HD dealer says "No!" to power commander V - Harley Davidson Forums: Harley Davidson Motorcycle Forum

Redrooster66 · 02-23-2012, 06:59 PM

I own an 2011 Fatboy and I am going to upgrade the exhaust pipes and air system. I spoke with the local HD dealer today and the service manager told me that I should not use a Power commander when upgrading. He told me there have been several customers with newer bikes that are extremely unhappy with the power Commander and that I should use the Screaming Eagle race tuner instead. Now I'm certainly not an idiot and I understand they want me to buy their product and have them install it but I'm curious as to whether or not anyone with a newer bike has had issues when using a PC vs a SE. They claim the SE version can be tuned more precisely than the PC. Can anyone shed some light on this?

duecedog · 02-23-2012, 07:49 PM

I don't know what he means by 'newer', but my 06 Deuce has had a PCIII on it since shortly after I bought the bike. I've not had an ounce of trouble with it. It made a very noticeable difference in performance and I've consistently obtained 43-46 mpg, depending on whether I'm riding two up or solo.

I can (and have) plug my laptop into it and tweak any of the settings. While it may not have the versatility of the new PC, my bike is stock and the PCIII has worked just fine for me.

Redrooster66 · 02-23-2012, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duecedog

I don't know what he means by 'newer', but my 06 Deuce has had a PCIII on it since shortly after I bought the bike. I've not had an ounce of trouble with it. It made a very noticeable difference in performance and I've consistently obtained 43-46 mpg, depending on whether I'm riding two up or solo.

I can (and have) plug my laptop into it and tweak any of the settings. While it may not have the versatility of the new PC, my bike is stock and the PCIII has worked just fine for me.

That's what I figured but I just wanted to get some additional feedback. I think that when he said, "Newer bikes" he meant 2010-2012 (since I have a 2011) but I'm not exactly sure either.

TX_Bagger · 02-23-2012, 08:08 PM

I don't know the details about the Power Commander, but my tuner told me that with the SE Pro Race Tuner that he gets more data points to work with and that he can adjust the front and rear cylinders separately.

That does NOT mean you cannot with the PC, I'm just telling you what I was told about the SEPRT. As previously stated, I don't know what he PC can do. My '11 Limited is tuned with the SEPRT.

3OliveMartini · 02-23-2012, 09:20 PM

i have the race tuner ..i love it.. and they are right you can get a more precise tune with it vs the power commander...

i guess it just depends on how precise you need to be..and how much money you want to spend..

Natty · 02-23-2012, 09:27 PM

My local dealer told me almost the exact same thing. Said they had too many "problems" with the PC and now only use the SE Tuner. Of course, this is coming from a HD dealer so thats almost to be expected.

bensfatboy · 02-23-2012, 09:37 PM

The dyno tech I use is not with a Harley dealership. I won't quote him on what he had to say about the PC, but to put it more mildly than he did, the PC leaves a lot to be desired. He is 100% pro SERT.
He does however gets paid money to dyno with a SERT.

MDGeorge · 02-23-2012, 10:05 PM

I put the PCV on a previous bike and could never get it right. Had it dyno-ed three times.
My 08 STC has the SE racing tuner with stage one and it has been perfect.

chasarms · 02-23-2012, 10:41 PM

The tune is more important than the tuner. They all ultimately reach the same result. It's just different approaches.

If you are comfortable and confident with the folks you plan to use, use the equipment that they understand the best and have the best experience with.

I have a PC and am very happy with the way the bike runs, but I am quite confident that a lot of other tuners could get the bike there as well.

TinyPeckerwood · 02-23-2012, 11:16 PM

Can somebody tell what the race tuner can do that the PC-V can't. I have a PC-V with an auto tuner and it has lots of capabilities. You can set timing and a/f ratio, and do that in every gear and every 250 rpm for front and rear cyl. The PC-V can also signal an rpm activated accessory(shift light or an electric shifter) How much more is there to mess with? Not knocking one over the other, just trying to understand both.