Well first off believe it or not I like the sound and look of the stock exhaust system (FLHRC) and don't want to change it; it nice to ride and not get home with loss of hearing, etc. But I was wondering if adding a Screaming Eagle, or K&N Air Filter assembly would help the bike breath and give a little extra power, so my question is if I'm not doing a Stage 1 is there any benefit to changing out the air filter assembly only or is it a waste of money? I know K&N doesn't make a kit yet for the 2011 103 but Screaming Eagle does.

 

i put a stage one airfilter on my bike 01 eg with stock mufflers,and with the baffles knocked out both, i didnt notace much differance except the open air cleaner is really loud,like a huge vacume cleaner.with a tuner it might be differant.at half throttle it sounds like the bike is about to launch, but when you open it up nothing happens. the dresser mufflers arnt very restrictive, i took one apart once,the rest of the bikes have a glass pack with a plug in the middle,causing all the exhaust to force thru the glass packing, dresser mufflers have real baffles .. your bike has catilists in it so it would be even more restrictive..?????

 

I could be wrong (won't be the first time today), but if you swap the air filter, won't you also need to get your bike re-tuned for the added air flow??

It seems the added air would cause you to run leaner

 

Good question!! The thing is I don't want another Loud Harley that after riding for an hour or so you've lost your hearing, etc. My last bike was a Softail Custom with a stage one including V&H Big shots and such; it was fun but the wife refused to ride on it because it was sooooo loud. The other reason is the dealer wants to mount a single exaust because it would make more power, or at least that is what they are telling me, but I like the look of the duels and adding a fake pipe seems silly to me. The last reason is the $1487 quote for the stage one kit which would be nice but I like a quite HD but more power is always a good thing if I can keep the sound down...

 

The SE Heavy Breather claims a 10 to 15 % increase in horsepower depending on EFI or carb. I do know if you went with this or something like it the newer bikes need an ECM calibration. I have the HB and can't say I really noticed a HP increase but sure do like the way it looks annd it does sound a bit more throaty!!!! FWIW, my 01 RK has a carb.

 

I would bet the horsepower claims are for bone stockers, as was the Power Duals I added thinking I would gain a little and didn't
firedog
09 UCEG 106/251 cams, Monster Ovals, Power Duals SEST