Ok guys, does this look like my Lo is running lean?

Bike only has 2500 miles on it. It has V&H Short Shots and the SE Intake (on the bike when I bought it), as a dealer claimed "Stage 1".

 

Pipes and A/C only help it breathe better, but they are a necessary part of "Stage I."

You need to do something to adjust the mixture.

Lots of ways you can do this from cheap (XiEDs) to spendy (Power Commander race tuner or the like).

Plenty of middle ground options to choose from, too. Decide what you really need (maximum performance, customizable performance, better-than-stock performance, or just a richer mixture for the health of your engine), and go from there.

If you search for threads with "Stage I" you'll get hundreds of hits.

 

Thanks man!

I have suspected it was not a full Stage1, and have been back to the dealer a couple of times questioning whether they did a re-map (right term?) and they always said "its just the exhaust making noise....

 

i dont think the fist and last pics look too bad, maybe a shade lean. the one in the middle is hard for me to tell. most of the time when my twincam andmy evo wich had the wrong jets in it, ran lean the plugs looked like the were blasted with chalky white powder. esp. on the ground strap. now that ive tund my evo right the plugs show a pastel colord tan on the ground strap and the insulator. same withmy twinkie after a remap.

 

Your bike is lean and any map the dealer installs will always be too lean. They can't make one rich enough to be right. Pipes and breather are considered stage one most of the time. Stage two is consider most of the time as the big bore kit. My plugs are black sooty on both bikes. It took extra effort to get them that rich. I bought and used my SERT on the 03 and the 98 is carbed so it took some bigger jets. My mileage on a good day only reaches around 36-37 mpg on either bike. Before I tuned them they got 40 plus mpg. 03 has had a cam change out with free flowing exhaust and intake---the exhaust and intake has been changed on the 98. Both bikes were too lean after working on them---now they are rich and somewhat environmentally unfriendly. Lean is mean but rich last forever.

 

It looks chalky in person... pics don't seem to represent what I am seeing.

thanks

 

JB,

The environment is the last thing (maybe not last) thing on my mind.

Do you think MoCo sells them that lean, for the MPG claims?

Now I have to start the search for the holy grail... tuner or Indy tune... or both... damn... should I go and do a 255 cam swap before I tune?.. LOL... dammit

 

Looks pretty good. Perhaps just a bit lean. If ya got no pinging, I wouldnt worry about it

 

A friend of mine is a Harley Master Mechanic who has since started his own little shop. He told me the Twin Cam runs best when it runs a little lean. I, however, prefer my bike to run just a little bit richer than your plugs indicate. But, if you have the oxygen sensors, fuel injection, and ECM on your bike, then unless you get a fuel management system that is easily adjustable, then you will probably continue to run a little lean.