Well, hell . . . I couldn't stand it. Just had to get a new Street Glide Special which I'll pick up this afternoon. The first thing I'm going to do is change out the head pipe for one without a cat. For the time being, I'll be running the stock air cleaner and mufflers. Will it be necessary to retune the bike? I'm thinking I probably won't need to but I don't want to hurt the engine.

 

No, just removing the CAT will really make no difference except for the heat.

 

Which header pipe did you get? We have Vance&Hines with Reinhart mufflers, screeming eagle/K&N air box (which I don't see that making a big difference) and a screeming eagle race programer. All that together does make a big improvement. I feel it's much quicker.

With the new water cooled engine, and the new header pipes you will see a big difference in heat and you may notice some power increase too. Plan on the other mods when you can, you want be disappointed.

 

With the cat gone, you are now free to add a bit more fuel to allow your bike to run cooler and smoother.

Lots of success with adding an inexpensive Vied fuel enrichener.

If later you make more modifications, you can just adjust the Vied by turning the dial.

 

He's getting the street glide special so it won't be water cooled. I don't guess they get the water cooled yet.

 

Thank you for your replies and I would like to modify my initial post. After arriving home at dusk with temperatures in the high 30's (F), the FIRST thing I'm going to do is hook up power for my Gerbing heated gear. The SECOND thing I'm going to do is swap out the head pipe and I will reinstall the FL-VIED-10 which I removed from my 103" Road King. It seemed to work well before. At 70, I don't feel the need for more power, just a cooler exhaust so I probably won't add any further performance enhancements.

 

I've found that a .22 magnum is great for Cat removal.