This is what you do with a Harley that just came off the truck.

[DTM Brian]

Throw some pipes, filter and tuner on it and bring it to DTM.

Bike came in either yesterday or today to the dealer. Less then 24 hours later it is on my dyno for a tune. 100.4 whp - 121.4 wtq. I am not sure the customer has even seen his bike yet.

A big thanks to AD Farrows and John H for the continued business and referrals.

[gridelock]

Hey Brain , i would like to come by and get a base line .. before i install some more bolts on .. are you open on sundays? .. if the weather allows ..

[DTM Brian]

Yes I am......

By appointment.

[Hoblick]

110 SE motor?

that is alot of money for not alot more bike..

CVO Ultra i assume.. what like $38k or something?

id rather do a Street glide for $20k and dump a SE 120R motor in it for 8k and still have less money in it

[Hoblick]

oh BTW what did the bike make stock?

[DTM Brian]

I believe it is 110 cubic inches.

There was no way we could make a pull on this bike stock. It was so lean with the stock tune that it would not take any throttle under load. I had to start with idle and cruise tuning and work my way up to WOT. The pipes, filter, and tuner went on as soon as dealership took delivery of the bike.

To be honest Ryan I do not know all the different HD model names. They all look the same to me. HD's are responsible for a 50% increase in motorcycle tuning business last year. I can see it growing even more this year. I just need to get the word out to Harley owners.

[Hoblick]

I believe it is 110 cubic inches.

There was no way we could make a pull on this bike stock. It was so lean with the stock tune that it would not take any throttle under load. I had to start with idle and cruise tuning and work my way up to WOT. The pipes, filter, and tuner went on as soon as dealership took delivery of the bike.

To be honest Ryan I do not know all the different HD model names. They all look the same to me. HD's are responsible for a 50% increase in motorcycle tuning business last year. I can see it growing even more this year. I just need to get the word out to Harley owners.

ill put the word out to anyone i know

the harley guys will throw down the big money on there bikes for sure.

i dont know who does C&A Harleys tuning, but you might want to give them a call and see if they need a tuner guy

[DTM Brian]

I will do that for sure.

This increase in HD business started with tuning a couple bikes for a guy who has bought a number of bikes from Farrow's. He has always been happy with the tuning results of his bikes. As a result he has been spreading the word. I hope to be busy busy busy with HD's this year. HD's along with sport bikes should keep the bike dyno drum spinning all year long.

[DTM Brian]

You need to be a reseller of the Super Tuners.

[FormulaMatt]

I will get my VROD out there at some point again...this time for a tune perhaps.

[Pokey]

Still a Harley.....

[Hoblick]

Nothin wrong with that

[Rctaylor]

That thing looks HEAVY.

That thing also has more power than my old Jeep..

[Kritz]

That's a lot of torque!

[Moto-Brian]

That thing looks HEAVY.

That thing also has more power than my old Jeep..

But, compared to bikes out there, it is still pathetic power. Guys that rely on those torque numbers are funny folks. Torque is cool and all, but at the end of the day when rolling at 70 MPH and twisting the throttle, you get your ass handed to you.

I know at our HD shop, we got GOBS of tuning work. The HD guys NEEEEED a good tuner and I think Brian is the right guy. I am by no means discrediting him whatsoever. Just looking at the numbers for the bike in terms of power and torque and the overall cost that gets you into that particular door.

I know this is absolutley not even close in comparison and totally not fair, but Reuben at 35 Motorsports did a purely Superstock build (Even though the bike will be competing in the AMA Superbike class) on a 2011 ZX10 and got 196.70 HP at the ground. Now, it only had 84.19 ft lbs of torque, but the idea here is that the bike is MUCH lighter and the way the suspension works on sportbikes, allows it to use that power to the ground effectively and efficiently. Plus, in the hands of a guy like Brian, the curve is smooth and consistent. That's big trouble...

I scratch my skull when the HD guys walk around and brag about their power, but only rely on the torque figures. Here's the big rub... That thing is 900 lbs. Literally!!

Now, I understand that a heavy bike will translate into a better ride, etc. However, we had guys coming in and doing BIG builds. We had one of the best tuners in the US and an amazing engine builder. He was getting some serious numbers out of these bikes and above all, dependable power.

We used to have these almost underground groups of racers that would just sit and brag and brag and offer to compete with our sportbikes. Now, the bottom line was unless you were really good, you had better watch what you were stepping into. Many if not all were really good at drag racing and would hand your ass to you even on a bike that shouldn't have a problem.

In terms of today's standards, if you had a 2012 R6 bone stock, you are almost 3 times lighter and have more HP at the ground. Now, the torque numbers are shit in comparison, but if lined up side by side, even at half the torque, at launch, the R6's weight to power advantage is going to negate that mass on the HD...

Again, didn't mean to derail, but am always blown away at the amount these guys put into their bikes for the return on investment. Of course, this is coming to a guy that takes a bike and doubles the money into it and goes out to run in circles so, not sure if that is good to do, but at the end of the day, as long as we all are doing what we love, it doesn't matter. I just invision a guy going into a shop and bragging about the power he has in his Ultra. I think of Justin's ZX10 and bikes like my old GSXR and try not to giggle too much...

[Hoblick]

its actually over 900 lbs.. probably closer to 1000lbs on that model.

and yes its pathetic the power they put out, but thats not what they buy them for.

but i think $40k for any bike is ridiculous, but more than anything, a screamin eagle harley.

you can buy the same model bike that isnt a CVO/SE model for 20k less and have a nicer looking, better running bike. you can dump 3k in suspension (which they need terribly) and then do 6k in motor mods, big bore to jump the stock 103ci to a 110ci, cams, exhaust, intake, etc. and make similar or more power.

have a more custom bike fitted to your needs and spend less money.

having the my harley attracted alot of the HD guys around, and it was funny hearing them talk about hp numbers, how the bike handles, etc. i laughed quite a bit. thing is most of them and by most i would say 80-90%, have never ridden any other brand. so they dont know what its like to ride something more capable. but like i said its not about that to them.

im still not gonna hate though. there are brand loyalist for every brand. Harley is just the most extreme case

[DTM Brian]

In no way would I ever compare the power of a HD compared to that of the sport bikes. A comparision of an HD to a metric cruiser would be a much closer comparision.

Seems like most of your base model harleys make right around 60 hp an 70 to 80 ft lbs. The reason for the post was not to brag about the power this particular bike was making. It was the fact that the customer just took a brand new bike and added pipes, filter, tuner and was on a dyno before it was ever ridden.

The engine management system on these are pretty complex offering seperate V/E and timing tables for the front and rear cylinders. Being that this is Speed Density (Same as the sport bikes) it was in a desperate need of a tune with the changes made to the bike. It barely ran with the stock tune in it.

I like all kinds of bikes. However, GSXR's are probably the only thing I will ever own. I do not think they are the best and only bike to own. They are what I own and I see no need to change into something different.

It does not matter to me if I tune a R6 or a HD. All that I want is for the bike dyno to be just as busy as the car dyno. In the end the money being made spends the same regardless of which type of bike it is.

I was half asleep while making this post. If something does not make sense then I will fix it later. LOL.

[Pokey]

Nothin wrong with that

Nope.....nothing at all.

[Moto-Brian]

Brian-

I think you did a great job and didn't think it to be bragging. It just drummed up thoughts of the past where these HD owners were all about how much power they made.

Dude, you'd be insane to not want to get more HD business. They are one of the few owner groups that buy a ton of stuff and will bolt on power parts all day long. I would think at how good you are with the dyno stuff, it'll be a no brainer for any of the HD stores or HD owners.

Good on you. Them? Well... I still giggle.

[DTM Brian]

Brian-

I think you did a great job and didn't think it to be bragging. It just drummed up thoughts of the past where these HD owners were all about how much power they made.

Dude, you'd be insane to not want to get more HD business. They are one of the few owner groups that buy a ton of stuff and will bolt on power parts all day long. I would think at how good you are with the dyno stuff, it'll be a no brainer for any of the HD stores or HD owners.

Good on you. Them? Well... I still giggle.

This brings up a past memory from right around 2002 or 2003. Back then I was using the car dyno to dyno bikes. The shaft on the drums would split so I could dyno using 1 drum. I remember one day dynoing a few harley bikes and one bone stock busa. The HD owners could not believe their eyes when they saw a stock busa lay down 150 hp.

[Rctaylor]

This brings up a past memory from right around 2002 or 2003. Back then I was using the car dyno to dyno bikes. The shaft on the drums would split so I could dyno using 1 drum. I remember one day dynoing a few harley bikes and one bone stock busa. The HD owners could not believe their eyes when they saw a stock busa lay down 150 hp.

And to think 150 horsepower is... low for a 2010+ flying couch. Good story lol.

[Kritz]

Some of those cruisers can be pretty wicked. A friends Warrior ran 9.16 at 150MPH on a street tire with a 1.33 60-foot time. The bike had no power adders and was a good 750+ pounds. Rick's an excellent racer out of Bucyrus. He also has a street ridden mid 9 second Super Glide that he runs in Norwalk.

Edited February 5, 2012 by Kritz

[mgbgt89]

its actually over 900 lbs.. probably closer to 1000lbs on that model.

To each his own i suppose. I just don't see how riding a bike that heavy can be fun, at all. I knew they were heavy, but jesus christ. Riding an old GS750 feels like a big fat pig to me, i can't imagine riding two of them at once.

[Moto-Brian]

Some of those cruisers can be pretty wicked. A friends Warrior ran 9.16 at 150MPH on a street tire with a 1.33 60-foot time. The bike had no power adders and was a good 750+ pounds. Rick's an excellent racer out of Bucyrus. He also has a street ridden mid 9 second Super Glide that he runs in Norwalk.

If you think Rick's bike was more stock than modded, you'd be mistaken...

[Moto-Brian]

To each his own i suppose. I just don't see how riding a bike that heavy can be fun, at all. I knew they were heavy, but jesus christ. Riding an old GS750 feels like a big fat pig to me, i can't imagine riding two of them at once.

Honestly, taking out the fact that a majority of HD riders that bitch and complain about the metric brands but yet got their start in riding motorcycles aboard a metric bike, the brand is pretty amazing in marketing terms as well as the way the bikes ride and run.

The oil leaking BS is a LONG old thing that isn't the case anymore. The vibration part is there, but honestly, isn't that bad and really is something that if eliminated would probably cause a ripple effect with fans of the brand. It was tough enough when they went to liquid cooled bikes!!

The bikes actually handle well for the weight. Are there better metric versions? My opinion is yes. But, having spent a good number of miles on an Ultra, I was impressed. It wasn't my favorite in tight, low speed spots, but with two up and loaded, it was even heavier and yet very easy to ride.

Just myself on it and it was even better. Even the metric bikes that I feel are better, they are pigs too. Heavy helps believe it or not. Light and stiff is going to cause mini impacts and juttering of the bike at times that will essentially wear you out.

I think they are good bikes. Not great, but good. I also understand the fan base and see that the idea of this being an American brand is really cool. And let's face it, they have made it through a LOT and are still here. If I were a cruiser fan, I'd want to go HD and try to get into one. Having ridden them a good bit with where I used to work and the friends that have them, I see where it would be a great steed on long hauls.

I just have issue with the riders that are bashers of their metric counterparts as well as the riders that brag about their power numbers. Unfortunately, it is like the thought that every sportbike rider is a stunter and rides like a moron.

No offense to DTM or wasn't bashing anything in that regard. In fact, I would take my bikes for dyno tuning to Brian if I come to that. I am thinking of bringing the RC8 over to get an idea where we are, but not sure it makes sense as we cannot adjust much...