I know it's discussed over and over and almost universally accepted that upgrading mufflers and A/C mean a stage 1 tune comes next. I have been running V/H slip ons from the beginning and last night added the FuelMoto billet a/c. This is the one where you reinstall the stock football after the new cleaner assembly is installed. The football fully encases the assembly but the filter is opened up around the back and sides whereas it used to be totally enclosed. Can't really hear any big air being sucked like some guys talk about so point is I know I'm getting more air but maybe not as much as some other a/c's.

Only have one 30 mile ride on it so far. I don't notice any radical changes in performance one way or another. Slightly improved throttle response maybe. Seemed to get a bit better gas mileage but it's too early to make that call. Minor decel popping consistent w/ how it was before the a/c. I don't know...I'm just wondering how mandatory a stage 1 tune really is? If this modification put things too far out of specs I would think I'd be getting check engine lights, error codes, noticeable performance issues but maybe they will arise later. I'm keeping a close eye on it, but I have a friend who did upgraded mufflers and a/c a year ago and never did a tune. He's running fine. Not saying I won't do the tune if I need it, but I'm not sure I do. Any strong opinions on this one way or another? Anybody add these upgrades and NOT do the tune?

 

It will run it just won't be running at peark preformance. The O2 sensors should compensate to bring it back to the normal stock 14.6-1 AFR in the cruise range but it is outside that area that will suffer the worst. The ECM can learn adaptive values for outside closed loop opperations but I don't know how much it can actually learn/compensate. The biggest thing you will gain with a tune is a little better throttle response, reduced temps and slightly more power. Every bike responds differently and every rider notices different things so how much change you and your bike would notice after a tune is hard to say.

 

What machine are you riding? A tune will enhance those 2 other mods and that's where you'll see the gain.

 

Fooey on the Stage 1 tune bullshit. Buy a set of Xied's and be done with it! That will take care of your decal popping. $100 fix.

 

If it makes the bike run cooler in the summer heat, that alone makes it worth it.

 

FWIW, I've bought two 2005 Heritages this year and they both came with the seemingly mandatory State 1 kits.

I'm now reinstalling the stock OEM muffs (wife and I dislike the extra noise of the aftermarket muffs) and may eventually re-flash the computers to stock OEM settings, but not sure about that.

Stage 1 mods are not cheap ... several hundred dollars for a wee bit more HP and torque?... waste of money, IMHO, unless you just want to make more noise. But trying to make a turtle waddle a bit faster strikes me as funny.

JMHO.

 

Some bikes seem to compensate just fine on stock software, others don't. The only way to truly know would be to strap the bike to a dyno and make a couple pulls, monitor the AFRs, and go from there. Without knowing what your AFRs are, it's almost impossible to say whether or not you need the ECM flashed/tuned.


Just my $0.02

 

Like others have suggested, the Stage I tune will [most likely] benefit the bike (cooler temps) but will unlikely provide a noticeable change to the rider. Maybe a better throttle response??? It's a give and take... an unwanted consequence. By enriching the AFR, your gas mileage (mpg) will generally decrease.

IMO, if your goal is a REAL performance increase, a Stage I tune will not do it. You'll need a Stage II upgrade for that.

You may want to look into the VIED vs XIED. With the VIED you have the ability to adjust the AFR.

 

You don't mention what year bike you have...this does make a difference.

Here is a link with really good information on your exact question.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/elect...uning-etc.html

For more information on the XiED products, click HERE

 

Sorry guys...thought I had that in my info tag line but I guess not. 2013 FLSTC. I'm really not looking to get hog wild with added tweaked performance. I upgraded the mufflers because I didn't like the stock looks or sound. I upgraded the a/c to get a little more air intake. Prob could have just kept stock a/c tho if I'm being honest about it. I'm kind of feeling like dealer tunes and dynos are big up-sell items with little added value to the consumer. I have looked into XiED's or ViED's and they are on the table, but I haven't made a decision yet.