If you are considering changing the exhaust system on your Harley Davidson then you will be faced with a few choices to make. It is not uncommon for new Harley Davidson owners to seek more power from their new machines as they aren't exactly the most powerful bikes off the showroom floor. To get more power, you need to upgrade some parts.

Hands down, the most common upgrades done to a Harley Davidson is a Stage 1 upgrade. A Stage 1 upgrade consists of replacing the exhaust system, the Air Cleaner and a recalibration of the fuel system. Depending on your competency level, these are pretty easy to complete yourself in most cases.

I recently performed a Stage 1 upgrade on my wife's 883 Sportster. I opted for Vance and Hines Straightshots, an Arlen Ness Big Sucker intake and Dynojet rejet kit for the CV carburetor. I had never worked on a motorcycle before but I had two things going for me, I am not a complete idiot and I have a big tool box. What could go wrong right?

Arlen Ness Big Sucker

The pipes are an easy bolt on that any monkey could do, you unbolt one big hunk of chrome and bolt on another one. The AC (air cleaner) was another thing altogether. I guess because it was bolted to the carburetor I thought it was going to be harder than it was. I was wrong as it was a piece of cake.

The Arlen Ness kit comes with a sturdy aluminum backing plate that simply feels good in your hand. It could stand being finished a little better but you won't see it anyways, I just wish they would have powder coated it. I know, it would add to the price but hey I want what I want and I like things to be finished, even when they are out of sight...but I also like things that don't cost very much too...so I guess all in all Arlen Ness made the right choice.

The filter is a K&N reuseable filter that can be cleaned and reoiled so that you can reuse it for many, many, many miles. The rest of the hardware is simple, solid and complete. The Arlen Ness AC kit was very intuitive as to how it went together and I think I had it installed in less than half an hour. I was pleasantly surprised.

The Big Sucker kit doesn't come with a cover so you will need to reuse your old one or in the case of our XL we purchased an aftermarket cover as the stock sporty cover will not work.

The bike fired right up after the install and runs great. The Big Sucker definitely gives you a throatier note that will let you know you are sucking more air and it sounds great. I am extremely happy with this kit and they offer a wide selection of various kits for your different needs, including a Stage 2 kit for you big breathers out there.

The Stage 2 kit offers a 20% larger filter, larger throat on the backing plate and is designed for higher horsepower bikes. Great stuff. I would easily recommend and Arlen Ness Big Sucker to anyone in the market for an aftermarket AC.

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