Just purchased new 2013 FLHTK Ultra Limited. Want to get pipes done and figure doing the Stage 1 Air Cleaner and ECM should be part of that. Spoke with my local wrench whom I have dealt with for about 4 years now and asked him what he has been doing for people and what they like. What he recommended was:

Radii Black Tip mufflers (Apparently a Rinehart clone? He says they sound/look identical) ~$250 installed.

Stage 1 Air Cleaner (Didn't ask who makes it, chrome with K&N lifetime filter he said).. forget the exact price.. $200 or so?

Vance & Hines FuelPak.. Another $200 or so I think installed? Total was like $820 to do all 3 with his time included.

Now, the reason I am asking is because I know if i go into the Exhaust forum and ask (I have), everyone will tell me to get the $500 auto tuner, the $600 pipes, etc.. And local guy is certainly willing to sell me higher end stuff if I want but he said his customers have been happy with the above setup.

I'm not interesting in getting every large ft-lb of torque I can out of this thing. I don't want to do 60 dyno runs and tune it. I just want a nice sounding set of pipes, a free flowing air cleaner and a tuner which will get the bike running the way it should instead of the EPA mandated crap that's on there now. The question is, would I be happy with this setup or am I just setting myself up to buy the $500 tuner and such later down the road?

I am just looking for a good sounding, properly tuned bike... I'm coming from a carb'd 1996 Evo Roadking and I was happy with the performance of that. I'm over the whole tweaking thing.. I don't want to play around too much. Does this type of setup sound reasonable given my requirements? I trust the local wrench but I'd always like a 2nd opinion. The price seems good and its something he's familiar with working on so that's always good as well.

 

I wouldn't be.

 

V&H Fuelpak tends to work well with V&H pipes. Lots of complaints from folks using other combinations. Might work out, but might not. I'd buy a real tuner.

 

I'm guessing they have a map for the fuelpak with the pipes and filter you are adding? Sound is subjective and we have know way of knowing what floats your boat.

I would try and listen to a happy customers bike and see if you like what you hear and see first

 

His price isn't bad at all as I suspect you know.
You can spend more, but why. There are peeps who run the V&H fuelpak and are quite content.
I have quite a bit more than that wrapped up in the 3 components, but had my personal reasons for the choices I made.
More money doesn't automatically mean more happiness.
If you have seen the pipes, and heard them, let that be the judge versus coming on a web based forum and getting 360 degrees of input to decide.
When I bought my pipes I was able to see, and hear a pair at the dealer, and thats what made my decision.

 

Is there something else you would recommend given my needs? I'm not planning on modding the engine past this. Like I said I am coming from an 80" Evo stock with a carb. I don't want to be cheap, but I don't want to waste money either. I'm not planning on modding my engine really any further than this and I doubt I will change my mind on that.. I rode my 80" Roadking for nearly 9 years..

 

I don't think you will be happy unless you replace the headers or at least de-cat the stock ones. Mufflers are subjective so no opinion there. I was not happy until I bought a super tuner and had the bike properly dyno tuned. I could have saved some money on my last 2 bikes if I did that the first time.

 

I haven't heard the pipes but will before I purchase. I'm really not that picky to be honest. Stock sucks, I really don't mind the sound of most other pipes.. its a matter of taste I know but mine is pretty broad. I guess my major concern is the Fuelpak.. everyone seems to say you NEED to be able to tweak every last thing.. not sure I need that given I really don't want to tweak the the hell out of it to get the last bit of HP. Seems like a reasonably priced option but if people think I will have issues down the road I am not against buying a better one.. but most people here seem to be the type that wants to sit there and mod their engines and tweak their performance.. I really don't.. just want to to ride..

 

It's hard to say if you will be happy "or not" with the changes you are making. The stage 1 is a very easy install, I did the K&N 3930 I purchased off Amazon for $127, Rinehart 4" pipes and the Power Commander V. It took me about 2 hours to install all of these parts and I am not at all mechanical. The one problem I had with the 2013 Ultra Limited was the heat on the right side. I went with the V&H Dresser Duals to resolve that problem. Good luck!

 

For what you are looking for that should work fine for you. Although I would ditch the fuel pack and just get Xied's for about $125 from Knight Rider. No tuning involved they just change the air/fuel mixture and make your bike run great.