My dealer charges 70 dollars an hour to dyno a bike. They said I could get it dyno'd for 35 but if I wanted them to work on the tuning it would probably be an hour. What do you think?

I am on the fence on this one. If you have a unique setup with your heads, exhaust, carb, airfilter it is definately worth it.

If you have a setup that mimics a lot of other setups I think a lot of work has already been put into the setup and if you follow the settings they have used (and don't have rideability issues) than it is more for fine tuning. You
have to remember though that means anything that changes (brand of gas, air filter cleanliness, etc)

Only my opinion, doesn't have to be yours.

Kong

That makes sense to me.

Some may disagree but IMHO it's money well spent to know your bike is running and performing to it's peak performance without sacrificing longevity of the motor for what ever setup you maybe running. All bikes have different needs i just want a bike to run and perform at it's best knowing it's not pinging or overheating from incorrect jetting, and timing setups.

My $.02 == if your spark plugs are a nice tan color and it is running good i would just ride and enjoy.

The spark plugs are the single most important indication of how a bike is running. They are right in there where all the action is. As a bike owner and person who does their own maint, reading plugs is your most important skill.

I don't have any use for a dyno...

While it's not argued that you can fine-tune the best this way, I see it used mostly as a venue for bragging-rights, which I have no use for...

Could my bike be tuned just a hair better on a dyno? Perhaps....but I wouldn't bother unless I was racing or something.....the atmospheric conditions change too much here for a dyno to be useful to me, as a rider....

Some may disagree but IMHO it's money well spent to know your bike is running and performing to it's peak performance without sacrificing longevity of the motor for what ever setup you maybe running. All bikes have different needs i just want a bike to run and perform at it's best knowing it's not pinging or overheating from incorrect jetting, and timing setups.


I agree but need to add that there are many way to tune a bike on a dyno. The dealers are not worth a sh!t when it comes to dyno tunning. Find an Indy thatv will tune it every 200 rpms up to the max and then you know your running as right as possable

I just had my Bike Dyno Tuned and I thought it was well worth it to me. My Bike was at the Dealer four times for jetting. I even took a couple of stabs at it myself it was better but still wasnt right.I paid 180 Bucks to have it done but they had to replace the Diaphram on the Slide added a 48 Slow Jet and Shimmed the Needle. My Bike ran like crap after having my Stage 1 Mods done and now it is finally running like it should.Granted I had to take it to a different Dealer but when I saw the Dyno results and rode the bike for the first time I was more then happy. The final results were 76.4 HP and 78.5 TQ.The bike now pulls the front wheel off the ground when I gun it thru 3 gears and I was able to beat a Bro of mines 95 Inch Shovel on a 1 Mile run = Priceless I havent even added cams or any Headwork yet so the best is yet to come. So I would say if you can afford it to go for it but make sure you take it to a good shop with a good rep. The shop that did my Bikes Tech guys all Race in some form or another and did work for several other people I know.I would never buy a Bike from them because their markup is to high on new Bikes , but they have a great Service Department and treat5 you really well. They picked up my Bike and offered to deliver it to me for free. I just didnt want to wait an extra day so I had a friend drive me to the Dealer and rode it home in 39 degree weather

Do it yourself...........


http://www.charm.net/~mchaney/homedyno/dynokit.htm


Actually works pretty good. I calibrated it by matching curves after a run at the dealer (they had a special going).

Absolute numbers may not be right, but you can tell differences between runs, to see what you did helped or hurt.

Many good comments on all sides.

I've tuned a lot of bikes over the years, and I've also done several dyno shootouts where we rolled up numerous bikes over the course of the day, and used the sniffer where possible.

The vast majority of the bikes that have been brought to me really benefitted from a good tune, they were far enough out of tune that it was most definitely worthwhile. Anywhere from 5-10hp more hp found is typical, sometimes more. That's awfully cheap horsepower. It's also good peace of mind knowing the bike is tuned right, running at peak efficiency, not building excess carbon from being too rich or causing excess heat from being too lean or too advanced on the timing. It contributes to the longevity of the motor.

Occassionally someone brings me a bike that doesn't need tuning, it's spot on or really close. It doesn't take me long to figure that out, and I'll generally roll it off with little or no charge. I've got to feel like I did something for the guy in order for me to feel right about taking his money.

Last Saturday, a guy brought me a bike, a really tricked out Sportster ... S&S cases, long rod 79", Axtell iron cylinders, ported Thunderstorms (someone else did them), HSR45, etc. The guy lives on the other side of the state and he came a LONG way to have me tune it. I've tuned the bike before, it's about a 100hp motor, but he had swapped on a different carb and wanted to get it dialed in. Well, I warmed it up good, and on the first pull, it stuck the front exhaust valve. I felt awful for the guy, he came a long way. I didn't charge him, I told him bring it back after you fix it and we'll go from there. I would've fixed the motor but he wanted to do it himself.

Valve guides are weird. Two different brands of guides, both made of bronze manganese, one will work fine at .0015 clearance, the next will stick at anything less than .0025. You've got to know the guides you're using and what they need in order to work right. But I digress.

Anyway, the point earlier about the thoroughness of the tune-up is a good one. I've seen entirely too many people who will do a pull, make a change, do a pull, make a change, etc. That just doesn't work, and it's a sure fire way to end up out in the weeds. You have to establish repeatability and constantly be double checking yourself to make sure you're not getting fooled. A typical tune-up, I'll do anywhere from 20 to 30 pulls over the course of it, and many of those are just managing the temperature and double checking myself.

Bottom line, in my experience, most bikes can benefit from a tune, but the trick is to find someone who will really tune it properly. That's really the key, finding someone who cares about getting it right and understands the process.

Bottom line, in my experience, most bikes can benefit from a tune, but the trick is to find someone who will really tune it properly. That's really the key, finding someone who cares about getting it right and understands the process.

That service is golden -
I wish you guys were local to Cali-

I am not 100% convinced that these guys would go through all of that. The people at the HD shop are more money driven than quality driven. Maybe I am wrong. There is noone locally that dyno tunes other than the HD shop. I am thinking I may have them run on there for giggles and go from there. Especially after a carb change and rejet.

Hey jlcrss..... let me know how things turn out.... I've been thinking about this too, but I kinda hesitate taking it to our "friends" to our south... wonder if anyone else in mid-Michigan dyno tunes??
At any rate, let me know how you ended up.

Many good comments on all sides.

I've tuned a lot of bikes over the years, and I've also done several dyno shootouts where we rolled up numerous bikes over the course of the day, and used the sniffer where possible.

The vast majority of the bikes that have been brought to me really benefitted from a good tune, they were far enough out of tune that it was most definitely worthwhile. Anywhere from 5-10hp more hp found is typical, sometimes more. That's awfully cheap horsepower. It's also good peace of mind knowing the bike is tuned right, running at peak efficiency, not building excess carbon from being too rich or causing excess heat from being too lean or too advanced on the timing. It contributes to the longevity of the motor.

Occassionally someone brings me a bike that doesn't need tuning, it's spot on or really close. It doesn't take me long to figure that out, and I'll generally roll it off with little or no charge. I've got to feel like I did something for the guy in order for me to feel right about taking his money.

Last Saturday, a guy brought me a bike, a really tricked out Sportster ... S&S cases, long rod 79", Axtell iron cylinders, ported Thunderstorms (someone else did them), HSR45, etc. The guy lives on the other side of the state and he came a LONG way to have me tune it. I've tuned the bike before, it's about a 100hp motor, but he had swapped on a different carb and wanted to get it dialed in. Well, I warmed it up good, and on the first pull, it stuck the front exhaust valve. I felt awful for the guy, he came a long way. I didn't charge him, I told him bring it back after you fix it and we'll go from there. I would've fixed the motor but he wanted to do it himself.

Valve guides are weird. Two different brands of guides, both made of bronze manganese, one will work fine at .0015 clearance, the next will stick at anything less than .0025. You've got to know the guides you're using and what they need in order to work right. But I digress.

Anyway, the point earlier about the thoroughness of the tune-up is a good one. I've seen entirely too many people who will do a pull, make a change, do a pull, make a change, etc. That just doesn't work, and it's a sure fire way to end up out in the weeds. You have to establish repeatability and constantly be double checking yourself to make sure you're not getting fooled. A typical tune-up, I'll do anywhere from 20 to 30 pulls over the course of it, and many of those are just managing the temperature and double checking myself.

Bottom line, in my experience, most bikes can benefit from a tune, but the trick is to find someone who will really tune it properly. That's really the key, finding someone who cares about getting it right and understands the process.

If anyone ever asks why NRHS is MY choice of shop.....I'd show them this reply....

It says all that needs to be said...

THANK YOU, NRHS!!!!! :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap

NRHS is awesome...great reply. Well heres the deal, after they installed the new carb that I destroyed (see DUMBASS OF MONTH CANIDATE thread) they dyno'd it without me even asking. It was kinda neat to see what kind of HP the bike was running. I ended up with a grand total of 65 hp 69 lbs of torque after paying my taxes. I took the bike for a quick buzz around the block and I can say that I notice a difference. The bike is running awesome, keep in mind it is currently 30 degrees here and the wind is blowing like crazy so it tough to gauge how well it running until I really run it. I was pretty happy with those guys Spartan. I dealt with Jason who also drives a Sportser, can you believe he has never heard of this forum. I told him about it so hopefully he will see the light. Anyway thanks for the info.

My $.02 == if your spark plugs are a nice tan color and it is running good i would just ride and enjoy.

The spark plugs are the single most important indication of how a bike is running. They are right in there where all the action is. As a bike owner and person who does their own maint, reading plugs is your most important skill.

I absolutely agree with this - the mixture is the biggest thing.

My only issue is that my plugs always seem to be black which would lead me to think it's a rich condition, but I've had it tuned twice (the second was free when the dealer was using my bike to try out the new Supertrapp 2:1 last year - which I ended up buying at a discount), and both times the jetting really didn't change much, and the plugs have stayed black. I think it mostly has to do with fattening up the idle in order to curb the carb farts, but the gas mileage is decent and it runs well, so I'm not going to complain.

So in my case, it made sense to have it tuned. If I had gone by the plugs and got the mixture right, it would have run like crap.

Also a side note to what you said Ren. I don't know about anyone else but I had been letting my bike warm up with the enrichener nob out which I found out is a no no. If you run with your enrichener out too much I would think that could give a false reading as well. I have noticed that my plugs are pretty much tan but its kinda tough to tell because the there is alot of black on the end of them.