Installing 103ci Stage Kit 1 - 103 Cubic Inches Of Harley

We'll be able to instantly see how well our oil cooler is working by pressing the button on this new oil dipstick with lighted LCD readout.

With the motor pretty much back together, all that was left was to install the new air-cleaner assembly...

...and install the end caps on the catalyst mufflers. The end caps don't come with the kit and have to be ordered separately (so you can choose which ones you want). While the catalyst exhaust may not be the best-performing muffler Harley offers, it is one of the most important components in making this a 50-state street-legal kit.

Next, we had to recalibrate the ECM to reflect the changes made to the motor. Laidlaw's service manager, Justin McGinnis, connected the computer to the bike's ECM and retrieved the proper download from the Harley-Davidson Digital Technician website.

The way the download procedure works is this: After inputting the VIN and mileage, the computer brings up a list of available upgrades. For our Road Glide, the list brought up options such as 1550 Stage I, 1550 Stage II, and 103ci Stage I. After we selected the 103 option, the computer downloaded the information to the ECM. The download usually takes between 45 seconds to a minute and a half. Once the ECM has been calibrated, you just turn the ignition off, then back on, and check to see if the computer receives any error codes. Our download went smoothly.

Before any bike that's had motor work done to it can leave Laidlaw's facility, it has to be inspected (by "inspected" we mean ridden) by owner Jerry Laidlaw. Jerry has been around bikes his entire life and knows what a properly assembled and tuned motor should sound and feel like.

Satisfied with Danny's work, Jerry let us take the bike home to put some break-in miles on it. After about 500 miles we returned to Laidlaw's to run the bike on the company's Dynojet 250i dyno. Laidlaw's takes its dyno facility very seriously and is always upgrading it to try and make it the best facility around, with the most ideal conditions to obtain the most accurate readings possible. In fact, several weeks before we were there, a Dynojet representative had come out to upgrade the dyno and train more of Laidlaw's mechanics to become qualified dyno technicians.