Bolting on and dynoing Samson`s new bagger pipes

AIM6_164
4/25/08
TECH
11:14 AM
B Y
C
Page 1
H R I S
M
A I D A
CALIBER
TRUE DUALS
Bolting on and dynoing Samson’s new bagger pipes
HIGH
PERFORMANCE
HARLEYS
Our opening shot
shows the 2007
Road King up on
Dave’s lift, with
its stock exhaust
and right floorboard removed.
Rob has already
done his baseline dyno runs
and has saved a
good indicator of
the bike’s stock
power output.
L
PHOTOS BY JOE KNEZEVIC
1
AST MONTH, WE GOT MORE AIR FLOWING INTO
our test bed 2007 Road King by bolting on a new Doherty
PowerPacc air cleaner. (Check out Letters for the correct
dyno chart.) That means it’s time to bolt on a freerflowing exhaust system to see what we’ll get from our otherwise
stock 86-incher. After all, more air in, more air out.
The exhaust we’ve chosen to install this time around is from
Samson’s Caliber line, the stepped True Dual FL2-700
($995.95). This system is a dual exhaust for late 1985 to present
H-D FLH models. It has a separate pipe for each cylinder, with
no crossover pipe. According to Samson, the FL2-700 has been
specifically designed to enhance low-end to midrange torque
and top-end horsepower. This fully chromed system comes
with all necessary heat shields, also chromed, of course.
After we’d installed the Caliber system and given the selfadjusting stock ECM time to recalibrate itself, we did a series
of dyno runs. Once we were getting a repeatable average-power
output, we compared those numbers with our baseline run,
which is now the Road King equipped with the Doherty
PowerPacc air cleaner. You’ll find those numbers in Chart I.
However, knowing that we’d get better performance with a bit more fuel in
the mix, we asked Rob to then reinstall
the Rapid Bike module ($400). We
also did this with the air cleaner setup.
As we told you last month, this device is
an add-on control unit, sold by
TechnoResearch. It allows the tuner to
modify a bike’s ignition timing and
fuel-injection settings. Like other
devices of this type, it’s a plug-and-play
install, requiring no wire cutting or
other changes to the bike’s original
wiring harness. Tuning is done via a PC
connected to the unit by a USB cable.
The results we got, once we found average power output, are shown in Chart
II. This chart has the Doherty/Rapid
dyno chart that should have been printed in the last issue and an average
Doherty/Samson/Rapid run, so you can
see what increases we got with the
Samson pipes in the mix.
As for who did all this wrenching for
us, it was our buddies over at New Roc
Harley-Davidson/Buell, Dave in particular. During the installation, he had
three tips that should save you a little
hassle. First, though you no longer need
the stock rear exhaust brackets, you do
2
164 • AMERICAN IRON MAGAZINE • JUNE 2008
Dave starts the installation of the new
Caliber exhaust system by using a 7/8"
wrench to remove two stock O2 sensors from the stock exhaust headers.
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3
He then uses a pair of snap ring
spreaders to remove the stock snap
rings and exhaust flanges from the
stock exhaust pipes.
4
Dave removes the old exhaust gaskets
from both exhaust ports. Once he’s
sure he has all of the old gasket material out, he places new Samson A-144
(thicker) gaskets into both exhaust
ports.
5
The next task is to install the stock
parts taken from the old exhaust onto
the new Caliber pipes. That means the
O2 plugs on the Caliber exhaust must
be removed using a 5/16" Allen.
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JUNE 2008 • AMERICAN IRON MAGAZINE •
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TECH
After using an 18mm-1.5 tap (Snap-on
#T18150) to clean the pipes’ threads,
Dave applies some O2-safe anti-seize
to the stock O2 sensors, and installs
them to H-D spec using a 7/8" wrench.
9
Next onto the new pipes are the stock
exhaust flanges, which get installed
onto the Caliber header pipes with new
snap rings.
10
Now that the new Caliber header pipes
are properly prepped, Dave loosely
bolts the front header pipe to the front
cylinder head using a 1/2" socket and
the stock hardware.
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6
7
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166 • AMERICAN IRON MAGAZINE • JUNE 2008
Dave uses the provided P-clamp and
hardware to loosely bolt the header
pipe to the stock tranny mounting
bracket. A 1/2" socket, 1/2" wrench,
and a little blue Loctite does the job.
The Caliber muffler is then connected to the front header pipe using the
provided clamp and hardware. Leave
the hardware loose for now.
The Caliber muffler can now be bolted to the stock mounting bracket on
the saddlebag frame using the provided hardware and a 1/2" socket.
Loose hardware, right?
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15
The Caliber muffler is then slipped
onto the end of the rear header pipe,
and the hardware is loosely tightened using a 1/2" socket, a 1/2"
wrench, and a little blue Loctite.
18
After Dave tightens all the exhaust
hardware to H-D spec, starting at the
rear head and working back, he
reconnects the rear-pipe O2 sensor
to the bike’s wiring harness.
16
The muffler is then attached to the
stock rear mounting bracket using a
1/2" socket.
19
Samson supplies all the needed Cclamps, which are used to hold the
supplied heat shields to the pipes.
After Dave reconnects the stock-O2
sensor to the bike’s wiring harness,
he tightens all the exhaust hardware
to factory specs starting at the head
and working his way to the rear
mount.
Moving to the rear pipes, Dave
loosely installs the rear Caliber
header to the cylinder head using
the stock hardware and a
1/2" socket.
17
14
Next, he slips the provided muffler
clamp over the end of the Caliber
rear/left muffler.
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Dave measures how far the right-side
muffler extends past the mounting
bracket, and makes sure that the
left-side muffler extends the same
distance, so the mufflers will be
symmetrical.
20
Dave installs the front heat shield
using a flat-bladed screwdriver to
tighten its clamps. Be sure to
position the C-clamps so that the
heads are not visible.
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TECH
21
The rear exhaust’s long heat shield
is installed on the left side of the
bike. A flat-bladed screwdriver is
also needed here to tighten its
clamps.
22
24
Different baffles are provided with
this kit. The baffles just slide into
the mufflers.
25
Each baffle is secured in its muffler
housing via the supplied bolt. Dave
uses a 5/32" Allen.
26
Each muffler also gets an end cap,
which is secured to the muffler
housing using the provided bolt and
a 1/8" Allen.
Another rear pipe heat shield, this
one much smaller, gets mounted on
the right side of the bike.
SOURCES
N E W R O C H A R L E Y- D A V I D S O N / B U E L L
8 Industrial Ln., Dept. AIM
New Rochelle, NY 10805
866/632-NRHD
www.NRHD.com
R O B ’ S DY N O S E R V I C E
Dept. AIM
Gardner, MA 01440
978/895-0441
www.RobsDyno.com
S A M S O N M OTO R C YC L E P R O D U C T S I N C .
655 Tamarack Ave.
Dept. AIM
Brea, CA 92821
800/373-4217
www.SamsonUSA.com
TECHNORESEARCH
4940 Delemere Ave.
Dept. AIM
Royal Oak, MI 48073
www.TechnoResearch.com
168 • AMERICAN IRON MAGAZINE • JUNE 2008
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Dave can now reinstall the right
floorboard using the stock hardware, a little blue Loctite, a 3/16"
Allen, and a 7/16" wrench. He also
pops the left side cover back on.
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11:17 AM
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need to reinstall the hardware to keep
the starter in place. Second, when you
start tightening down the exhaust system’s hardware, begin at the head clamp
and work your way back. Tighten the
bolts a little at a time, working your way
up and down the exhaust. Do the same
for the head clamps; work the nuts
down slowly, going from nut to nut to
bring the clamp down evenly. If you
have a gap between the exhaust and a
chassis bracket, do not pull the gap
closed with the hardware. This will preload the exhaust system, which will later
crack. Instead, fill in the gap with washers, and, if needed, use a longer bolt.
The same holds true for where the mufflers clamp to their rear mounting
bracket. If there’s a gap, fill it with
washers. Third, after about 100 miles
or, so recheck all the hardware you just
tightened.
SAE Horsepower
SAE Torque (ft-lbs.)
RPM (x1000)
▲
▲
Dyno Chart I
110
110
100
100
90
90
80
80
70
70
60
60
50
50
40
40
30
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
30
6.0
27
Before you fire off the engine, make
sure you clean all fingerprints and
any other oils or greases from the
pipes. This must be done before the
pipes get hot, or the stains will set
into the chrome.
Baseline Run, Doherty PowerPacc: • Max Power = 83.31 • Max Torque = 98.26
PowerPacc And Samson Exhaust: • Max Power = 86.21 • Max Torque = 101.30
CF: SAE, SMOOTHING @ 5
SAE Horsepower
SAE Torque (ft-lbs.)
RPM (x1000)
▲
▲
Dyno Chart II
110
110
100
100
90
90
80
80
70
70
60
60
50
50
40
40
30
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
PowerPacc And Rapid: • Max Power = 84.23 • Max Torque = 101.06
PowerPacc, Samson, Rapid: • Max Power = 86.10 • Max Torque = 105.44
CF: SAE, SMOOTHING @ 5
www.AIMag.com
5.5
30
6.0
28
Here’s what our 2007 Road King
Custom looks like with the new
Caliber True Dual exhaust system
installed. AIM
JUNE 2008 • AMERICAN IRON MAGAZINE •
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