone!!!!!!

 

Hi. My first question is for a friend! He just bought a 2011 Fatboy and installed V&H staggered exhaust and left air filter stock. He found his plugs to be white in color and was concerned. He had the dealer download a "emissions complyant map" for SE slip on mufflers and high flow air filter. Seems to be popping a lot and plugs are still white! He says its a very slight change in shade. Question is! Could the stock filter be causing a lower air flow than ECM is expecting result in a lean condition. We thought it would cause a rich condition but I have learned with heavy equipment that computor controlled engines sometimes gives unexpected results

 

master of none.. Welcome to the site.

I moved your question out of the TTS thread to be out in the open so others would see it.

First... the 2011 softails have a different electronic system than other bikes of that or any other year due to the HDLAN system and the dealer did all they could do by flashing the only calibration available at this time. It will be sometime this spring before the aftermarket will be able to work on the HDLAN system bikes.

Next... When changing only pipes you should be OK with the factory calibration or the calibration your dealer used. The calibration they used is still lean because it is EPA compliant as you stated above. So, the plugs will be white. After you flash an ECM it will take about three tanks of gas before the Adaptive Learning within the ECM to adjust but I'll bet you a dollar to a doughnut his plugs will still show lean.

Since your friend changed pipes he should check the depth of his 02 sensors to see it they actually are in the exhaust flow and can read properly. If they are not in the exhaust flow they will not allow the ECM to fuel the bike properly nor allow it to adjust through it's Adaptive Learning.

See the attachment. This is a rear 02 sensor measured depth from another set of V&H pipes recently purchased. There is a paper clip behind the sensor and it is butted up against the threaded shoulder of the sensor next to the crush gasket. See the line to the middle top of the paper clip? That is how deep the 02 bung is that is welded in the V&H pipe. It is deeper than the 02 sensor is long. So, this is evidence that the sensor is not in the exhaust flow.

Have your buddy check both front and back sensors. Remove them and straighten a paperclip. Put a 90* bend on the end of the paperclip to hook the inside of the welded bung hole in the pipe. Mark how deep the bung hole is. Measure it to an 02 sensor. It should be shorter than the sensor by 30/ to 1/2 inch so the sensors can read properly. If not, you can either call V&H and bring this to their attention or all you can do is cut the mounting bung down as flush as possible and chase with a tap.

-wiz

 

Thank You Mr Wizard
we measured the distance of the mounting boss for the 02 sensors to the exhaust pipe and found them to be the same as the factory pipes. Just a note: the boss is welded to the pipe at a angle and when measured from the long side it may seem that the sensor is not in the exhaust flow but when short side is measured it is clearly in the exhaust flow. I dont know how well the sensor is able to measure the exhaust gases but it is identical to the factory exhaust. Any idea how the factory air filter would cause the system to react when the download was for pipes and High flow air filter? He does need to run about 2 more tanks through the bike then check his plugs again though. He does have a little popping problem and we are assuming its due to the lean condition. Considering installing a high flow air filter to see if it helps but wanted some idea of what he could expect! However he does not want to do that if it clearly wont help or even hurt the situtation. Thanks Again

 

You didn't say but did you actually pull an 02 sensor and check or did you just measure from the outside?

His situation will be exasperated by the more open air intake and the adjustments maybe outside the range of what the ECM can adjust. Regardless, he will install a free flow AC sooner or later so, why not try the install. He can always go back to the stock cleaner if it is real bad.

His decel popping could also be exhaust reverberation caused by short-straight pipes. He may have to live with it until the aftermarket catches up with a tuner that will work to his advantage.

 

So, are 2011 Softtail owners still limited to the Screaming Eagle tuner?

 

As of 2 week ago when I bought a tuner for my 2011 there were only a couple of tuners that would work with a 2011 softail. The SEPRT was one (the one I got) and there was one other that I forget the name of but it was significatly more $$'s than the SEPRT. I was really hoping for the TTS but did not want to run the bike any longer than I had to with stage 1 and no tuner.