16FLHXS
You'd be correct. I was certainly intending on getting every speck of HP & TQ out of my STAGE ONE upgrade. IMHO, I think I did pretty well, and I owe it all to my dynamometer guy (Doc is a LEGEND in his chosen field... Do some research like I did). I feel very lucky that I only had to trailer my bike 300 miles to Docs Shop. Some of his customers come to him from thousands of miles away.
Auto tuning is fine. I have 3 of 'em stacked on my diesel truck. But since I knew that all I ever wanted to do is STAGE ONE on my SGS (for reliability purposes), I chose to go the dyno-tuning route. The tune up cost me $1,000 including $400 for the TTS Mastertune 2 module. The Stage 1 performance parts (see my sig.) I added to get where I'm at cost me $1,297.66 (just added up my receipts) My "totally stock" HP and TQ was 67.21 & 87.87 which was just slightly above average rear wheel numbers for a RUSHMORE 103, according to my tuner.... So I actually got more than the 13 HP you mention. I wasn't so much looking for HP as I was TQ.
Would I go the same route again?
The answer is YES. I wanted it NOW. Didn't wanna' WAIT while an auto tuner does it's thing. IMMEDIATE NEED GRATIFICATION is what my wife calls it. Lol
Thank you.
GlideLife & 16FLHXS, you guys make excellent points and I agree. I think the there is good info here to take away from the points you guys have made. perhaps others who haven't gone down the "whats the best tuner" road can find good reasoning in your points made when considering. Here is my take away from this, 2 stock bikes upgraded with same headers, same A/C, same slip-ons, 2 different tuners. Now, with the only differences being the tuners, one would ask them self (this was me rationalizing my decision) pros vs. cons of tuners
Autotuner:
1.relatively cheap
2. easy to use and I can install myself
3. doesn't jeopardize HD factory warranty(easy to place back in OEM settings
4. its plug, play and ride
5. its expandable for a few other power adders
6. good feedback from other users
7. Auto tune is good, its mostly effective and mostly efficient.
Tuner (fully tunable tuner)
1. a reputable dyno guy will achieve maximum numbers with a much broader map of any canned map
2. a dynamometer tune is better than a canned tune from an autotuner
3. more HP and TQ
4. will require additional sessions with future power adders(parts)
5. the more expensive option, but you get what you pay for.
6. I don't know a reputable Dynamometer guy, in my area.
nothing is better at producing HP/TQ, than a dyno session. But, for me at the time, the best decision was a autotuner. I didn't see a huge disparity in any numbers between Auto and dyno tunes that were significant enough to not start with a (cheaper) autotuner. I also did not have a vision, at the time, of what my motor would offer me after my HD warranty expires. I now know, I will do some variation of heads, pistons, cams and so on, and I will require a dynamometer session and a proper tunable ECM to support it. So a Autotuner is a safe and cost effective device to remedy the stock ECM issues for some minor power upgrades. A Dyno type tuner is definetly required for major engine changes and modifications, the further away from stock setup the closer you get to a dyno tune session. Today, if my changes and upgrades work within the capabilities of my FP3 im good, but I am limited.
