EFI, Pipes, Foolishness, Cash and EDITS

I keep wanting to sit down and peck out this entry properly, but I can’t get the time together.

Basically, regarding the whole EFI issue, here’s what’s up:

• I decided a $XXX investment on a $XX,XXX bike is probably smart when you’re talking about longevity and performance.
• I looked at the different options: onboard integrated/parasitic, onboard replacement, offboard.
• ^ –> should all be detailed in that old “EFI MANAGEMENT” thread from a few months back.
• I chose the first category EFI device so that I could pop the unit off when going in for state/dealer inspections.
• I selected the Power Commander V and ran into further complications….

Firstly, the PCV might not be street legal.  Oops.   In fact, depending on where you live, the tame PC III might not be either, though they do have a PC III “CA” version for the Cali boys.  Most shops don’t support a PCIII for a 2010 anyway.

EDIT: The PC V is definitely *not* street legal.  The rationale is that because it gives you such control over your engine, the state wants you to be licensed and regulated so that you don’t fog up the neighborhood or blow up the outside world. ~

Secondly, due to different oxygen sensors in the head pipes, 2009 and 2010 are different.  Most *other* parts, for say the electrical or mechanical or structural systems, are cross-compatible between 09 and 10.   Not this though, oh well.

EDIT: The 2009 headers have 18mm O2 bungs. 2010 has 12mm bungs. You can buy 2010 pipes with these smaller bungs in place, you can WELD the new bungs in place (or have it done), or you can skip getting AutoTune (like by getting a dyno run done for yourself). ~

Thirdly, it’s not possible to easily *find* or *buy* a PCV for a 2010 FLHRC.  I tend to like buying from Dennis Kirk, they’re a good company and their prices are find.  No PCV is in stock for my bike.  Part number is 20-9622.  I’ve traded emails with the stock managers and whatnot and have myself set up for an alert … I can’t catch a break.

So I went to the Power Commander webby.  For an extra $20 over my favorite online retailer, they’ll pre-load the thing with a map meant for my particular setup (103″ stage II).  The only question, then, is whether to go with AutoTune (+ $380 ?!?!) since I’ll be making modifications down the road and would rather spend that $380 right now forever than spend $200 every time I make a change.  After the 2nd change (I’m making 1 right away – pipes! see below!), it would have paid for itself.

EDIT: Wrong again! FuelMotoUSA has the PCV going for $299.99 as of today’s date. The AutoTune is the same price.  A stainless steel header w/ the 12mm O2 bungs in place is, sadly, $429.00. Yuck on that.  But only $300 vs $360 @ Dennis Kirk vs $380 from the manufacturer… great! ~

At some point, I’ll post what actually happens with all this.  I called Dynojet and they recommended I buy from FuelMotoUSA, but I couldn’t get a price there.  I’m still not sure if I want to go with AutoTune, but…again, I’ll post when I’ve figured it out.

EDIT: The question remains whether AutoTune is the way to go, or if I should just buy aftermarket pipes – invalidating everything below, my desire to create something perfect – with that $300 instead. If I get AutoTune, I’ll probably just keep my header, even though a new header wouldn’t have any cat at all. ~

NOW, regarding pipes, I have another story to tell.  I have been scouring google patents (and abusing a Lexis connection) to dig up existing patents on different muffler technologies.  It seems this is the poor man’s library for learning, if you only want to learn enough to frankenstein together something to meet a specific need.  I also ended up learning a lot about handguns*, but god help me if I admit here any inventions or modifications in that regard.  I already wonder about what a certain federal regulatory body might say about my catalytic converter…

…Anyway, I have a design worked out.  I also have a real devil coming out of me to peek at all the scenic overlooks along the way, so to speak, so the process of making those SuperTrapp SE’s into something with rumble (but not bark) will be a many-step process.  Of course, the first step is getting the PCV setup so that I know what “ideal” sounds like.

And from there, I will strike out on my own, tampering and fiddling and countering every old cooder who says “ya shoulda left well-enough alone!” with “the most american thing in the world is figuring out how to birth some idea ya got stuck between the ears” … which then leaves me open to retorts drawn from the long history of american quackery.  But I will welcome the reminders of a legacy of idiocy and proudly count myself among the lesser Nikkola Teslas of the world.  All I want is the right sound! I’m not even trying to up my damned MPG. This is not rocket science.

I don’t bother with forums or newsgroups much anymore.  I seem to take tons of flak.  Either I’m the dumbest person alive, or there’s just nothing better to do on the internet than tell people off.  Hmmm, wonder which is the case…

That said, in real life no one (not even those legendary “bikers” that would make us “motorcycle riders” appear fools in one shade or another) has said jack when I mentioned my plan to alter my exhaust.   I might come off smarter in-person (ha), and seem like someone who can pull off metal work (HA!).  I very much doubt that, I just have no other explanation for it.

So I’ll start by stripping down the SuperTrapps and re-packing the baffle.  Next, I’ll swap out those baffles (assuming it’s called for) with my custom baffles: a blend of the tried-and-true V&H diagonal-slant louvered pattern with a dash of 3:2:3 chambering I came up with after reading about harmonic resonators and ripping off and combining a few jap/german patents.

The asterisk above — * — is my reminder to mention that The Godfather was playing out in my head as I looked at the relationship to barrel length, size, type, and bullet size, powder type, weight, and the rest in working on noise as it relates to handguns.  Not that this matters.   Not like I plan on shooting the police captain who shot my father. Nor like I think Diane Keaton is attractive.  Just saying…

And since no true post of mine is complete without some flippant disregard of the law, I’ll restate that no civil action for patent infringement, even assuming success, would result in more of a fine than I’d pay buying new pipes.  There are no damages; no one is hurt by me making a version of some patented invention that doesn’t exist for my bike.  It’s not that big a risk, plus some of the patents are already expired.

Lastly, yes, if I screwed up with my design or my approach to the SuperTrapps, I’ll shell out for some new aftermarket pipes and be done with it (not modding them at all).  I have stock pipes to ride while I save up $600 for new pipes, and that’s worthwhile money just to say I did something myself in the worst case scenario.  Some guys change the timing of the engine, some reprogram the CPU of the EFI, and I’m tinkering with acoustics and pressure dynamics.  That’s me.

EDIT: Thinking aloud (sorry, I know this is long enough), If I fuck up and have to spend $600 on pipes – AFTER spending $600 on PCV/AT – then I’m a moron. If, on the other hand, I buy V&H fishtails for $700 and a PCV for $300, then I’m in the hole for a little less, plus I can sell my SuperTrapps for maybe $300, knocking the latter exercise into a position of priority.  But maybe I’ll stay a moron, as I have been my whole life, and take this gamble.  For the extra cash, I might as well get a story out of it. No?

Ride Report: Halloween in Manhattan

For one of the first times in my life, I was nervous.  Had to park the ‘King in the city on Halloween.  Figured I’d pony up and pay for parking (totally against my sense of will!), and I did.

 

Riding in from the house was smooth and easy.  With the lady on the back, those sexy jumps the Stage II kit provides were what kept the bike sporty feeling when pulling away from a stop, heading uphill, or striking out on those highway straights.  Constantly happy and relieved I went for it.

We took the turnpike, heading north toward the Holland tunnel about 1 in the afternoon on Saturday.  I drifted upwards of 70mph in fifth gear.  It was effortless.  And with the road open and the sun bright overhead, I put it in 6th and let it rip.

The little green ‘6’ light doesn’t come on until you’ve fully released the clutch lever, and then there’s a tiny delay still before the bike really knows it’s in 6th.

I realized I forgot to put the windshield back on as I tore past 100mph and then past 110mph.  It was almost scary how still-effortless it was.  My mind flashed to the rating of the tires – the Dunlops might not be rated for such speeds and might blow off or something.  I had no idea.  But I dismissed it because I just had to know what was there.  The needle crept up and the road sunk away.  115mph.  The ease with which I cranked the throttle and felt the bike fall forward was the same ease it would be to step off the edge of a cliff.  It was just right there, easy as pie.  Too far forward and you’re done.

But once 115mph felt safe, I stayed there.  Lord, that’s fast.  And call me nuts, but  I had the widest grin on my stupid mug as I rolled through the curves.  It was smooth!  It was fast!  It was FLYING!

That’s what it’s all about, ain’t it?

Parked in an Icon garage – little orange circle logo with the arrow.

 

 

DO NOT WANT.

 

It was a remarkable rip-off.  I guess that’s what I get for being paranoid.  I’ll park on the street like normal from now on.  I spend so much on insurance, why the hell should I be worried?

Rode to dinner, parked on the street – sat by the window, obviously.  Even with all the drunks in the east village, no one touched the bike.  It was very reassuring.  Like it’s a different city than it was 10 years ago, somewhat.

(Side note: FU is my favorite sushi – so, so fresh and good! Seems to have hit his stride and isn’t as generous as he was, and service is a little slow, but the food quality is still top-notch and the other bits are the reason it’s affordable.)

Then the rain came, about 9 or 930, and I had to ride (solo – the girls hopped in a cab to get their costumes ready while the boys hung back and ordered more food) in that rain.  I’ll admit to apprehension.  I had all my gear on, it wasn’t a cold night so the wetness wasn’t uncomfortable, it was a short ride (11th st to 95th st … maybe half hour?), and it was familiar roads.  Still…how does the King handle in wet wet wet world?

The Road King Classic is like a pig in shit, that’s how it handles.

Can I say that again? Mothers, put the kids to bed.

My FLHRC made the FDR its BITCH as I streaked through the rain.

Wow, again, just wow.  When will the WOW’ing stop??

Within just a few moments, I was dazzled by how smooth the ride was.  That 850lbs was working for me.  Puddles the size of taxicabs were no problem.  Those generous floorboards actually shielded my feet/ankles very well – had no idea, was planning on getting soaked (had extra socks and everything). The suspension was undaunted by the shit-ton of pot holes on that strip of war road.

Told you it was a war road.

Anyhow … I made it without issue.  It was genuinely a good ride.

The next day was a day like any other.  I got over my fear of parking on the street (whereas with the Volusia I happily parked on sidewalks, under scaffolds, at construction sites, at hydrants, etc) and left the Harley on a broad sidewalk across the street from some detention center near the water.

Riding home in the late afternoon on Sunday, it was much colder than coming in with the sun.  I couldn’t help cranking up to 115mph-ish, but then settled into a solid 95 and coasted home.

Probably due to the lower ambient temperatures, there was no pinging when I parked this weekend.  I suppose I might make it through the winter without having to get a proper tune, which is great because I don’t have any cash at the moment and I don’t know what to get anyway.

Reading up on exhaust, I think i’ll experiment with the baffles in the SuperTrapp.  New discs are cheap, and a few more discs might up performance – a few less might up the noise.  Very cool, will have to trial-and-error it.

I might also drill out the baffles – I have my mint stock pipes still so I can always throw them on in answer to a fix-it-ticket.

And, y’know, I might spend this saturday drilling out the cat.  I’ve got blueballs for a good roar or a solid idle.  Supid EPA.

 

First Ride Report: 2010 FLHRC + Stage II 103″ Kit + SuperTrapp Slip-Ons

H

O

L

E

E

G

A

W

D

!

!

!

!

I must use more expletives so that the formatting works (I put pictures in) … don’t worry, it’s easy!

HOLY SHIT, HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BIKE?

HOLY EARTH-F%(*@#)$*, NINJA-SHITTING #$%@!^#& !!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW!

Hooooooooooooooooo baby !!!!

I have one thing to say that isn’t glowing praise: the SuperTrapp fishtails are shockingly soft.  They’re barely a notch above stock.  It’s a little bit of a let-down.  I don’t need to sound like an asshole, but I want a little roar.  A little something.

Now, everything …. sweet son of a bitch, it’s gorgeous.  This bike is too good for me, or for any mortal man.

Rather than give a detailed blow-by-blow on everything, I’ll just focus on one thing per entry.  Except this entry, where I’ll give general responses to a weekend of riding, and then a ride report on coming home from the dealer (the 30-mile break-in).

Gotta ride!!

In General

The ride quality is 10/10.  The lil’lady was unhappy with the stock pillon seat – as compared with the old bike, where the pillon was a separate cushion a few inches above the rider seat, the RKC’s stock seat is flush and thinner.  So she felt closer, lower, and less cushioned.  New seat is top priority.

The suspension is perfect.  Lots of bumps and it’s no problem.  There is a difference riding solo vs 2-up, and I’ll check the manuals for recommended shocks and tire PSI for 2-up touring.

Handling is great, though I admit I’m not fully used to it.  Put on a little over 110 miles this weekend but she still feels heavy.  Had to put my feet down twice during tight turns, and I noticed that if I was doing a bad job, the passenger floorboards would slice across my calf muscles when deployed.  Makes a bad situation worse.  I’ll keep taking it easy.

Now, the part you’re all eager for: the engine performance!  The Stage II kit  FUCKING ROCKS!

96" Big Twin with Stage II Big Bore Kit, expanded to 103"

As in,

OH

MY

GOD

If you rev up in 1st, pop into 2nd, and wail on the throttle, you get a feeling like you’re falling except you’re going forward.  If you don’t feather the clutch but just pop it out, you FLY forward like mr sulu just engaged the warp drive.  It’s so tight, so quick, so beefy, you can get away with a Star Trek reference.  Seriously.

I got my money’s worth and I got that pep I was looking for.  I went riding in some mild twisties with my brother on his sportster, and while I was hesitant to open up all the way and beat on the engine during the first 100 miles, I was able to show him up in this corner or that straight run every now and then (at least as much as he did me).  I’m hungry to get out, solo, and see how much she can scream.

Oh yeah, she needs a name.

The handlebars – the heritage bars – are excellent! Truly excellent…I was extremely comfortable at all speeds, and with the highway pegs, I felt like a million bucks.  The lady remarked her feet got very cold when I moved my feet to the pegs. Looks like I’ll get her to wear boots after all (instead of Uggs, the ugliest shoes a woman can wear, unless she’s super fat and it looks normal on her).

And I’ll post more remarks as time goes on – a lot happened this week and hopefully I can get it all down.

The Ride Home From The Dealer

This ride report is my break-in.  You can find lots of different numbers on the internet about how many miles it takes to break in the piston rings.  Motoman says 20, others say 30, or 50, and manufacturers tend to say either 100 or 500.  All agree that the break-in is done in majority over a short period, and then finished (the remaining 10-25%) over the course of a few hundred miles.  The rate tapers off quickly, or, if you want to get technical, decays exponentially.

The Long Branch dealer (and they get their own write-up soon, suffice to say they over charged me a$700 and threw in nothing, but were otherwise good and I’ll go back to them for my warranty work no-problem) is about 30 miles from my house.  I figured the ride home would be the break-in, so I read up and talked to people and made my decision.

On the lot, the dealer told me to never keep the same speed for more than a few seconds, and he asked me to call him when I arrived home to let him know the bike ran alright (and it had just started raining, but I’m sure he didn’t care if I made it home, haha).  And that was what I’d decided to do anyway.

Of COURSE, wouldn’t you know it, as my first maneuver, I stalled.  The brand new bike has a brand new clutch, and hot dog if it isn’t particular! My 8 year old Volusia shifts like butter.  The Road King shifts like you’re shaking hands with a robot.  But that’s ok, it’s new, and it’s a performance clutch, and it’s a different breed of bike.  I got used to it (though I will definitely switch the tranny oil in the hopes of shifting more smoothly).

But I got going – I actually stuck my camcorder in the lil’lady’s car and recorded my whole ride home, but it’s long and I don’t think anyone would want to watch it if I YouTube’d it. I spun up through all the gears and went by the sound of the engine more than the speedometer.  A little green light went on eventually, and it looked like a ‘5’ and I got scared, thinking my transmission was only a 5-speed.  Could they have done something that stupid? Then I looked closer (hard to do at 90 mph) and it was a 6.  I was elated.

I took the Garden State Parkway home, even though obviously they say not to take freeways.  I had my chase car in place, and she had her hazards on (and I mine) and we varied from 45 to 95 on the way.  I figured that, especially since it was starting to rain, people would see us both with hazard lights on and go around us – and that happened.  Then, those idiots drove almost slower than us, or they went only a little faster, which meant we had to go around them to move my RPM’s up a few moments later.  So we had to go around.  Eventually, I simply pulled away and went on my own, not really worried about tailgaters.

Nose over the Heritage bars, out the garage, through all that autumn.

The Garden State was very pretty, actually, with all the leaves still up and still bright.  Anything’s a twisty if you go fast enough, and I was pulling along nicely.  The windshield was fantastic – I forgot how nice they are, having taken my old one off the Volusia about a day after riding her.  Come to think of it, I took the Road King’s windshield off on Sunday.  Old habits, I guess.  But I’ll put it back on soon – it got cold after a few hours in the wind in the mountains.

I would lean into the curves at speed and the bike was extremely confident in leaning.  All that weight fell to my advantage as I tipped over and righted, again and again.  There’s a creamy feeling to that bike that is simply worth every penny.  It’s worth anyone teasing you about riding an old man bike (and not, say, the Heritage Softail or Deluxe – the most gorgeous bikes still in production).  The Heritage, beautiful as it is, and comfortable as it is, can never handle like my Road King.  At least not in my hands, which is what matters to me.  I think of the Softails as overgrown Sportsters – a light frame, very agile, very quick, and often wanting for grace.  The King rolls around corners the way I imagine a whale to swim – huge, yes, but perfectly smooth.  Guess the ubiquitous comparison to boats isn’t far off.

Harley makes driveway happy!

And man, she pulls.  The SE255 cams are known for “coming on early” which is a lay-translation of “providing air for combustion and then closing less recent in the cycle than stock cams” though I suppose that’s a layman’s explanation itself.  In short, the cams of an engine control the air flow to the combustion chamber (the space above the piston where the spark plug is causing the fuel to ignite) – and in effect, this allows you to change the “focus” of the engine from horsepower to torque, or vice versa, and to further control where in the RPM band the peak efficiencies are.  So long story short, the bike can pull away from a dead stop extremely well (high torque in the low range), but at top speed it takes more work to go from 90 to 100mph than it would take a higher horsepower bike.  In practice, this translates to a huge Christmas-Morning grin everytime you hit a stop light and waddle to the front of the line.

When I made it home, the odometer read “000040” on the nose.

40 Miles from the lot to my driveway. I hate that I didn't take a picture of the "000012" when I picked it up.

And that picture isn’t too sexy, so here’s another:

Rode down the street to the piers for a few pictures.

My ride, ladies and gentlemen.

EFI Management (Part 3) (COUNTDOWN: 1 day!!!!!)

Ok, so!

After I posted yesterday, I spoke with the dealer yet again.  I then called Harley Davidson directly.  The number for their corporate office (customer service line) is (414) 343-4056.  I spoke with a gal named Roxxanne.  Awesome!

I told her the whole story. She said she wouldn’t give me anything in writing, but that she codified our conversation and gave me a reference number to give to any dealer that didn’t believe me.  Here’s the story:

If you get a Stage I kit, you may not use a Screamin Eagle Super [Race] Tuner (“SEST”).  If you get a Stage II kit and do not change the exhaust, you may not use a SEST.  If you get a Stage II kit and you do change the pipes, then you are **REQUIRED** to get a SEST in order to balance the different loads on the engine and to keep the AFR (air-to-fuel ratio) ideal for reliable long-term operation.

Interesting, right?

The “catch” is that the SEST will not be covered under warranty.  The warranty will not be voided by ANY of this.  If you disobey the MoCo and use a SEST in either of the two forbidden cases above, there may be warranty “impact” such as the dealership refusing warranty service on damage they can prove was caused by your use of the SEST.  9 times out of 10, if you know what you’re doing and you aren’t abusing anything, the SEST will just help the bike run right.  Don’t ride like an asshole and you won’t blow anything up, pretty much.  But other than the SEST not being covered itself, I was completely relieved to hear all this.

So I called the dealer and told them.  “Get me a SEST, please!” I said.  Well, not really, I asked and asked politely.  But then the dealer wanted to confirm everything (Big Chris actually, who is really on the ball and hands-down the most reliable person there – he actually calls back!), so I passed on the reference # and he got it confirmed.

He called me back and said he’d verified all of it.  But then he gave me the great news:  I didn’t need a SEST anyway because the SuperTrapp pipes were the exact pipes the Stage II ECM download was made for!  SuperTrapp used to manufacture the screamin eagle pipes for Harley Davidson, and it didn’t count as “different exhaust” for the ECM’s purposes!  Wahoo!  He said to ride it and judge for myself if it seemed hot.

I can still do the SEST, but can keep my options open.  The PCV has that history of failures that the other tuners don’t have. Maybe it’s the PCIII that had failures and they’re imputed to the PCV, but whatever.  I want to look into the MasterTuner as well.

My next three-bills purchase will probably be a custom seat.  And that’ll be a while coming.

And some snowmobile mittens to go with the hand deflectors will get me on the road longer this winter than any winter prior.

I confirmed with Big Chris he’d be there at 9am on Saturday.  Eddy too.  Hoping the signing on the dotted line doesn’t take too long.

If you don’t see any posts tomorrow or Sunday, you’ll know why.

^_^

EFI Management (Part 2) (COUNTDOWN: 2 days!)

Spoke to the dealer this morning to ask about whether the SEST would be covered under warranty.  They’re checking on it.  I’m concerned that the stock stage II ECM download is inadequate and that I’ll be damaging the bike while I wait on a SEST or PCV or Mastertune or whatever.  It seems, based mostly on ng’s, that the SEST is the way to go.  The PCV might work better for some, but the SEST has no reports of failure or incompatibilities and I can tune the bike myself without the hassle and expense of dealing with another party.

So I might just get the SEST anyway, even if I have to tell the dealer to give me the horrible ecm d/l and pretend I’m not getting a SEST.  $150 down the drain, but a necessary evil since my planning wasn’t perfect (I should have had the SEST in my hand, rode off from the dealer, gone down the street, plugged in the SEST, and started tuning it immediately).

Meanwhile, I’m allowing myself to get excited.  I never, ever thought I would own a brand-new motorcycle.  Used is just so smart, you know? But this is all the bells and whistles – no 2010’s exist on the used market yet and all the 2009’s seem to be lacking ABS.  Those I found on ebay motors with ABS, in black, were all just a touch less than a new 2010.  Perhaps I should have bargained, but I’m also getting away with the purchase on financing.

I was going to put $6,000 down, but I might just put down $4000 if that’s acceptable.  I can suffer higher payments until I get my bonus / house rebate / etc and pay down the principal in a few months – having the extra cash on hand will help.  We’ll see.

Last night I was thinking about how the lack of perfect information, as economists call it, really allows for prices to go all over the place.

According to my internets, $1000 off MSRP is what you should shoot for – that’s average – especially if you’re paying at least that much in extras.  God, I think the last few posts I’ve made ALONE are evidence of that much, let alone the other posts that by now are quadruple that.  Oy.

But what about those really good deals?  Anyone getting more of a discount?  If you spend $5k in extras, do you think you can talk them down $2k off MSRP?  And how much is the service plan? Universal?  Is freight $500 everywhere?

If information becomes perfect, and everyone starts getting their bike for, say, $1k off MSRP, then the dealers will all suffer.  I’m not sure where the line is between going low to please customer_01, and not going low so that you aren’t cutting off your own balls when selling to customer_02.  It would have to be somewhere if we had perfect information.

I’m tempted to not report my deal so that no one goes into the dealership and demands the same deal – but on the other hand, I want to know (even if for no reason beyond my own second-guessing) whether others have done better.

I’ll probably list my out-the-door price somewhere in an entry…

Meanwhile. .. can I get some good weather? It’s supposed to rain this weekend. A-goddam-gain.

In other news, I got a quote from Progressive insurance for the 2010 FLHRC @ 1690cc.  With $500 comp/coll deductibles, it’s $503/yr for my home-owning NJ ass.  Not bad considering my 2001 Volusia (just 805cc) with my Union Square apartment address was the same price for a NY’er.  Plus the garage can’t hurt.

I discovered hand deflectors that look just right – already ordered them.  Will do a full review after I’ve gotten a taste of what improvement they offer.  Hoping they become my perfect cold-riding gear.

Incidentally, I got my brother a present for his Sportster (for his birthday next week).  Won’t say what it is, but I’ll probably play with it a little bit before I give it to him and I’ll post back with my thoughts if I remember. Mike, if you’ve found this blog, all I can say is I hope you liked it (no way you’ll discover this before I give you the gift, but just in case…still not saying what it is).

Dealing with the Dealer (COUNTDOWN: 3 days!)

I’m going to set down as much information as I comfortably can about what happened when dealing with my dealer (Long Branch Harley-Davidson in Long Branch, NJ).

I don’t want to give the price I’m paying for the bike because I don’t want to “rock the boat.”  But I will say you can get $500 off MSRP by presenting a certificate of completion from a rider safety course (this is public on their webpage if you dig).  I happened to run up a big, fat bill of accessories, modifications, and “toys” and received 15% off on all of it, plus the sheer bulk of it entitled me a little bit more off the bike’s MSRP.

I’m undecided on the extended service plan.  I hear the tire protection alone pays for the whole of it over time.  I’ll look at the numbers and figure what I think my risks are.

Labor was a fair bit.  In selecting custom handlebars on the throttle-by-wire (TBW) models, you have a bit of a headache.  In doing so on a bike equipped with ABS, you’re looking at a nightmare.  As much as I’d want to do things myself, I really want to get on the road and with my 12-hr days I figured it was worth it to have everything done (and included in the warranty).  The labor on the bars was 8 hours.  That’s over $500.  The damned thing of it was I had never actually felt the Chubby bars that Wild1 makes – if I was wrong about those beach bars, it’d cost another $800 to get new bars on there.  Definitely not a risk I wanted to take.

So, as you might remember from an earlier entry, I went with Heritage handlebars.  They do not require an extension of the ABS lines (which involves futzing with the whole brake system) and so the labor is far, far less.  TBW is the only wrinkle, but it should be just 1 or 2 hours of labor for the new bars.

The Stage II kit is the majority of the labor bill.  Parts = $900 for the 103″ Stage II (with SE255 cams) kit.  Labor is about 10 hours, so $700.  I would have never modified the engine without the changes being folded into the warranty.  Too many nightmares about lemons and defects and problems.  Once out of warranty, I might (if, y’know, I end up rich or something in the next few years …) head to someone who can doctor a bit more out of the old girl.  Still, I think the Stage II kit will make me very happy.

I don’t plan on revealing all of the mods I’ve got, at least not at the same time – this is not a laundry list to copy me (or, depending on your frame of reference, a list to impeach me for copying others….hahaha!) – but there are a few of which I’m particularly proud:

• Fishtail endcaps on a SuperTrapp slip-on pair of pipes.
• Chrome front end (fork sliders, axel covers, wheel domes, nuts and bolts, etc…
• Heritage bars.
• Chrome switch housings.
• Nostalgic floorboards, pegs, shifter, brake, handgrips, and passenger floorboard pans.
• “Live to Ride” eagle derby cover (chrome, not gold).

The last one is actually my favorite.  When I was a child, that eagle was the coolest thing in the world.  I’m not sure why, but it was probably because it was the same eagle NASA used, or was close enough to work.  Not that I’m suffering from old man syndrome, but people were a lot more patriotic in the 1980’s than in the 90’s, and are even less so today.  And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but it was nice to be able to believe in your country.  That’s what that eagle is.  Maybe it’ll be relevant again =P

Ride Report: 2010 FLHRC Demo (Stock)

On September26, 2009, I took a demo ride on a 2010 Road King Classic at the Long Branch NJ Harley-Davidson dealership.  I signed a waiver and walked over.  My sales guy was already standing there and started up the bike as I approached.  The bike was silver.

I threw a foot over the saddle and grabbed the bars.  Pulling the bike upright, I got a sense of how heavy it was.  Wet weight is just over 800 lbs.   I kicked back the stand, pulled in the front brake lever, and plopped down.  There was a very nice cushioning feel and if not for my arms being too high up, it would have been alright.

The bars were the first problem I noticed.  Stock bars are awful.  Skipping forward: on my return, the first part I ordered was a new set of bars:  Wild1’s Chubby beach bars, to be exact.  The HD dealers can order 3rd party parts and roll them into your warranty @ purchase, did you know that? I had no idea. I got a 3rd party horn, and you’ll recall the slip-ons are 3rd party as well.  In the end, the fact that I hadn’t actually tried the bars made me second guess the addition when I learned that for an ABS model, it would be about 8 hours for them to switch out the bars.  Big Chris mentioned that since the front end was being pulled apart for a few other add-ons, now was the time to do the bars, but there didnt’ seem to be any practical benefit to doing them now (and I wasn’t sure they’d be a perfect fit … for what ends up around $850, you better be sure they’re the one for life).  But backing up …

The bars were not right; they were cramped and too far forward.  I have to find bars that fit right and get them on…eventually.

The floorboards put my knees up too high.  I had boots on, and I suppose most times I’ll wear regular shoes, but I’ll get highway pegs and I might get the floorboard relocation kit.  It’s strange to feel cramped on a bike that large; I’m only 6’1″ and 210lbs.  I know I’ve seen guys pushing 350lbs on road kings.  Where does the belly go?

But all these tailorings are par for the course.  The stock seat was pretty nice, but I hear over the miles it starts to bother.  I was planning on getting a seat, but there are just so, so many that I wanted to be sure to pick the right one.  Besides, a seat is cake to install.

With my feet on the ground and the bike in neutral, I rev’d the engine ever-so-slightly.  The odometer read “000008” so this was a tender moment.  I could tell no one had taken this bike out for a demo ride (though it was late in the day when I arrived); the v-rods and softails got most of the action.  I heard all bikes come from the factory with either 7 or 8 miles on them, which is the proper test mileage.  The engine spun up instantly.  In my mind, throttle-by-wire + fuel injection is like having a clean carb forever (never sticking, never throbbing, never lagging).

The engine’s idle was high, like a toy.  There was no grunt, no oomf, no soul in the sound.  The EPA strangles manufacturers more and more every year.  My VL800, half the engine size and 3/4 the weight, makes twice the sound.  She also idles much slower (thanks to not just any carb, but a filthy, dirty carb with bad gaskets).

I dropped into first and pulled around to the other side of the parking lot entrance, away from the other bikes and ready to go.  I made a slow, tight turn, and that’s when I felt the full weight of the bike.  Boy, what a beast.  Heavy like a tank.  It felt fun, really, to jockey something that massive.  Like a great horse.  One that couldn’t kick me off.  It felt more like a horse than other bikes I’ve ridden, partly because the rider is perched atop rather than “in” the bike.

The demo leader rolled up on a softail and I told him the opposite of what he hears every time he does this: “Make it quick! 10 minutes!”  The shop was closing and I had to get back for the paperwork and to talk with Big Chris on my parts list.

The bike was docile in first, rolling out the end of the lot and impressing no one, certainly not me.  A gentle flick of the throttle and I was rolling along – at 30mph?  There was some juice there, but even a lawnmower has zip in first gear.  We took our turns and on a wide open straight away, I gunned it.  And there was nothing there.  I moved along, alright, and I was moving faster every moment – but it wasn’t acceleration.  Not really.

I dropped down a gear and tried again – the engine spun up very fast and I let off.  There was no zip.  It didn’t feel like a motorcycle, it felt like a car.  Looking back, I think some of that may be psychological.  The bike is HUGE – maybe my frame of reference was off.  Also, I couldn’t really gun it – the RPMs never got above midrange.  I understand stock Harleys make most of their torque at the top of their range (which is silly, and why most people mod their engines).  Perhaps if I could have really opened her up, there would have been more oomf to be had.

Nonplussed with the engine, I checked off “Stage II w/ cams!” on the little list of to-do’s in my mind and I began to focus on other features of the King.

(Truth be told, I went from 80% sure [based on just internet research of past model years] to 99% sure when Eddy started up the stock ’10 King at the dealership.  The gentle purring is *not* what I’m looking for in a 1600cc bike!)

Going around a sharp turn, the bike rolled right in and right out – no sweat.  For a bike that size, it was impressive how graceful the cornering was.  And that’s purely a compliment to the bike, since this was the first time I had ever ridden a Road King and could hardly take credit for expert maneuvering.

Watching the road ahead, I relished when the lead rider took a bad dip on the softail:  I was hungry to try the Road King’s suspension.  I didn’t slow down or try to swerve, but instead I took the dip head-on.  WOW!  It felt like riding in the backseat of the bus as a child!  There was a fun up-and-down, but it wasn’t jostling.  It was a bump, yeah, because I hit a bump, but it was the smoothest bump you could have.  It was fun.  Guess I can’t explain it better than that.  On my VL800, that shoddy little beater, the bumps feel like you’re bent over and getting spanked by a 2″x8″.

I was on a non-ABS model but the brakes felt like brand new brakes, and then some.  I felt confident pulling the brake and stopping; some bikes when you pull the brake you just keep going and going …   My bike will have ABS, and I’m sure that will be a whole other discussion.

The rest of the ride was unremarkable.  The suspension and the handling were a true joy on the ’10 Road King Classic.  The engine needs love, but the love is coming.  I just hung up with the shop and they said they expect the big bore kit to come in by friday, and the bike will definitely be ready for me on the 17th.

My 2010 Harley-Davidson Road King Classic

[EDIT – if you arrived here via google, please click the “2010 Harley-Davidson Road King Classic” banner above: it will link you to the most-current page of this blog]

 

I ordered a 2010 Harley-Davidson Road King Classic (FLHRC) with ABS.  The paint options are wonderful, but since I couldn’t get the blue-over-white (as on the Heritage), only the white-over-blue (too similar to my old bike), I had to skip all colors and go with BLACK.  Fact: black is the fastest color.  And it looks great, so there’s that too.

Stock, it comes with a 96ci (1584cc) Big Twin engine.  Harley’s twin cam bikes are called “Big Twins” when the transmission assembly is separate from the motor.  This is distinct from, say, Yamaha engines, where the transmission is built into the engine inseparably.  I don’t have the best technical understanding of this, but the transmission of a Big Twin only makes contact with the engine at a few points.  As a practical matter, you can buy a transmission for a Harley if you blow yours up; with an integrated transmission as on another maker’s bikes, you’d have to buy a whole new engine.

I had heard that the stock 96ci Twin Cam left something to be desired when it came to “highway passing power.” That’s a/k/a/ reckless speeding, rushing to an early grave, or just plain ‘asking for it.’  But let’s get something clear: for a bike with a pricetag like it’s got, it damned well better haul ass.  I’m not looking for racetrack performance, but I want that pep I’d get if I paid the same money for a car.  If I can’t beat a car, I’m not interested.  If it isn’t fun, there’s no point.  So I opted for the Stage II 103ci kit.  The kit includes an improved air intake (Stage I Air), SE255 cams for low-RPM torque (that’s “pep” in lay terms), and of course, larger cylinder heads increasing the displacement of the engine to 103 cubic inches.  103ci is 1690cc.  That’s twice my previous bike, the Suzuki Volusia Intruder (VL800): 805cc’s, 650lbs (wet).

And because, in the immutable words of Cosmo Kramer, “Poise counts!” — I upgraded the exhaust to V&H fishtail slip-ons.  Slip-on pipes are the “bottom half” or “back half” of the exhaust pipes.  The “front” or “top”, the part that connects to the engine directly, is called the header.  That’ll remain.  And fishtails are just simply the sexiest little retro bauble a modern man could want.  The whole rest of the custom work I’m doing is matched to those delicious 1947 endcaps.