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[springervett]

I had my dealer install the Vance & Hines big radius 2-2's and a SERT on my bike two weeks ago. After the dyno I picked it up I found that once it was thoroughly warmed up it started to pop loudly and even bang (from the pipes) between shifting gears and when slowing down from high rpms. Sent the bike back for it to be re-tuned. After waiting over 3 days after the day of the service appointment the service manager tells me that he looked at the map and that the popping is normal because I put aftermarket pipes on the bike. Only have 1000 miles on my 2008 CVO springer anniversary edition. I'm I being fed a line of BS? This is my first Harley so I don't know any better. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Service at Wildfire Harley Davidson in Villa Park, Illinois has been a nightmare ever since I purchased the bike!

[grc]

I had my dealer install the Vance & Hines big radius 2-2's and a SERT on my bike two weeks ago. After the dyno I picked it up I found that once it was thoroughly warmed up it started to pop loudly and even bang (from the pipes) between shifting gears and when slowing down from high rpms. Sent the bike back for it to be re-tuned. After waiting over 3 days after the day of the service appointment the service manager tells me that he looked at the map and that the popping is normal because I put aftermarket pipes on the bike. Only have 1000 miles on my 2008 CVO springer anniversary edition. I'm I being fed a line of BS? This is my first Harley so I don't know any better. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Service at Wildfire Harley Davidson in Villa Park, Illinois has been a nightmare ever since I purchased the bike!

Quick answer is yes, he's feeding you BS.  A competent tuner can eliminate the popping, after he first verifies that there are no air leaks in the exhaust system.  Are you sure they really did a custom tune, or did they just use one of the canned maps that comes with the SERT/SEST?  Just because a dealership buys a dyno doesn't mean they know how to tune anything.

Jerry

[Hoist!]

We found it difficult to get all the popping out with just the Enleanment Table, which is where you usually take care of that. The 110's a weird motor. Lotsa flow. Bet they don't know to go back and adjust the fuel in the places it's popping in the VE Tables, since they prolly saw how much they already did in the Enleanment Table!

Hoist!

[Jbbrown73]

I've got the Python version of these pipes with the same baffle on a 96" motor in a Fat Boy.  They also pop quite a bit.  It has not been tuned by a dyno tuner, only using a fuel pak with VH's recommended settings for that setup. 

[BLM777]

Absolutely can eliminate the pop as Jerry mentioned.  I suspect that you're the victim of a canned map, or at best the recipient of a map that was used on another bike after installing aftermarket pipes.  I've probably seen 20 or more VH big Radius installed on 110 motors.  Dyno tune with a talented tuner ... no pop and great sound.  Canned map ....  will pop or create a minor explosion each time you back off the throttle.  I don't have current info, but Chicago HD has always had a couple of outstanding performance tuners.  Good luck.

[Talon]

The easiest thing to do is like Jerry said, check for leaks. But if the tuner is telling you that's normal, don't go back! You need to shop around and find a good tuner. If they just downloaded a map, that gets you in the ballpark and that's about it, especially if you use non SE/HD products with an SERT load.

[sadunbar]

I have only had two tuners ever tune bikes for me...  Wayne Hanson - owner of Speeds Performance and this fall, John Golden - owner of Rolling Thunder.  I have never owned a bike that pops  - ever...

No intake or exhaust leaks and an expert tuner =  !

[springervett]

Thanks guys. Talked again to the service manager after reading your posts. He has now agreed to re-tune the bike using his tuning expert (himself). He was supposed to do it originally but was out on jury duty for two weeks, so they sent it to their other dearship to have it tuned. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again for the info. It enabled me not to sound like an idiot when talking to him again about the problem. By the way, I mentioned this site and he seemed to change his tune (pun intended) 

One other question: Could I have screwed up the bike by riding it in this condition (put about 100 miles on it after the original work)?

[sadunbar]

Thanks guys. Talked again to the service manager after reading your posts. He has now agreed to re-tune the bike using his tuning expert (himself). He was supposed to do it originally but was out on jury duty for two weeks, so they sent it to their other dearship to have it tuned. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again for the info. It enabled me not to sound like an idiot when talking to him again about the problem. By the way, I mentioned this site and he seemed to change his tune (pun intended) 

One other question: Could I have screwed up the bike by riding it in this condition (put about 100 miles on it after the original work)?

no......

[markt]

I have to admit, I haven't been impressed by WildFire either.  But across North Avenue and about 1/3 mile west is an indy who did a great job tuning my bike.  Runs great!

...mark

[sportygordy]

As Hoist made comment, you tune out popping through the Enrichment Tables. My new Jim's 131 does not pop or backfire at all. In my case, i copied the enrichment tables off a Jim's 120 build similar to mine which i got from an acquaintance. Doc actually did the original tune on this map and did a fantastic job. Good tuners are hard to come by, and if you are nearby Doc you cant go wrong, he is a good tuner. As everyone has said, make sure to rule out air leaks before you blame the tuning.

[Hoist!]

As Hoist made comment, you tune out popping through the Enrichment Tables. My new Jim's 131 does not pop or backfire at all. In my case, i copied the enrichment tables off a Jim's 120 build similar to mine which i got from an acquaintance. Doc actually did the original tune on this map and did a fantastic job. Good tuners are hard to come by, and if you are nearby Doc you cant go wrong, he is a good tuner. As everyone has said, make sure to rule out air leaks before you blame the tuning.

Actually it's called an Enleanment Table, and you subtract from it to add fuel. I know it sounds half-assed, but that's what they call it. When you can't take enough enleanment out in that table to get rid of the popping, you need to add fuel in the VE tables in the RPM's & TP's that you're getting the popping, in order to get rid of it.

Hoist!

[mrmagloo]

I don't know guys, but I'm running the Big Radius on my SED and John Golden spent a ton of time minimizing the popping as best he could but was never able to get rid of it all. It's a lot better than it was, but I later even tried a couple of different exhaust port gaskets using his heat up/cool down adjusting procedure and eventually just learned to live with it. I'm actually thinking that for whatever reason the BR 2 into 2 are just more prone to this? I'm actually thinking of trying the Big City baffles and see what effect those have.

[springervett]

Picked up the bike today after having it re-tuned. WOW!!.....Original dyno after the V&H Big Radius 2-2 and SERT were installed was 86.13 hp and 110.14 torque. Now 92.21 hp and 118.91 torque! No popping! It's like riding a different bike.  IMHO if anyone is going to have their bike tuned at Wildfire Harley, make sure Tony does the work. He really knows what he is doing. I'm very happy.