%&@#*!!!!

[City Chicken]

As a new owner, I tried very hard to research my Harley purchase, ask questions at the dealerships where I shopped and the one dealer where I did eventually purchase my bike, talk to friends, etc.

Despite all of this, I am still learning, and some of the things I am learning conflict with what I was told (and what I was sold) when I did pull the trigger back in spring of this year.

Example - I put a PCV and headers on my bike when I bought it based on advice from the dealer about keeping the motor cool, and now an indie is telling me to take them off and replace with headers that have an O2 fitting and TTS. My complaint to him was that my mileage seems to suck (28 mpg or so on my '12 Ultra Limited) and he tells me that this will fix that issue.

Man oh man. I guess the learning never stops. Or the cash outlays.

Rant over.

[jsvt184]

Lots of free advise out there. Sifting through it all is the difficult part. Good luck.

[TinyPeckerwood]

you don't need to abandon what you have, you need a dyno tune. A dyno tune will optimize the way your bike runs. You will see a large increase in your mileage. Your bike should easily see 35-45 mpg with the PCV and a proper tune.

[LugoffSC_FLD]

With the stock headers, a slipon exhaust, stage 1 AC and SERT I was getting 38 mpg. Now that I have my new pipes on I am waiting to see what I get


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[wilcon76]

I would get a better map in the PCV, whether that is checking what one you are using and finding one that fits better from someone to get better mileage or going to have a dyno tune done is up to you. Your header pipes can have an O2 sensor bung welded in, way cheaper than getting new ones, then you can install the DynoJet Auto Tune and it will create a map on the fly to keep you at an optimum AFR. That way if you add more things in the future it will continue to compensate for them and create a useable map.

[City Chicken]

Thanks to all for the advice - I will definitely be talking ot the indie soon to see about modifying my current set-up.

[phyhowe]

Don't know how many miles you have on it but my sportster got a lot better after the beak in. Milage wise.

[City Chicken]

I have almost 11K so I don't think that break-in is the issue but thank you for pointing that out....

[Upchuck]

Did you put the Stage one air cleaner along with the headers , pipes and mufflers? I didn't see that in your post. Dave 63 has a post on this subject in tech section. Seems like you may have to change the map on the PCV. On my 07ultra I changed the headers , mufflers and air cleaner ( V & H V02 naked) and since I changed the AC had to get a fuel management system. So I went with a V&H fuel pak , mainly for the cost. And since I wasn't doing any more mods to the engine. It runs great. Mileage is around 40 mpg. About the same as before. Runs cooler. A buddy has a 2011 FLHTC and he put rush headers, V&H mufflers , SE stage one AC, and had the dealer put a SE super tuner on with the dealer running the dyno. Also took the cat out. He sasz it's running good now, but before the tune he had a PCV in it, and couldn't get it right, the bike was "pinging" a lot. So he switch to the SE tuner at the dealers


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[Wiredog]

If mileage is your issue then it is probably an issue with the map you are running on your PCV. I have 2010 FLHTK with a similar setup to yours and with mostly 2 up riding I reliably get between 35 and 40 mpg. I would suggest your map is way too rich for your setup and if so a check of the plugs will likely tell that. Before getting it dyno tuned try a different map. They are available online and may not be perfect for your bike but there is probably one that is close enough.

It could be that the indie is trying to sell you what he stocks/deals or what he is familiar with. He will probably get you up and running right but the cost for new hardware isn't necessary and you can get your existing setup working right.