EFI Tuning:'05 Road King

I know this question has been asked a thousand times already...but with tax refund season in the air I want to reassure myself. I have an '05 Road King EFI that I bought new, delivered with the stage one download, SE air cleaner and SE pipes. Last summer I installed Hooker Tuned-Flow Tru-Duals. On hot days I get de-cel popping, and from everything I have read/ been told the EFI needs to be tuned. I have a friend, whom I trust very much, that is a H-D tech., and he has repeatedly told me to go with the SE race tuner. With the unit and dyno tuning it will cost upwards of $800. It seems like everyone else is going with the PC, but I'm nervous about getting inside of my bike's brain and fiddling around, computers and I have a tense relationship. I have another friend that builds race-car engines, and has been building award winning custom bikes, that told me he never tunes the EFI, and the one time he used a PC it screwed up the performance and they took it back off. I know HD put out their own, less expensive tuning module, its in the '07 SE catalog. I also read a review of an after market closed-loop self tuning system. I am planing on having different cams installed and leaving the rest of the motor alone. Whew! Hope this isn't too long winded, but I could use some more opinions. Thanks.

Thanks anyway bros.

Don't give up, one of the big guns will chime in here pretty soon. I'm certainly no expert but from what I've read, you do need to tune your ECU. Either the PC or the SERT will do the job but it seems to be the concensus that the SERT will give you the most range of tuning. I can tell you from personal experience that you can find more techs that will tune the PC than the SERT. With the PC, you can load standard maps that may get you by without going on the dyno. If you are going to add the cams, you definitely will want to have something to tune to get the best out of your build. Good luck!

my pc works

i put a pc on mine and it seems to work fine. the thing with pc that i've found is that you have to learn on your own. i've found that the tech support at pc is worthless. seems they don't know much.

I read a product review of an aftermarket closed loop system that comes with an oxygen sensor you tap into your header, and it self tunes as you ride. Does anyone know what the product name/ company name? Thanks for the replies.

Yup, thats what I was looking for, Terry components. Thanks for the lead, much apreciated.

05 Rk

You may be interested in looking at a power commander. It does not change anything on you bikes present computer. Actually, from my understanding, you can't, that's the problem, you can't, thus the big aftermarket of products. The PC is what's known as a piggy back computer. It works with your bikes present computer and sends two sets of messages instead of one. Your bike doesn't care from where the messages come and will make needed adjustments accordingly.If you remove the PC, then your back where you started. Race tuners are fine for anything above a basic stage I. I found some good info. at nightrider.com. Look over at the part about building a Stg I. I found similar info. on other sites. Good luck.

Lumby

My 02 RK is in for a build right now and I went with the PCIII more for the cost but also if I'm out away from the garage and I have a problem I could disconect the PCIII and limp home on the stage 1 download that's in the ECU.
I think one of the better closed loop systems out there is Zippers Thundermax. There is a good article in volume 40 number 4 of Hot Bike magazine. In fact my bike is in the same shop featured in the article. If you give R & R a call talk to Bob. He's very knowledgable about all the tuners out there and will give you all the strieght poop. (253-520-5520)If you decide to go closed loop and are putting new headers on your bike then you'll need the O2 bungs on the headers. I would have done a closed loop system but the cost with my build started to get out of my range. Hope you get what your looking for.

Esky

no fear

lumpy do not think one bit about getting in bikes brain,,,cant,,, pc is easyest to tune,,and fun,,, object is simple,,,get more fuel,,, or less,,, you can dyno it,,,but can you tell 6 hp from 8hp,,,, most of us cannot,,,harleys brain can only be changed from factory,,, do not believe otherwise,,, pops

The SERT rewrites the fuel and timing maps in the ECM. It's like making your own download program. It is harder to program than the PC only because you have to load the present program into your computer, alter it and then reload the map to the ECM. With the PC you bring up the map and alter it. It is one step quicker. The SERT is not a piggyback controller, it changes the program in the computer. Both work well, just the PC is a bit more user friendly

I did some checking awhile back. I intend to install cams and a gear drive in the not too distant future. The research I did suggested to avoid the Terry unit, period.
Zippers has a product called the Thundermax which is more expensive but from what Ive read the thing actually works and the seller is dynamite about providing service and answering questions so you get it done right.
Product List
AL

I just purchased the Thundermax a few weeks ago, I have not installed it yet but did lots of research before I purchased it and did not find anybody that was unsatisfied with the product, They are a little more expensive but if you look around you can find them between 650-700 dollar range not much more than the new sert, I think that is over 500 plus no dyno time. Todd

Hey Todd do you mind telling me where you found the best deal? Thanks. AL

some guys told me they put bids on ebay from american classic motors or eastern performance and you had to submit a bid and I was told a few months ago they went for 600 but I would not buy anything again from American classic motors but Eastern would be alright. I purchased mine from Bart from Cateye Customs, great guy. Todd

Bought a 07 Wide Glide in 06, Got a buddy of mine in Alabama that is a builder. He turned me on to the Thundermax with Auto Tune. I had it on my Wide Glide and it performaned great. Never had a problem with it.
When I traded it in I took it off the Wide Glide, was going to use it on my 08 FLHT, problem is HD came out with DBW and changed the ecm plug, so now I have been waiting for TM to come out with a new unit.
The TM is the best unit on the market to be able to tune a bike that I know of.
The initial cost if high but well worth the cost.
Support with Zippers and thunderheart is great.