Hey all. I have a few questions about upgrades. I am a little confused about what my first order of business should be with my bike (softail deluxe 2010). Should I consider going full stage 1 or adding just an air filter and slip ons to the exhaust etc? If so what is the difference? Obviously price is a consideration, but what about performance? What is the most important upgrade(s) that should be my primary goal? And are there other upgrades that I should be considering along the way? Thanks.

 

If you are going to change the air filter you will need to remap the engine somehow. Whether it be a harley download, pcIII, fuelpak or one of the other various products on the market, it will need to be done. However if you only add slip on's you will not need to spend the extra on a mapping and/or device.

 

It largely depends on what you want. Change the A/C and you will need to remap.

My first priority is to make the bike comfortable for me, I'd say add a cup holder.

 

And maybe a basket on your handle bars..

 

What if I change the exhaust? will I still need to re-map?

 

No. When you change the air cleaner you will need to have it remapped or install a fuel management system.

 

Remember you have a two year warranty and some changes can void your warranty. HP out of the box is somewhat expensive for what you get in the air filter/ exhaust category. The K&N filter is a good filter and I have one on both of my bikes with the screaming eagle back plates with a very modest gain of torque and hp. The problem mostly is the exhaust. I have been told to stay in warranty you have to use screaming eagle exhaust. This exhaust is too restrictive for me and too quiet. Then you have to remap--which is expensive unless you buy a tuner. Some tuners can cause you to run into warranty issues. It goes on and on. It is your bike--your choices.

 

Just get the stage 1 with the SERT, you wont regret it, and it wont cause problems in the future.

 

Remember this, If you do the stage 1 kit it would be to your benefit to be able to roll back to stock if you had to. What do I mean? Well, for me I wanted to be able to unplug all the modifications and slap all the stock stuff back on and not be able to tell by running the engine or visually that I had the kit installed.

So here you have two options if and when you do this,

Options 1. (have the dealer do it which will keep your warranty in tact)

Install the SE Slipons or other pipes whether it be SE, V&H etc. available at the dealer.
Replace the stock A/C with a high flow kit.
Have the dealer remap the ECU for your setup.

You're now locked in this setup unless you spend another 200.00 to remap it back to stock if you had to for whatever reason.

Option 2. (you put in what you want)

Install the pipes or slipons of your choice.
Replace the A/C as above.
Install a fuel management pack.

This option will allow you to unplug everything and return everything back to stock. I like this option. It allows you to just unplug the added ECU and keep the factory ECU programming. This is a piggyback unit so it just unplugs for removal.

 

read where on the closed loop fuel inj you really dont have to remap when you change the air cleaner because it will automatically compensate itself, I have not tried this just what I read has any one else tried it