to fuelpak or not to fuelpak

[bones_gi]

Hey guys,

I 've ran through a lot of similar posts on this issue but still can't seem to get a clear picture so would really appreciate any help or directions to another thread. During the summer i changed the pipes on my 2008 crossbones for vance and hines big shot with quiet baffles. I used a fuelpak and k&n racing filter as suggested by the dealer. I wasn't very happy with the performance at first, too much popping on decel and the bike was running very rich so contacted vance and hines and remapped the fuelpak with the new settings. Unfortunately it did not really do much to improve the performance.I thought about getting a pciii but on their site it says it is not suitable for the crossbones. IN the middle of this i purchased a brawler seat seat for the bike and found out that there was not enough space for the fuelpak. We removed the fuelpak just so i could test the seat and found that the bike ran a lot better, hardly any popping and a reasonable turnover at idling. Now i read in another post on this forum that running the bike without the fuelpak would not be the cleverest idea though i'm not sure why. Any ideas on this?

 

[Dr. Dolittle]

Hey guys,

I 've ran through a lot of similar posts on this issue but still can't seem to get a clear picture so would really appreciate any help or directions to another thread. During the summer i changed the pipes on my 2008 crossbones for vance and hines big shot with quiet baffles. I used a fuelpak and k&n racing filter as suggested by the dealer. I wasn't very happy with the performance at first, too much popping on decel and the bike was running very rich so contacted vance and hines and remapped the fuelpak with the new settings. Unfortunately it did not really do much to improve the performance.I thought about getting a pciii but on their site it says it is not suitable for the crossbones. IN the middle of this i purchased a brawler seat seat for the bike and found out that there was not enough space for the fuelpak. We removed the fuelpak just so i could test the seat and found that the bike ran a lot better, hardly any popping and a reasonable turnover at idling. Now i read in another post on this forum that running the bike without the fuelpak would not be the cleverest idea though i'm not sure why. Any ideas on this?

Since you did the air filter and pipes, you now have a freer flowing system - more air in AND out. This results in a leaner running motor if you don't add some fuel, which is what all the aftermarket and HD fuel tuners do. Adding some fuel should be good for the long term health of the engine and helps to cool it down a bit, too.

Performance wise - well, IMHO that's open to debate. Most seem to rave about the performance boost of doing a Stage I but I'm convinced a lot of it is psychological.

Without rehashing all the comments, you might want to read through this thread:

Honestly, I'm a Bit Disappointed With Stage I - Harley Davidson Community

 

[bones_gi]

Thanks for the reply Dr.Dolittle. The most annoying thing is my fattie (2003 ) runs really sweet - it has the same pipes and air filter and just needed some tweaking on the carb. Seems the biggest issue without the fuelpak would be the temperature and she does heat up a fair bit now. Might have to look at the screaming eagle race tuner or some tuner as there's no way anything will fit under the seat. thanks again.

 

[bones_gi]

Thanks Smitty. We did think about the faulty fuelpak but unfortunately returning it to uk is proving somewhat difficult. Fortunately today we talked to another mechanic who was surprised about the fuelpak not working and he says he can run a diagnostic on it using something similar to the sert so fingers crossed.