Allright, so i think im going to pause on the "visual" upgrades for the moment and spend some money on performance...

What is the deal with the power commanders? do they really make a difference?

is getting new pipes and intake going to give me a boost as well?

Power commander Vs New Pipes/intake? or both are needed?

 

The Power commander or Thundermax or what ever brand you use are just a means to tune the fuel injection. It gives the tuner a means to access the system to make changes ( or you can use pre-programed maps). In the days of carbs it was just jets and screws. If you change the A/C you'll need a tuner. You could do just pipes and no tuner but why bother. It'll just be more noise and no more power. Do a search on here. Lots of info to be found.

 

I agree with mike06train. You have to do the air, pipes and fuel management as a package. You can do the pipes first to get some real sound out of her...but you're really not going to see any performance increase. Once you add the air and fuel management you'll see a new beast and the bike will run much cooler. I'm putting it all on my bike this weekend. I've already noticed how hot she seems to run compared to my Deluxe (same bike basically). You'll be much happier with it all on there.

If you decide to go with V&H pipes and you don't plan on doing the Stage II stuff...I'd recommend just getting the V&H FuelPak. It's made to work with their pipes, is easy to install and set up and can be moved to another bike in the future. I've had it on all my bikes and they've run perfectly. And I've yet to read about a bike not working because of the FuelPak. But I have read issues with the PC's. My $.02.

 

good deal, yeah i dont want noise for the sake of noise... i want power.

so, i could, in theory do the power commander and no new pipes for the time being and see an increase in perf?

 

hmmm.. interesting.. yeah i was thinking of going with V&H and i saw the fuel pack thing...

 

I installed the V&H Big Radius 2-into-1 with intake and fuelpak. Runs stronger and great improvement in sound. I've has no problems with the fuelpak so far. I agree, you should do all three together.

V&H has a few black pipes that look great on the FBLo. I have the Big Radius 2-into-1 and I'v seen and heard the big radius 2-into-2 on our bike. Both are a good choice. The sideshots are a bit short. Met a guy last month who installed the sideshots on the FBLo but is already going to make a change to one of the Big Radius'. But thats personal preference. Choice of pipes will depend on your choice of desired sound and looks. 2-into-1 and longshots have a low rumble and sideshots and shortshots are higher. The 2-into-2 is somewhere in the middle. For a visual and sound go onto youtube and search V&H and FatboyLo, you'll see different pipes and intakes.

Installation is EZ and should be able to do it yourself. Will need friend to help with the 2-into-1 pipes since it's all one piece. Make sure you tape up your bike and new exhaust before installation (blue painters tape). The black finish chips very easily. Have fun deciding. Post pictures after installation.

 

Definitely do a full stage one which is air cleaner, tuner and pipes. I dislike the fuelpak. Power commander or TTS if you want to make more power. Contact me for discounted pricing on everything. Email or PM is fine.

Drew

 

Fuel Pack works ok ut is limited. You can't dyno tune with a fuel pack. So if you want to do something like cams later, you'll be switching to something like the PC3 or 5 later. Vance & Hines make great pipes but so do Rinehart or D&D and a tone of others. Look around. Also, check out V&H pro pipe.

 

Your bike is begging for a black lowcat or fatcat from D&D.

 

We have a dyno section in here,, just go to page 1 and look at the sticky threads,, there U can see what others are doing and getting with different pipes, A/C and cams.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...-softails.html