Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[dvbart]

Hi everyone.  This site is pretty sweet, I'm glad I found it.  Hoping you call can teach me a little.   I took a motorcycle class exactly one year ago and went out and had to buy the FXDSE2...  I love it, don't regret it for a second.  I'm just now getting super comfortable as a rider and with the bike and am not thinking about mods.  Really, only one mod, the exhaust.  I have no idea where to start.  I read a bunch of threads that tell me about the computer thing and suggestions on pipes, but here's some basic questions:

- Do I search for Dyna pipes or do I need to find something for a 110?  In other words, are pipes sold by frame or engine?

- What can I do with the stock pipes?  Are they any good?

- What exactly is the computer/fuel/air thing you suggest getting do? How does it work? The power commander et al?

- I think I like the V&H radius look, but it seems to be what a lot of people with this model bike put on.  I like the stuff Martin Brothers has, but it's all for softails... particularly the shockwaves.  Does anyone know of any shockwave type look (the cross over) that someone else makes for Dyna/SE?

I think that's enough questions to hammer home my noobness.  Thanks a ton guys, I look forward to long-term CVO ownership!

Dan

[Fired00d]

Dan,
I moved your thread here because your post was more of a technical nature. Having it in the introductory thread might get you a lot of "welcome" posts instead of the technical info you are seeking. However since you are new I do want to welcome you to the site, and if you want start a new thread to introduce yourself in the "New Member Introduction" board w/o technical questions feel free to do so.

To answer your questions (at least the ones I can)...

1. You will need to find pipes that fit your frame/model bike.

2. Others that have your model bike will better answer that then I, but I would guess that most that have wanted performance/sound have switched to something other then stock.

3. The "computer thing" is a way of adjusting/controlling the air/fuel mixture/ratio in electronic controlled fuel injected engines.  From the factory (MoCo) the bikes are set up lean to meet EPA regulations. This will cause your motor to run hotter, and not perform to it's optimum potential. If you're not able to adjust/tune your bike I would recommend you talk to whomever you feel confident in doing it for you and go w/the product they suggest. More then likely this will be the product they are most proficient with.

4. A lot to times what people are using are what has been tried/tested so might not be a bad idea to go with a "known". I know nothing about the particular pipes you speak of from Martin Bro's, but make sure they are not "straight pipes". You'll want some type of back pressure in your pipe to make the bike run better.

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

[HOGDOG]

vance and hines are a good pipe, im alittle ticked off with them right now but thats another mess. and if you change your pipe you should change your intake. and your tuner. do not go with the vance and hines fuelpak. its junk in my opinion. spent the money and either go with the powercommander or the screamin eagle race tuner. and then have it dyno'ed at a reputable shop. this is just my advice. and was worth 2 cents but now that obama is in office its down to about .0005 of a cent.

[dvbart]

Thanks guys. Keep the advice coming.

- Dyno'd?

[HOGDOG]

after you do anything to change the "afr" air fuel ratio....you should have it dyno'd, the harley machanic will put your bike on a computer and run it at high rpms and tune it with the new mods you put on. if you dont do this its possible that your afr is too lean and that will make your bike run hot....and if its REAL lean then its possible to hurt your bike like burn a hole in your piston head. so its important.

[timo482]

as a new rider -  you need to know....

your warranty is void if you mess with pipes and intake....

its ok to change stuff - but YOU are the warranty provider from that point on

its worth it point out to a new rider that a dealer may warrant changes - thats ok, but if the dealer vanishes, you move, or you are on a trip, - the factory warranty will be no good at all once you change any of the epa required parts.

many folks dont care about the warranty, they want it to sound right, or look right, or whatnot and are willing to pay for it. but its a easy trap to get in where you think its covered by a factory warranty and its not due to changes you made. read the parts description carefully - if the word "race" is anywhere in the description and the words "epa legal" are not - those parts make your factory warranty go away. also keep in mind that many hd supplied parts are race parts and void the warranty. nearly all, but not all, of non hd parts void the warranty.

do whatever you want to do - just be sure you fully understand what it is that you are doing.

to

[LarryB]

whoa, not true. he has taken delivery of the bike a year ago. so the factory warrantee is as it was delivered, and work done by the dealer is warranted by the dealer, that part is true. but to say that any work done will void the warrantee is not so. if you change pipes it only voids it on the pipes themselfs. if you change A/C it only relates to the A/C, it does not effect the warrantee on the bike in whole, as per the Magnusson/Moss act. The MOCO tried that shiit years ago and lost.
What I would recommend is a slip on first until you get more comfortable with the bike and service. basic flow is more air out/ you need more air in, when you do that you need to richen it up in order to lower temps and such. If it was a stock non CVO bike then the PC or fuel pak is ok but merely devices to trick your motor into running different. The race tuner is a program that recalibrates the ECM to run better. this is tricky as once you do this, it leaves a footprint on the ECM that the MOCO can read if there is a warrantee issue and then could be trouble. Other oprions are thundermax w/autotune and TTS mastertune. both are good but have heard several complaints with the TMax. Have not heard any issues TTS, this is the company that made the race tuner but leaves NO footprint so the warrantee is not affected if done right.
My question to you is, what part of the world do you live in and how deep are your pockets. dont start something if you cant carry it through correctly. we should be able to hook you up with some that have that same bike.

[Fired00d]

whoa, not true. he has taken delivery of the bike a year ago. so the factory warrantee is as it was delivered, and work done by the dealer is warranted by the dealer, that part is true. but to say that any work done will void the warrantee is not so. if you change pipes it only voids it on the pipes themselfs. if you change A/C it only relates to the A/C, it does not effect the warrantee on the bike in whole, as per the Magnusson/Moss act. The MOCO tried that shiit years ago and lost.
What I would recommend is a slip on first until you get more comfortable with the bike and service. basic flow is more air out/ you need more air in, when you do that you need to richen it up in order to lower temps and such. If it was a stock non CVO bike then the PC or fuel pak is ok but merely devices to trick your motor into running different. The race tuner is a program that recalibrates the ECM to run better. this is tricky as once you do this, it leaves a footprint on the ECM that the MOCO can read if there is a warrantee issue and then could be trouble. Other oprions are thundermax w/autotune and TTS mastertune. both are good but have heard several complaints with the TMax. Have not heard any issues TTS, this is the company that made the race tuner but leaves NO footprint so the warrantee is not affected if done right.
My question to you is, what part of the world do you live in and how deep are your pockets. dont start something if you cant carry it through correctly. we should be able to hook you up with some that have that same bike.

LarryB exactly!! For those that don't know about this act please read what is available when you google it - magnuson-moss warranty act.

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

[dvbart]

My question to you is, what part of the world do you live in and how deep are your pockets. dont start something if you cant carry it through correctly. we should be able to hook you up with some that have that same bike.

Thanks for that advice.  I live in Northern, VA. 

- was told today not to go with a power commander type of tuner because it is hardware that just tricks the ECM and can be trouble.  I was recommended to re-map the ECM. 

- Still don't know what I want to do.  I think I might just want it louder. 

- I had a noob accident because I wasn't taught about gravel in motorcycle class, quick lesson learned at 25 miles on the bike , but that's the past.  I've been loving riding and wish I started when I was 3.  I could do this for a living 

- Helped a friend install some V&H today, they were really loud, deep and sweet sounding.  Made me wonder if all I'm attracted to is the sound more than the look.  What options do you recommend that I can do to make the sound better on mine?  Is new pipes really the best/only way to go, or is changing the baffles out enough?  I'll need something to replace the heat cover that has a few battle scrapes in it.

[LarryB]

take a picture of your set up and post it here, lets see if we can't liven it up and keep it looking right.

[timo482]

larry you are just plain wrong - you are confusing warranty from wear, as in oil filters & oils etc to epa tampering - different law - different issue - dont confuse noobs, its unkind at best. if he wants loud and wants his warranty the best bet is something like fulsac that even most dealers wont notice. if he doesnt care about his warranty at all then he can do whatever he wants.

the magnusson moss act says you can get maintenance parts from any source,  so you can get a stone stock copy of a stone stock air cleaner and its ok - doesnt have to be hd. but it does have to be the same size and fit in the same housing.

there are a few street legal parts. k&n for instance has street legal air filters - and hd has several street legal air filters - but there is very little in exhaust that is street legal and to tell a noob that the engine will still be covered if it goes in blown with non legal exhaust is a supremely bad idea since it probably wont be covered. its also disingenuous to claim that at some time in the past the moco got forced to fix things, its TRUE, in the past, and i was 6'1" 200 lb and a girl in two different states. time past so they changed the rules and changed the fine print so they dont have to cover it now. as far as time frame - the two year warranty will be up in a year - but if it has the 5 year service contract they are even MORE restrictive as to what can or cannot be changed - remember the service contracts are not warranties at all, but service contracts and magnusson moss has NO EFFECT AT ALL, the service contract can spell out who does oil changes and when & if you dont its void.

if you change the pipes - its tampering under epa - while the dealer in a non CA rule state [there are 13 CA rule states where many dealers have been fined huge bux to get them to stop servicing "race bikes"] dealers may or may not warrantee the work - the manufacturer does not. once the pipes or air cleaner are changed to a non conforming combination the engine, in its entirety is a "race only engine" and cannot be repaired under a street warrantee.

so far the only states where actual fines have been written are CA states & those fines have been to dealers and mfg's of parts - such as the huge fine paid by the power commander mfg. so far i have not read of any individual who has paid a fine, its all been dealers and parts mfg.

crafty fixes like stock head pipes with the cat removed, or stock mufflers with new cores that cant be discerned without complete disassembly can for the most part be gotten away with.

the epa folks are serious about tampering - ive been riding since about 1974, iv run all kinds of different home made pipes. & i think its fine to do so. just dont expect any warranty work from the mfg if you change parts that bring the engine out of epa certification.

to

[LarryB]

no confusion here, wear is wear, no getting around that. and service contracts are a whole seperate issue, so lets leave that out of the mix since he didn't bring it up. Service related, anyone can do their own service without fear of hurting and warranty as long as they feel they are experianced enough and profficient enough to do it, you DON'T HAVE TO have HD do it. It won't void the warranty. if you make a mod that it against some EPA stuff, it still wont void the warrantee on the bike, just the part you changed.
If you feel differently then someone gave you the Kool-aide at some dealership thing.
now, if you live in California and mess with exhaust and such, there may be some ramifications upon inspection like a car. or if you live in VA and have removed your side reflectors, there might be ramifications upon safety inspections.
Timo, don't scare the guy. what you said sounds like some dealer gloom and doom. heard way to many times

[dvbart]

Here's the bike on day one.  The fall on gravel left some scrapes in the pipes and did other damage I already fixed.  For me it's one, the sound, 2. I'm not sure about the fat pipes.  I liked the curvy radius look, but my buddy made a point about the straight big fat harley look.  I've thought about putting on a radius type pipe and switching seat out for a chopper seat...I saw that on a forum site a few days ago...pretty.  At the end of the day, I'm just indecisive! 

- Regarding warranty.  I have pre-paid Maintenance through the end of it.  I'll just ask what my dealer (who i'm stuck with for 5k more, how it will affect things).  I've heard on more than one site that warranty is a parts by parts thing.

[LarryB]

first of all let me say, Great Looking Bike, wise choice. now lets see about personalizing it for you.
Exhaust, i'm with you on the V&H big radius but have seen alot of them. V&H makes a cool 2-1 tappered that sounds outstanding, ez install.
Seat, yes, swap seats to some solo, let the fender show, add some color to it.
but what I see is maybe a handle bar change, little more high rise

lets get back to the service contract thing, sorry they talked you into it, but it is what it is. you need to talk to the manager/dealer/owner/HMFIC/ or whomever has the say so and ask specifically what can be done. these contracts have nothing to do with HD. they are an aftermarket add on. they are meant to capture future funds from new owners who don't the difference between a sprocket and a socket.
your A/C is a high flow and is already a stage 1 and mapped as such. by changing the pipes it should be fine, but keep and eye on temps and plugs.
and don't let dealers feed you a bunch of bullshiit.
was at one on Friday, friend of mine picked up his new 2010 UC lmtd 103, paperwork said ABS standard so he accepted as such. he called me to meet him there just to cover his six. many issues came up 1- bike was dripping wet, sent it back to dry (this is a trick a dealer will do if there is a blemish, once you ride it off the lot its a warrany thing), then, when he made the deal he asked for the Brakelight flashing thing installed, they put clear lenses all the way around with clear bulbs. sent it back again. looked the front axle, no speed sensor ring, I said this doesn't have ABS, salesman said yes it does they all do. my friend went to the back parking lot and ran it up a locked em up. NO ABS. he refused to accept the bike and is now waiting for another. his wife is pissed at me but he cannot thank me enough, she's not the one grabbing a handfull of brake.

[timo482]

its a GOOD thing you were there - there is no way he would have gotten the abs issue resolved after he drove it off the lot. i have never trusted dealers much, always ask hard questions. always pay attention.

i always do my own maintenance - but i have the dealer do electrical work, i can fix a computer but i can never seem to find where the electrical problem really is. the biggest reason to have a maint contract on a ultra is the wiring - if the intercom goes out ill never be able to fix it and my wife will throttle me. i can do 90% of the engine myself. have a mill and lathe in the garage. but i have not done whole engines or transmissions since the 80's with the shovels - had to do those almost every year.

to