If you are wondering how to get more power from your Harley Davidson motorcycle then you are not alone. You surely wouldn't be the first one to spend an exhorbitant sum of money for a motorcycle only to be disappointed with the amount of power that is available to you. It's quite common actually and fortunately for you, it's relatively easy to squeeze out some more power from your Harley Davidson. You just need to perform what is called a stage one upgrade.
What is a Stage One Upgrade?
What is it you might be asking? Great question, basically it is a series of minor modifications to your motorcycle that will allow it to "breathe" better which will produce more power. An engine is basically just an air pump and the more air you can pump both in and out of it, then the more power that is produced. In order to accomplish this you need to replace the stock factory air cleaner setup with a more free breathing aftermarket unit like an Arlen Ness Big Sucker.
This air cleaner will help you get more air into the engine but now you have to get the exhausted air out of the engine. In order to accomplish this then you need to improve the flow ability of the stock exhaust. This tends to be the biggest bottleneck in the system and the one that is the most expensive to fix as well. You can either replace your entire system or depending on the model Harley you own, a set of slip on mufflers. The full system will usually give you the best results but you will have to weight the cost versus the reward. Both options will give you that super cool Harley exhaust note that you crave.
Now that you have the intake and exhaust flowing nicely, the last step in the process is to make sure that your fuel mixture is right. If you increase the air flow in and out, without increasing the fuel, then your motorcycle will be very lean and that's not good. It depends on whether your Harley is fuel injected or not as to how you accomplish the increased fuel. A fuel injected bike requires a fuel tuner to replace the MAP in the ECM while a carbureted Harley will need to be rejetted. Either choice is not very difficult and a very popular choice for the fuel injected bikes is the Dynojet PCV.
These added modification are good for anywhere from 5 to 10hp on an average Harley, which doesn't sound like much but it is enough of a difference that you will definitely feel the increased power and your bike will ride much better and run cooler as a result.