[tommyz123]

Hippo, ok - I swear I'll leave ya alone till next season after this question/concern. I have an 02' FXSTDI with appx. 1800 miles on it. At the 1000 mile mark I installed a set of V&H Big Shot Staggered & SE Stage I breather. During the 1k dealer check I had them reflash the bike for the pipes/breather upgrade that was installed. When I picked up the bike, and up until about 250-300 miles ago it had ran flawlessly. The bike now is sounding weird - weird meaning it has sort of a hollow sound coming from the pipes. The bike also has seemed to have lost the original power that I gained from the pipes/breather (not that it was much, but it is noticeable). To top off the problem, the motor has a new vibration when taking it up through the r's. All of these problems seemed to have occured after one particular day coming home from work... I ride 28 miles one way, and was caught in bumper to bumper traffic for appx 10 miles. After that trip home from work, the bike has never been the same. Am I being paranoid? - The woman even says is sounds different when she's on back - so I KNOW there's gotta be somthing going on. Should I just wait for the 2500 mile service, or should it be looked at now? I've contacted the dealer, they said the bike is gonna start to sound different as it breaks in - I think that's a load of B.S.

Again, Thanks in advance!
Tom Z

 

[JimmyK]

The V&H are breaking in for one thing. The tone will change but usually at about 2500 after initial install.

Hey, the bike is under warranty, you are not going to sleep until you know so take it in and make em check the complaint.

Keep us posted and stay tuned for The Hippo.

 

[sbc charlie]

The bike now is sounding weird - weird meaning it has sort of a hollow sound coming from the pipes. The bike also has seemed to have lost the original power that I gained from the pipes/breather (not that it was much, but it is noticeable). To top off the problem, the motor has a new vibration when taking it up through the r's. All of these problems seemed to have occured after one particular day coming home from work.

Sure pipes will change sound over time, but generally as they break in and the engine breaks in they run better, not worse.

Hard to say, but if you can feel a difference in performance something minor might have changed. Then again, paranoia is not uncommon either.

H.

 

[Ed Y]

Just a thought. If you were caught in a 10 mile traffic backup, I assume there was a lot of stop and go. How long did this take to clear up?? How hot was it? I know of 2 TC88's that suffered from extreme heat problems because of this kind of traffic jam. Galded pistons and cylinders walls. Both bikes wound up with big bore kits.

 

[JFScheck]

So glad I ordered the "Cooler Kit" for the softail