california emissions...........
 

Hey Everybody!
I'm new here, but havin' a great time already. I've been on 2 wheels since I was 10 and have recently gotten the bike of my dreams - 1999 Road King Standard. I bought the bike in September when it had 6 miles on it - a long story I won't go into on this post - but my question is this -
This bike was delievered in California and has the emissions system with a carb on it. This is the 3rd HD I've owned and by far the quietest.......which is the problem. I would like a bit more rumble out of her, and not too concerned about performance - I'm too old to go toooooo fast anymore .........just need to be able to hear her abit better! I'm concerned that if I replace the stock mufflers that I will throw the engine outta tune - or worse - end up unbalancing the intake/output of air. Anyone ever dealt with this before?........would it be better to do away with all of the emissions stuff first?
TIA............daddio

Ca emissions
 

daddio55, welcome to "BikerForums" and I know your loving your new RK.....they don't call em the "King" for nothing....I have a friend that has a 2002 RK, I've ridden it......smooooth as silk. Now about the CA emissions, I'm not sure exactly what is added to the bike to meet CA standards, but I'm sure it's all to do with the air intake, and the exhaust. Since your not a resident of CA, and the bike is not registered there it shouldn't be a problem yanking the CA emissions shit off of it. If I were you I would go down to my local "Stealer" and ask one of the Tech's about it. Those guy's are usually pretty cool about giving advice, and they could help you a great deal I'm sure. One good thing is your bike has a carb, and therefore you won't have to deal with re-mapping the EFI, but you may have to re-jet the carb once you get the intake, and exhaust modified. Let us know how this turns out for you.....but I don't think your looking at too big a hassle. Also, if your just looking for a little more "rumble" the Screaming Eagle slip-on's from H-D sound pretty good, and you can do that yourself in about 20 mins. Good luck....

FBR :cool:

1st of all, let me say this before going further...i really have no idea what im talking about...but its only a thought and im sure im wrong, so others please correct me. my husband owns a shovelhead..he is a mechanic..sometimes i help him out if and when needed and somethings ive just learned over the years.

alot of harley owners will choose sound over performance...i dunno, theres nothing like that rumble.

one of the many best performance comes from a two-into-one tuned exhaust system, but these are high and can cost a pretty penny. some dont like the way they look and some even say it takes away the natural sound of a harley

And drag pipes, while making plenty of noise, are the most power-robbing choice you can make. It should be noted, though, that Evos and Twin Cams lose more than Shovels, Pans or knuckles when running drag pipes. we run drag pipes and while they are not legal in our state, we still run them and sound good, but are loud.

An inexpensive alternative to a complete exhaust system is to simply replace the mufflers with freer-flowing aftermarket versions, and keep your stock headers and heat shields. Harley's own screamin' Eagle slip-on mufflers are very good for the money, and have a much better sound that stock mufflers. Kerker, khrome werks, supertrapp, dyno power, python, hooker, bub, cycle shack, white brothers, vance & hines and samson also offer slip-on mufflers for most models.
i dont think this applies to touring models, but i could be wrong. The horsepower lost by removing the crossover isn't that great, though (two horsepower or so), so it shouldn't be the deciding factor, especially if you have installed other performance upgrades to compensate. Most new Big Twins have the crossover hidden anyway, so it isn't really a problem.


im not really sure about youre engine whether throwing out of tune or the intake and output of air...i can however ask my husband in a couple of hours and get back to you, but FBR pretty much said it more simplier than I and more to the point. I dont think you will have any problems either. Good luck and let us know.
Kelly

Kelly

Welcome to the boards! It's a great place to hang out!

Had a Suzuki GSXR from California, and it had all sorts of hoses and tubes going everywhere. Main purpose is to clean the air before it hit's the exhaust and creates more pollution. Ran it for a few years like that, and put an aftermarket pipe and header on it. Only thing I needed to do was re-jet the carbs. It was running a little lean once I put the new exhaust on. That's what you should run into most often. It's going to be lean or fat on the jetting. I don't know that you necessarily need to tear it off, won't hurt if you do, but if it ain't broke don't fix it in my book. Put on the new exhaust and check the jetting. Slip on's probably wouldn't require much of a change.

My .02

Thanks for the welcome! I appreciate it!
The RK does have a carb.....I've looked at the vacumn hose routing on the thing and don't know whether to try cutting out all of the emission stuff, or just changing out the mufflers and see where I am then. I don't plan on anything dramatic here - just wanna change out the stock mufflers for something louder. Another buddy tells me it will probably just run a little leaner too which is easy enough to fix. The local dealer is a bit of an ass, but I will talk to some of the guys in the shop. I bet they would help as long as it was "under the table"!
Again, thank you all for the welcome and you bet that RK rides smooth as silk!
mac

I suspect one difference between "CA" bikes and all "others" is the mufflers inlcude Catalytic Converters. I know my CA bike has them, I'm guessing the non-CA bikes don't. Oh, by the way, I'm planning on changing those out, probably to the Screaming Eagle mufflers.