I'm going to get a Stage 1 kit for my 09 RK - I'm going through the dealer b/c I have credit w/him on a gift card. I'm planning on doing the SE mufflers, the Stage 1 air cleaner kit & Power Commander.

My question is, is it really necessary to get the bike on the dyno for this relatively common set-up, or should the dealer have a plug-in map for the Power Commander all ready to go? I will pay the $ for the dyno time if it's necessary, but I wonder if it's worth the extra cost if there's already a map available.

 

You need the Dyno. The canned maps are close based on a test bike. Each bike is different. On the Dyno they can balance everything throughout the entire rev range. Smooth curves, no spikes. If you want the full performance from your bike and the correct fuel economy, put it on the Dyno.

 

You can get a canned map off powercommander.com for free or pay your dealer to dyno it and probably get some better performance if your dealer knows what he's doing. If he doesn't know what he's doing it could be worse than the canned map.

 

Save your money. Stage 1 is so minor that the canned map will be close enough. You might pick up a coupla HP from a dyno tune, but it is unlikely to be enough to notice.

Theres dyno tunes and theres dyno tunes, some people think that 3 WOT pulls on an inertia dyno consists of a dyno tune....

 

Sorry, have to correct you there. It is not minor, and it is not just a gain in a few HP. It is also the Torque and where the torque comes in. You can have the bike tuned so you can have it low end or mid range. Your canned map could be running rich or less likely, lean. It is true that the Guy on the Dyno needs to know what he is doing. I would ask the Dealer how long they expect for the bike to be on the Dyno. If they say 30 mins to an hour......leave. A good Mechanic who cares about his work can spend hours fine tuning. What you get is a smooth Torque and Horespower curve. You will also get reliabilty. My advice, listen to what people say on the Forum but do your research and then decide.

 

This is kind of like which oil to use question. Everyone has their own opinion. If I had the money and it was not an issue I'd do it. However, if finances were tight I'd stick with a canned map.

 

No you cant. No tune is gonna make torque turn up at low end or mid range.

Where torque turns up is determined by the hardware eg cams, valve sizes, port sizes etc.

All a good tune will do is ensure that AFR and timing are optimised at each rpm and throttle position / MAP. This will ensure the maximum torque is delivered at the rpm and throttle position the engine is operating at.

Engines are not that sensitive to AFR and timing. This is an excellent article that condenses a lot of stuff around tuning:
http://www.daytona-sensors.com/tech_tuning.html

Take a look at the AFR and Torque charts in the article. +-5 degrees in timing and +-1 AFR point makes very little difference to the maximum torque that the engine will make.

Hence my comment. A stage 1 is so lightly modified that the canned stage 1 map is gonna be within +-5 degrees timing and +-1 AFR point and even if it aint the motor is only making a pittance of power so the % change doesnt amount to much.

 

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...-tomorrow.html
Read this thread and decide for yourself. My .02 is that a dyno tune is worth the $ it smooths out the power band and ensures the a/f ratio is where it needs to be so that the motor will be around for a while. The big IF in all of this is if you can find a good tuner, people that have swear by tuning, people that haven't say a canned map will be just as good. Good luck

 

If you want to get everything you can out of the money you have spent already then dyno tune it.
I personally can't see spending the cash you have already have and then not go the extra 1/2 mile to make it pay.

 

Thanks for all the input. I can see both sides of this - I agree that it's a really minor modification (if I were going w/cams, etc it'd be a no-brainer), but also it's a new motor (less than 200 mi. right now) and I want it to last, so my interest in the dyno tune has more to do w/making sure the mixture is right for longevity than squeezing the last HP out of it.
Talking to the dealer, he was really shining it on about them having a special on dyno time through Feb, and I felt a little pressure to do it soon, which kind of turned me off a bit & made me wonder if he wasn't upselling a little.
I'll ask about how long the dyno will take, and may call the other shop in the next town over for comparison. If it's a quickie dyno, I may be better off to just get a canned map 'til I can find a good shop to dyno it.