I figure it this way. A tuner is worth +/-300 bucks, and a factory engine rebuild from their Menomonee Falls plant is +3000 dollars. Go for cheap, frag a motor.

I also made mods to an EFI engine. I found a factory trained mechanic who could interpretate and write lines of code and who works at a dealership with a dynamometer. I broke-in my engine by the book, and used good synth oil (and filters) in numerous changes.

When I outlined the mods I wanted, I listened to the wrench, and then bought an hour's worth of time for the dyno. It paid off, I have table-top flat numbers of 100/100 which cross at 5500 RPM. Betty screams like a young man's dreams.

(BTW, save some of that money for a better suspension and superior braking. If it goes fast it needs to stop even faster, and a whole lot safer.)

good advise to go with the "tuner" if you have access to one.

RK, I'm a little more extreme in my views of the tuner. I no longer view it as an "option," but rather a necessary component for modern CPU engine management. Let me explain.

Betty is one expensive mistress. Right off the bat she got a big-bore kit and a better exhaust. Obviously her engine was new and tight, and the mods were well within the parameters of the existing stock factory download. But I knew future mods were to be done.

Over the next few years Betty got cams, pushrods, a better air filtration system as well as upgraded suspension components at both ends. By then the engine was easily within a safer zone for a dyno run. However, like all custom bikes--especially those with improved filtration systems and cams--Betty was a unique crazy-quilt of parts and needs. Not to mention the extreme spectrum of Wisconsin weather. We are scalding hot and damp in August, and arctic as the season ends.

Because of the tuner, and Ryan's skill as a factory trained mechanic, Betty has never burped, not even once. I get instantaneous throttle response at highly illegal speeds, and clean control when leaving a stoplight--without blipping the throttle. It is my opinion that this performance would be impossible with standard downloads.

Yeah, your preachin' to the choir here, but the op is just doing a little bit for now... and not everyone has access to a guy like your's... 7000 miles on a 14 year old bike, pretty sweet just the way it is.

Of course, but my opinion is also for guys who build up a bike over the course of many seasons. I wasn't sure about a change in cams, for example. I did some research and found that a 203 HD cam was optimum for me. (Acceleration ramps and slow farm equipment.)

When the stock cam was removed, we found accessive wear, and mine was not the first case from that vintage. Since new parts were needed anyway, the 203 was immediately installed.

My point is that changes in parts (from need or simply from a new 'want') happen in the life of a bike. Not engine related, but after replacing Betty's front end I realized the back end needed a vast improvement.

I do agree I live in an enviable area. My wrench can pop either bike on the dyno at anytime for any reason and fix a weakness within minutes. And that becomes more important as the years roll by. I never intended to modify Spinner, at all. It was just a nice little scooter for short hops. Then I found it was a better bike than I gave her credit for. Granted, we did the simple stuff, but we also checked to see if a current Sportster-friendly tuner was on the shelf--just in case.

(BTW, the tuner for Betty "looks different" from the tuners available for the Sporster 1200s. Is this a cosmetic thingie, or are the internal parts different?)