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[pvanwagner]

Looks for advice on with our new 2017 CVO SGs.  In the past with our 88" Softails and 103" Limiteds we've always gone extreme with headers, cams, intakes, full flowing exhaust and sometimes ported/polished heads and always got them dyno tuned. 

With our 2012 Softail 103" we purchased last year we just replaced the air cleaner with the HD stage 1 and put V&H slipons on which removed the cats and were really happy with the results from the FP3.  It felt like a whole new bike.  I wish the cat on the SG was in the mufflers like it is with the Softail, that would make this a lot easier.

On our 2017 CVO SGs we don't want to go as extreme and are considering just the FullSac 2" baffle replacements.  Anyone out there go mild on the new CVOs and how did it turn out?  It's a strong motor and I'm not sure how much we need to add to this one.  Of those that may have just replaced the baffles did you use the FP3 or another tuner and did you feel you got additional power from the self tune?

Thanks.

[pvanwagner]

Looking for advice from anyone that did just the FullSac replacement baffles on a 2017 114" stock motor and whether or not they used a tuner like TTS or FP3.

Thanks.

[Para Bellum]

There are several posts in this section about replacing mufflers on the '17s.  The end result seems to be that almost all of the restriction on '17s is in the header.  If you change just the mufflers (or baffles), there won't be much of a change.  Even the sound level doesn't go up a lot, even with normally-very-loud mufflers, such as CFRs.

As to tuning the bike, whether with TTS, Direct Link, Power Vision, or anything else...that depends entirely on the competence of the person doing the tuning.  There are some good ones out there, and you can get recommendations on here--just tell where you are.  Unfortunately, most tuner guys aren't that great, and the majority of HD dealers have mediocre tuners.

If you're getting a canned map, such as from Fuel Moto, it depends on how close your bike is to the bike the tuner-person used to develop the map.

The professional tuner guys will use a full-featured tuner box like those above.  Although there are many people happy with the FP3, it doesn't have full "access" to change all the things the full-featured boxes can.  Many people bought an FP3 or something like it, and either found it didn't do much for them, or later they wanted to do major mods (like you've done to earlier bikes) and it wouldn't dial in with a big cam and porting and so on...so they ended up dumping the "half-measure" box, at a loss, and buying one of the capable ones.

[pvanwagner]

I've had bikes dyno'ed with Race Tuner and TTS.  I've done the auto tune with FP3 on my Softtail that I replaced just exhaust and air cleaner and it was like a whole new bike.  I get the difference between the tuners and really like all of them for different reasons.

My big question was how others were feeling about their STOCK 114 engines with just exhaust work and whether or not they felt they needed a tune afterwards and what the results were.  I realize you don't have to do a tune after just changing the slip on's but I'm looking for what others found when they did their bike.

I have only been able to find posts about 114 rebuilds or 114's that had extensive work done.  Looking for more input.

Thanks.

**edited to correct my typo of 117 - should have been 114**

[grc]

I've had bikes dyno'ed with Race Tuner and TTS.  I've done the auto tune with FP3 on my Softtail that I replaced just exhaust and air cleaner and it was like a whole new bike.  I get the difference between the tuners and really like all of them for different reasons.

My big question was how others were feeling about their STOCK 114 engines with just exhaust work and whether or not they felt they needed a tune afterwards and what the results were.  I realize you don't have to do a tune after just changing the slip on's but I'm looking for what others found when they did their bike.

I have only been able to find posts about 114 rebuilds or 114's that had extensive work done.  Looking for more input.

Thanks.

**edited to correct my typo of 117 - should have been 114**

Steve of Fulsac has posted information about this very thing, based on his testing of early M8's.  Try searching his posts.

Here's one I found:
https://www.cvoharley.com/smf/index.php?topic=110300.msg1411670#msg1411670

What I take away from that post is that if the only thing you're worried about is damaging the engine, changing the muffler baffles or even the complete mufflers won't shift the open loop AFR enough to be of concern. 

Ultimately you will need to determine if the bike runs well enough and smoothly enough to meet your expectations.  If you have driveability issues, a good tune can fix that.  If you don't have issues, wait until you decide to make real performance mods before looking at tuning.  And btw, in case you haven't been following the news on 2017's, before making any decisions on tuning and mods you may want to research how that will affect your factory warranty.  The days of looking the other way and ignoring illegal mods are over.

Jerry

[Para Bellum]

My big question was how others were feeling about their STOCK 114 engines with just exhaust work and whether or not they felt they needed a tune afterwards and what the results were.

**edited to correct my typo of 117 - should have been 114**

Gotcha.  To zoom in on that:  Many people have been very pleased with a tune done to stock bikes with just slip-ons or baffles changed...but 95%+ of the reports here are on TC engines, not M8.  Check posts from SDCVO; he's had two or three different slip-ons on his '17 SESG, and I think he had it tuned at least once with non-stock cans (but he had it built to 117 before delivery, so he may not be able to compare it to 114).  His page:  https://www.cvoharley.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=19265

[SDCVO]

Gotcha.  To zoom in on that:  Many people have been very pleased with a tune done to stock bikes with just slip-ons or baffles changed...but 95%+ of the reports here are on TC engines, not M8.  Check posts from SDCVO; he's had two or three different slip-ons on his '17 SESG, and I think he had it tuned at least once with non-stock cans (but he had it built to 117 before delivery, so he may not be able to compare it to 114).  His page:  https://www.cvoharley.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=19265

He is correct, i tried everything before I finally went to a pro with a TTS. Completely different bike after and would have saved a whole boatload of money if I would have just gone that way in the first place. Amazing the difference between the TTS and the Harley Pro Street tuner..