Took my 2000 road king across the state to Fuel Moto for my 98" build last week. I was told if I got my bike there at 9am Wednesday, it would be ready to go Thursday afternoon. So, I was there at 8:15 Wednesday morning. No one was there yet, so I unloaded the bike and took a couple pictures of it in front of the building. Brian showed up and we talked for a few, then Bob showed up and we got the bike inside. We talked for a bit, I made sure to try and tell him everything there was to tell that may have any effect on the build they were about to do, and Bob made sure he was very... VERY clear that my V&H true duals were going to have an effect on my final numbers. I held steady, telling him that the look of the dual fishtails was important enough to me to take a bit of a performance hit. He did not argue with me further at the time. I had another bike on the trailer to deliver, and Bob, being from the area, was kind enough to give me directions basically to the guys driveway and I was off.

I delivered the bike and was back in about 2 hours as I had forgotten to ask where the hotel was that I had booked for the night. One of the issues I was having with my bike was that it had started this past summer not starting and idling properly. I had to hold the throttle until it warmed up enough to idle. Bob took me back in the shop to show me where he and Keith had found that there was actually a part missing from my throttle body and then he looked it up online to show me exactly what it was so I'd know what to order and showed me how to fix it. Also, they aren't screwing around over there. Having been gone for 2 hours, when i stepped into the shop with Bob, I saw Keith already had my bike disassembled and the top of the motor off.

So, I took off and went and did other stuff for the day, and was back Thursday morning by about 10 or so. The bike was done and on the dyno... and I knew from the look on Bobs face that he had some less than great news. He explained to me that Jamie was unhappy with the numbers, and I wasn't going to like them either. He took me back to the dyno and showed me what was going on. He was correct. I did not like what I saw. He then again brought up the exhaust. He said with the build I had just had done, and the exhaust I was running, there just wasn't that much more that could be done. Jamie had offered to try re tuning without the baffles, but we decided that was just going to be way too loud. I'll admit, at that point I was kind of bummed... Not with the guys at Fuel Moto, trust me when I say that they made every possible effort to warn me beforehand that this was going to happen, I just was not prepared for the extent that it happened.

At this point, Bob said Jamie was going to see what he had for 2 into 1 systems to test on my bike, they knew I didn't have tons of cash to play around with after the build. A few minutes later, they said that they did have a nice 2 into 1 exhaust that they could give me a pretty rockin deal on, and I agreed. So Keith replaced my exhaust and Jamie got to re tuning. So, after a couple hours of listening to my bike rev to what seemed like impossible heights, Jamie walked out and handed me a paper and said "check this out". Holy ****. 20 horsepower improvement just swapping exhaust. And I gotta tell you, the 2 into 1 actually looks nice, and after hearing my bike with it on there, coupled with seeing the improvement on the dyno, I could care less about taking off the fishtails.

So, what I learned was this... if you have a stock motor and want to switch from stock exhaust to a true dual setup, it'll likely be a wash, maybe even slightly better. But if you're building a pretty stout motor, I don't care what you've read, or what your buddy said... I have seen it, in person, right in front of my face. There is a BIG difference between true duals and a 2 into 1 setup. There just is. Also, Bob has the patience of a saint. I sat at Fuel Moto for a few hours while they made changes and re tuned, and I heard him have the same conversation probably half a dozen times with customers on the phone regarding engine builds and exhaust. These guys have been doing this for ever. They know what they're talking about. And now I have seen it with my own eyes. If you're building a motor much past stock, the exhaust makes a MASSIVE difference. It just does. It's a fact. Keep your true duals if you must, but do so with the understanding that you're leaving significant horsepower and torque on the table to do so.

I also learned that Fuel Moto has earned every single bit of their legendary reputation. Everyone that I met was outstanding and I couldn't recommend them highly enough. My bike sounds like an absolute monster now. I'm as happy as I could possibly be. Thank you Fuel Moto. Not just for the build, but also for the education.

 

Solid write-up.

Thanks.

GM

 

Good to know brother

 

Experienced the same results with TD's and my cam upgrade as well. Was also told that the V&H dresser duals are worst TD set up as well.

 

Sounds like Fuel Moto did you right for your build, what 2 into 1 did you get ? ?

 

FM is a great company with exceptional customer service - just wish they were closer to me so I could have them do some work on my bike - maybe i'f I'm lucky their read this and open a second shop in Colorado....

 

You can't beat that with a stick. Thanks for your up & personal facts.

 

Can you post your Dyno sheet?

 

Wow!

You did a very nice job explaining your build experience with the guys @ FM which i really enjoyed reading & learning from.

Thanks.

Scott

 

I'm curious to know why they had the top off of your motor? At least that's the way I understood what you said, maybe I didn't read it correctly.