on a 2008 crossbones... what kind of gains, HP and torque, should I expect? Im trying to decide if I should upgrade or not.

Any help will be appreciated!

 

Most of the people I see reports from indicate that they get somewhere around 85HP and between 95-100 ft-lbs of torque from the HD Stage II upgrade to a 96" motor. I would avoid using the catalytic mufflers in the street legal kit however. They are quiet but have too much back pressure and will rob you of performance (which is why you do the upgrade in the first place). Ask the dealer to give you a credit for the cat mufflers toward something like SE street performance (80491-07 for touring bike) or some other slip-on mufflers.

I have a Stage II setup on my '08 Ultra and it dynoed out at 84HP and 99 ft-lbs of TQ but the SERT tune is OK,not great. Look at the dyno numbers at the top of the touring forum and you will see what people are getting out of stock, Stage I and so on upgrades for comparison.

 

Thats about what I expected...


I ordered a 2008 FLSTSB Crossbones. I plan on buying a full system V&H, the SE Stage 2 kit, performance air cleaner, and a some kind of Fuel Management System. (i've got another question on that one).

I come from a Sportbike background, so, while I know a hog wont be anywhere close, I do want SOME power.

 

I have been riding for 52 years and the majority of my bikes were Kawasakis or BMWs. You won't get the rush that a strong 4 cyl engine gives when on a Harley unless you really spend some big bucks to get a 113" or larger engine. Somewhere along the line, you start to give up potential long term reliability the more you mod a Harley. Nothing looks better than aHarley IMO, however. It's a more relaxed ride with HD - power cruising vs. better performance on a metric or rice burner machine. My lastfour bikes before I got an '06 Ultra were an '02 Goldwing, a '99 BMW K1200LT, an '04 BMW R1150TR and a Honda ST1300. I decided that I wanted the bags for trips to the Smokies and I like my '08 Ultra the most of any of those. Harleys have soul while the others were OK but not as much fun to look at or ride.