What did you do with your bike today?

I am sorry for your loss. My wife passed away after
twenty years, Maybe the funeral parlor has a support
group? or you might just feel better out on the road,
your knees in the breeze and remembering the good
times. You don't want to get over it, you want to know
how to to get along with it.

I like Harley a lot , got an old 91 Snorty1200 that I put
a fair amount of work into. The Guys at ThunderBay
in Tampa did a great job and later I got a Wide Glide
but sometimes I think the older the bike is, the better
built it is.

God bless and take care

Hello Porky,
Last week I was looking at some Vance Hines pipes,
rather large sweeping pipes, slanting downwards and
outwards in Chrome and black, I don't think I need a
stage 1 for this if I don't change the air cleaner, but if
I do change air cleaner I am told I'd have to get fuel
system remapped as there would be more air sucked
in and without remapping, fuel mixture would be lean.
What do you know about this? and Thanks very much.

The Snortster

Ray'ssporty1200 said:

Hello Eye_ M_ No_ angel Ray here, was thinking about getting big radius
Vance Hines pipes, not for the Snortster but the 2015 wide glide, someone
said, due to bigger pipes, would have to get engine tuned due to back
pressure? If I got a bigger air cleaner, fuel system would have to be
so-called mapped out to allow more fuel otherwise engine would run lean,
sounds right. I like the look of those big radius pipes and was told they'd
sound deep an rumbling, what do you think? and Thanks very much.

Click to expand...

Hey Ray, what'd'ya say?



Your 2015 FXD has wide band O2 sensors and an ECM that is capable of doing some "self learning," so it may be able to handle the new pipes and air cleaner without any further changes. The difference is in exactly how much air the new cleaner is letting in, and how much exhaust the new pipes are letting out. On some air cleaners the actual element really doesn't allow a lot more air to enter. That can especially be true for units that are designed more for looks than performance. In that case you might not need to do anything further. On the other hand, if you have a really free flowing filter and pipes that evacuate very well, you still might need to re-map your ECM or add a fuel controller. You'll need a flow bench or a chassis dynamometer to determine exactly what your new set-up is flowing, or be willing to pay someone else who does have them. $$$$.

What you might want to do instead is to put on your pipes and air cleaner, put in a brand new set of fresh plugs, and ride the bike hard for a hundred miles or so. As much highway speeds as you can. Then pull your plugs and read them and see if it is running thin, very thin, or if it's running pretty well. Once you know that you can assess whether you want to have the ECM re-flashed or if you want to add a fuel controller or what. You may find that you don't need to spend another 3-400 clams at all.

Thanks very much Eye_M_No_Angel,
Frankly was not or am planning on a new air cleaner, as I am told
that doing so ( if new air cleaner element is larger) The bike would
require being tuned as more air coming in would make air/fuel
mixture leaner which can cause overheating. I just think getting
different pipes on her would look good at times.

The 91 Snortster is doing very well I changed over the rear direction
signals to running lights/Direction signals. went to NAPA and got the
socket insert w/ two contacts, low filament is running/ hi side is direction
signals, that + regular tail-lite gives more notice of a bike at nite if just
using tail lite and that bulb's low side went out.
Thanks for your help.

Went out and put just over 70 miles on my V-Star 650. I just replaced the stock seat and Protac backrest with an Ultimate Seat and backrest. My friend who so highly recommended the Ultimate said to give it a while for my butt to adapt. I will but it's mixed so far.

It's comfy at first but after about 1:20 my hips and back were hurting and really hurting by 1:40 where I can go 2:30 or so on the stock seat and Protac. We'll see. It sits 1" lower and 1" forward compared to the stock seat. The lower CG makes a noticeable and beneficial difference in handling, especially at slow speeds, and being 1" closer to the bars with my "short for my height" arms is also an improvement, a bit more relaxed flex in the elbows, but being an inch closer and farther forward with respect to the footboards and foot controls takes some getting used to. I feel my legs a bit scrunched up. Though I do seem to be adapting to that, the seat has a 14 day "try it, ride it, return it if you don't like it" guarantee.

I also had just put the highway pegs on and, though I'd ridden since, not really out on the road where I could try 'em out. They're nice for extended open country cruising, especially now that my legs are otherwise feeling scrunched up! I've moved them up a couple of inches on the engine guard since this photo I took last weekend.