I purchased the 2004 Electra Glide in 2005, at that time it only had 2200 miles on it. The owner had handled some performance upgrades: A 103-inch big bore kit, Screaming Eagle 260 cams, Screaming Eagle CNC ported heads with compression releases, Screaming Eagle air cleaner, stock head pipes but Screaming Eagle slip-ons/with cats, Screaming Eagle 6-speed transmission, Bandit Machine clutch and lastly a Screaming Eagle race tuner.
From the get go this bike just never seemed to perform the way I thought it should with this level of performance upgrades. In my humble opinion it had way too much cam for a road bike. The first thing I did was ditch the exhaust and installed a Bubs True Duals setup.
I noticed a slight difference and decided to get it tuned with the race tuner software. After the mechanic messed around with several different maps he locked one in. Again, in my humble opinion without O2 sensors I don’t think an accurate map can be set.
Riding the bike home it just still wasn’t right. I’ve got an ‘88 Softail with an 80-inch Evo motor I’ve worked on. It would blow the Glide out of the water.
Anyway, I’ve ridden the Glide for many years and gone back and forth about installing one of the many aftermarket ECM performance interface modules (like the Cobra) in but didn’t because of the lack of O2 sensor input.
One thing I did do though was change the SE-260 cams for a pair of SE-255 cams and that did wake the bike up and while I was in there I also changed over to the Screaming Eagle cam plate and oil pump upgrade.
At the time I didn’t know about Zippers cam tensioner shoes or I also would have used them. Recently I read great things about the Thunder Max with auto tune and that it worked with O2 sensors and I thought that somebody in the industry had finally woke-up and designed something that would work at sea level or Pikes Peak.
I decided to give it a try and contacted Keith Ball at Bikernet.com who put me in touch with Dan Fitzmaurice and John Kitzmiller at Zipper’s Performance. I gave them my motor specs and ordered the preprogramed unit. I’d like to thank them both for all their help; you guys put out a hell of a product at Zipper’s.
Let’s get to the nuts and bolts of the situation:
This unit was ordered from Zipper’s “preprogrammed” for my motorcycle. Because of this there are no “MAP” instructions to this installation. Base MAPS and instructions will be loaded to your computer at the time of the software installation.
1) The magnificent Thunder Max unit from Zipper’s.
2) Thunder Max components: ECM, O2 sensors, O2 sensor harness, data link cable, generic instructions, software, dielectric grease and zip ties.
3) I ordered a preprogrammed ECM for the specifications I sent Zippers for my motorcycle. I wanted to be able to install the unit and ride. Any changes to the map can be made later.
4) We loaded my baby on the lift ready for Zipper’s installation.
5) First off, disconnect the battery. Don’t forget!
6) Remove the right side cover to reveal factory ECM.
7) Remove the fuse caddy from docking pocket.
8) Ready to remove ECM fuse.
9) Put ECM fuse in spare fuse socket for safe keeping.
10) Disconnect the ECM harness
11) Remove the (2) two factory Allen head screws; save for reuse. I did have to use a cordless drill to break the factory thread sealant bond ans spin the screws out
12) Factory ECM removed.
13) Thunder Max O2 sensor harness routed from the backside to the ECM location. Notice the (2) two wire groups to the right of the oil fill cap, those are the front and rear O2 sensor plugs.
14) Apply a bead of the included dielectric grease to the O2 sensor harness plug.
15) O2 harness plugged into ECM and (2) two Philips head machine screws tightened. The Thunder Max ECM installed with the two saved Allen head screws.
16) Apply a bead of dielectric grease to ECM harness.
17) ECM harness installed into Thunder Max unit. ECM fuse put back into correct socket and the fuse/relay caddy pushed back up into holder.
18) Angled stainless steel O2 sensor bungs, NOT INCLUDED, purchased on Ebay for $14.00 with shipping. Check your motorcycle to see if you need them. My Bubs True Duals had one on the front pipe in a completely inaccessible location and none on the rear pipe.
19) O2 sensor screwed into bung to find and mark good location on exhaust pipes for installation. Kind of hard to take photo of this process. I just moved the part around until I found the spot where installation/removal of the sensor would be possible without removing the pipe.
20) Right floor board removed for removal of front exhaust pipe.
21) Preparation for rear exhaust removal.
22) Remove saddlebag support for ease of exhaust removal. Rear pipe just sort of rotates up and out
23) New bung location on front pipe.
24) Bung TIG welded to rear pipe. Remember, if you’re using stainless steel bungs you must use stainless steel wire or the weld will crack.
25) Bung welded to rear pipe and installed.
26) Special tool, $3 garage sale 22mm combination wrench. Section of box end removed for sensor installation.
27) Rear O2 sensor installed.
28) Front O2 sensor installed.
29) Rear O2 sensor wire routed and plugged into ECM rear O2 sensor harness.
30) Front O2 sensor wire routed along frame and plugged into the ECM front O2 sensor harness plug. You can’t see it in the photo but the plug harness is zip tied to the frame just about centered below the transmission trap door
31) Software CD ready to load.
32) Software loading.
33) Software loaded and desktop icon created.
34) Preparing for the software driver installation.
36) Other end plugs into a USB port on your computer.
37) Beginning the driver installation.
38) Driver installation completed. At this point you want to have an internet connection.
39) Turn on ignition and run switch “DO NOT HIT START” and click on the red “link” icon, it should turn green (if it didn’t do so automatically) if you’ve done everything right. If you can’t get a green “link” window check your software installation.
40) Click on the “configure” window and select the VIN registration and complete. The window may already have 1HD1 showing. Remember, all letters are CAPITALIZED.
41) Next the product registration, there will be a sample name and address shown. Delete and fill in your own. The Thunder Max module information may already be filled in, mine was.
42) You might get this prompt for updates. It’s your choice if you want to update now or later; I opted for now
43) Done updating.
At this point I disconnected the computer from the motorcycle.
Follow the prestart procedure: have run switch set to on and turn your ignition switch on for 30 seconds then off for 30 seconds. Do this for 3 cycles; then start your motorcycle.
My motor started hard, would not idle and was not responsive at first. After a few minutes and starting and stopping it smoothed out; started easy, idled fine and reved quick.
Warmed up, taking it off the lift and going for a test ride. Test ride was short and sweet. Very noticeable difference in power and acceleration. Looking forward to a longer ride.
TEST RIDE RESULTS
I’ve taken the bike for a 200-mile test ride, down to San Diego for breakfast and back. There is definitely a noticeable difference in bottom end and mid range acceleration and torque.
The real difference is in the high gear roll on. At 80 MPH in 6th gear my bike is taching 2800-2900 RPM. Normally I’d have to downshift into 5th to get good acceleration without a lag or flat spot. Now in 6th gear I can roll it on and the bike just starts to pull and continues to climb until I let off.
If I happen to be in 5th gear and am in slower traffic and am down around 2100 RPM, same thing, no down shift; just roll it on and the acceleration is great all the way ‘til I go into 6th; it’s a whole different motorcycle.
I filled my tank before getting on the freeway for the ride to Dago and then before getting back on the freeway for the ride home. I had gone 76 miles and it took 2.1 gallons, 38 MPG is up a bit from the 32-35 MPG I was getting before, of course that was all freeway at between 70 & 80 MPH.
The ride back was a different route back on the 15 through Temecula and a stop at the local H-D dealer. The motor starts right up now when it’s hot. All in all I made the right decision about going with the Zipper’s Thunder Max. I’m really happy with everything about it and would recommend it to anyone.
–Steve Bauman
Bikernet Tech Writing Intern
After I submitted the article I realized I didn’t comment on the degree of difficulty for the installation. I contacted Bandit at Bikernet and after he reamed me a new one he told me to get off my ass and submit an update to cover it.
It really is a very straight forward process. In my opinion anybody who is capable of doing regular maintenance or light repairs on their motorcycle should find this fairly easy with no special tools needed other than the 22mm wrench for the O2 sensors. Zippers did an excellent job of designing this product to be very user friendly. Without the need for removal and welding on your exhaust, the whole job shouldn’t take much more than a couple hours. Start at 8:00 AM and you ought to be riding by 11:00 AM.
The only caveat to this would be if your exhaust pipes aren’t already equipped with O2 sensor bungs; like mine. If you need the O2 sensor bungs installed and you yourself don’t weld; you would obviously need to have a friend do it or take it to a shop which can add more time to the job, especially if the shop won’t do it while you wait.
-Steve Bauman
