Some of you are familiar with my new cam and exhaust install and tune/poor performance....well I have it figured out.

(note - I had the admins delete the previous thread on this because it gave my first tuner a pretty big "black eye" and I want keep from people bashing on a public forum)

So I had a 2011 flhrc with SE ventilator, VH Power Duals, Monster Rounds, and SEPST. I started smart tuning and the bike it started running crappy. I thought, well for 250 bucks Ill just have it dyno tuned...

One thing led to another and I installed a TTS-100 cam set, SE adjustable pushrods, Rockout insert things, lifters, and whatever else...oh and I took the monster rounds off and installed Bassani DNTs.

The bike sounded AWESOME! Took it to get a tune and the results were poor. Torque curve was NOT desirable and the peak numbers were lower than expected. How could this be I thought...those DNTs are supposed to be pretty good with low end torque...at least that is what I read, plus I am not running true duals and those Power Duals are supposed to be pretty decent as well...how could the mufflers make such a difference?

It wasn't so much the numbers were low but the curve was steep on the front and and narrow. Took it for a ride and performance was....straight up shitty. Tons of back firing, really jumpy throttle. It was defiantly faster at the right RPM just not what I would call smooth.

I started asking questions and become more and more dissatisfied with my tune as comments came in on the forum. I sent the tune over to TTS and Lonewolf Performance up in BC. They both reported back to me with the same feedback.

Because of the DNTs that I installed, that was likely the cause of loss of low end torque...but...

Lots of blanket styling in the tables...and SAME adjustments to both front and rear cyl, along with some other stuff (big shout out to Russel at Lonewolf for taking the time to review my tune and provide honest, quality feedback. I can't get through the boarder crossing into Canada to bring the bike up to him.).

So to me that seems like he loaded a canned map, made a couple tweaks, and did a few pulls on the dyno to get a graph, along with playing the other dyno games to show results on paper...Guess that is what you get for 250 bucks right?

I called up Steve Huff and had him tune it with TTS (google Steve Huff and you will see his credentials). He spent a ton of time with me teaching me things. I feel VERY confident that I have a good quality tune now.

The bike runs excellent. Power comes on smooth and it pulls hard at about 2700rpm up. The dyno numbers came up a bit as well.

Steve ran about 35 recorded pulls on the dyno. The first five for baseline. On his dyno peak torque went from baseline 98 to 104 uncorrected. The curve is much wider now, though the front end is still low.

We checked results from several other bikes he ran with the same cams and head pipe as me and guess what...the only difference..those DNTs. Now I know there are many other things at play, but in my mine the DNTs are causing the low torque below 2700rpm...just as you helpful HDforum guys and Russel said.

The chart we spent the most time looking at...guy had everything the same as me except he had VH 4.5" Monster Rounds with competition baffles vs my DNTs. At 2200rpm he was at 90lb-ft I am at 80. Of course, the front end of his curve is much, much more level/gradual.

But now it is confirmed and I feel good about it.

The bike sounds great and is much quicker. My buddy and I took a little ride this evening. My buddy rides a 2016 SGS (103HO I think) with SE cleaner and VH Big Radius. Off the start I spanked him. Rolling start in 2nd at about 30mph its close. Rolling start in 5th at about 60 he might have me slightly...

Couple things I learned:
1. Mufflers make a difference...lol
2. Have patience...I was going to go with Steve Huff from the get go but I got anxious to get the work done and.....well I went to that other guy.
3. I would have used the stock pushrods.
4. I would have taken a harder look at the TTS-150 cams.
5. I spent way more money than I could have.

I learned a TON throughout this month long journey and now I can look forward to a relatively inexpensive mod to increase the low end torque.

I love the way it sounds, and the scoots along pretty quickly. When I get tired of the exhaust or want a little more power I can just to an easy 2 into 1 pipe swap and retune and I will have a new beast on my hands....

Thanks to those of you who took a look at my issues and responded!

 

Update, Just got a text from Steve and he thinks he can work a little more on my low end torque....more to come!

 

If you your tuner is planning on getting the bike back on the dyno for some additional testing and you would like to try some different mufflers, I may be able supply a set of our Jackpot mufflers to test. I am certain we can pick up low end torque over your current mufflers. If you or your tuner are interested you can contact me directly at jamie@fuelmotousa.com

 

Thanks Jamie...that is awesome! Let me get with Steve and see if he is interested.