What are the benefits of upgrading the air intake system on a Harley Davidson motorcycle? Are there any specific air intake systems that are compatible with a certain Harley Davidson model, such as the Sportster or Softail? How does an aftermarket air intake differ from the stock air intake in terms of performance and sound? Are there any recommended brands for Harley Davidson air intake systems, such as K&N, Vance & Hines, or Arlen Ness? What is the installation process like for a new air intake system, and is it something that can be done at home or should it be taken to a professional mechanic? Do air intake systems require any additional tuning or adjustments to the fuel injection system, and if so, how can this be done? Can an upgraded air intake system improve fuel efficiency, and if so, by how much? Are there any potential downsides or risks to upgrading the air intake system on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, such as increased noise or reduced reliability?
K&N style filters let a LOT of air flow thru, esp if you upgrade the exhaust to free flowing . BUT........ with that enhanced air flow comes a caveat - they also let an insane amount of fine dust into the engjne, even if you keep them oiled with the tacky air filter oil. more dust - dirty oil very quick.... more engine component wear personally I'd upgrade the existing filter to a paper WIX (ultra fine filtration) and maybe upgrade the exhaust for better flow. any intake / exhaust upgrades require carb tuning or fuel system mapping / tuning most intake upgrades can be done by the home mechanic but often it's better to let a shop do it - they can tune the bike after my 2 cents
It's a performance upgrade. To be done with exhaust, and fuel tuning. No real point in doing on it's own. Fuel economy will decrease. Most performance intakes will come with a k&n filter. Don't listen to Bushy. You won't have any issues with it. Just clean it and oil it. I've been running them for over twenty years now. Vance and Hines products are high quality. Nice fit and finish. This is something you should have done by a pro. I'm a fan of Dyno jet power commanders for fuel tuning. We used to have issues with the screaming eagle race tuner, and the ECUs don't like being reflashed. Hope this helps.
I love the look of this one on mine! Yes you definitely want to do intake exhaust and programmer. The stock intakes are made to restrict air flow to achieve a specific rating they are looking for. Intake/exhaust/programmer are going to up the HP and let a ton more air in.
Others have already covered a lot. They are easy to install yourself. Tuning it yourself might not be so easy. As others have said you'll likely need to re-tune due to altering your stock air-fuel ratio. Another thing to consider. Harley engines have breather ports that feed back into the air cleaner in stock configuration. A lot of aftermarket cleaners use the same method. Some don't and will require a few relatively inexpensive extra parts (breather bolts, tubing, etc.) Like anything there are pros and cons. Pros = performance or aesthetics. Cons = less fuel economy, spending more $$$, altering a stock bike (which may effect it's re-sale value if you're concerned about that). The question to ask is, what are you unhappy with currently? If you like the way your bike runs and looks now then you're probably better off leaving it as is. If you're looking the increase performance or alter the appearance then it might be worth the time/ money to swap air cleaners. Myself, I don't care much for the ham can look of stock Sportster air cleaners so I swapped mine out. That being said, I like to tinker with stuff, and had to re-jet my carb & install breather bolts.
