I'm not much of a mechanic and I could use some advice on putting new pipes on my bike. I have a 2009 Deluxe and i'd like to put Vance & Hines pipes on it replacing the factory exhaust. I'll either put their big shots long or double barrel long on. What differences can I find between the two other than the way they look? The main thing I need to figure out is what else will need to be replaced besides the pipes and what would be a good choice for these other parts? I'll pay the bucks to have my dealership do the work but I'd like to have a better idea of what needs to be done and what my options are before I let them have their way with me. I'd appreciate any input I can get.

 

They will likely try to upsell you on a high performance air cleaner to get the best out of the pipes. The fuel injection on your 09 can compensate for the pipes but do some research before you increase the airflow because you will probably run lean (too much air, not enough fuel). This will cause popping, overheating and engine damage.
To avoid this the EFI has to be re-mapped, which gets expensive quick! If the dealer is doing it they will need you to buy a race tuner ($400+ or -) and they will dyno-tune the bike to the new air-fuel mix ($300+ or -) I'm not knocking the dealership, you will be very impressed when they are done, just stings the wallet a bit.
If you only want appearance just do the pipes. There are after-market race tuners that allow you to do the tuning yourself if you decide alter the airflow in the future, you will need a laptop for this.

 

Thanks rickybobby, I'm willing to pay the price. I expect to have to go through everything you mention. What I'd like to have figured out is what to go with as far as new intake, race tuner, etc. I expect it to be expensive but well worth the money when I pick it up. The most important thing is that it's not done half assed. I'll pay for what's needed but I have trust issues when it comes to dealerships.

 

So, you want to go "all the way" with it, huh? At least to "Stage 1", I presume.

Get the pipes you want and pick a free-flowing air cleaner assembly that you like. Personally, I went with the SE Stage 1 kit 29406-08, which fits with my stock air cleaner cover. Here's a whole bunch of air cleaner kits: http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=Scr....c0.m270.l1313

If you're gonna spend the money anyway, you might want to look into aftermarket tuner options. I'm currently running the PC-V from Fuel Moto (who are an hdforums sponsor, and have nice pricing and excellent customer service).

A really cool option, from them, is their Power Vision, which plugs into your stock ECM's diagnostic port and flashes the stock module with an updated fuel map. Add an auto-tune kit to that and you have it even better.

I like everything I've read about the Thundermax system, which completely replaces the stock EFI system. This also has wideband o2 sensors for complete autotuning capability.


I only wish I'd been aware of the Power Vision before I bought the PC-V unit. I'm seriously considering buying a Power Vision anyway, just so I have full capabilities with my bike.

My original intent was to leave the bike stock. Then, "Oh I'll just replace the pipes and air cleaner". Now, I'm buying take-off jugs and heads and sending them in for a bore and port/polish/valve work so I can increase displacement to 107" and have a full-on torque monster.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you should leave your options open-ended. It would really suck to have to spend the same money more than once.

 

I've had a customer use the Thundermax and was very pleased. We haven't had a chance to test the resulting a/f ratio on the dyno yet, but so far he hasn't had any issues. We have a pretty capable performance center with an awesome motor/dyno guy. The Race Tuner is still the best tuner out there in means of tunability and failure rate. Since there are no parts left on the bike, it can't break. I would be more than happy to email you some comparisons of tuners out there. If you're having a dealer install these parts, it might not hurt to ask for their opinion. Nothing worse than to have the dyno guy trying to use software he doesn't like or worse yet understand. Good luck!