Arlen Ness Big Sucker Review

When most new Harley Davidson owners take possession of their motorcycle they immediately want to make some changes to it.  That's either the curse or the blessing of owning a Harley Davidson motorcycle.  The first upgrade that most do is what is called a Stage 1 upgrade.  A stage 1 upgrade consists of changing out the exhaust system, adding a free flowing air cleaner and either a rejet of the carburetor or some kind of fuel management upgrade if you are on a fuel injected motorcycle.

Air Cleaner Upgrade

The exhaust system often gets credit for being the piece that produces the power gains but in reality is the exhaust system combined with the air cleaner that creates the extra power.  An engine is nothing more than an air pump, so even though it might be able to exhale more air, it first must be able to inhale more air before it can do that.

One of the simplest yet most effective air cleaners that you can purchase to include as part of your Stage 1 upgrade is the Arlen Ness Big Sucker air cleaners.  Arlen Ness is a huge name in the business that everyone recognizes in the industry, mainly due to the legend that he has built over the years.

So given that the Big Sucker is produced by Arlen Ness, it's no surprise that it's a very good air cleaner setup. 

Many new riders are often intimidated to work on their own motorcycle. Sometimes even people who are mechanically competent with an automobile, seem intimidated to put a wrench to their Harley Davidson. That's ok, if you feel more comfortable having a shop work on your bike then that is ok, but it's surprisingly easy to install the Arlen Ness Big Sucker.

I won't get into the step by step of it here, because it seriously isn't ,much more complicated than unbolting your old setup and installing the new one. A couple of bolts, some o-rings and your system is installed. Very easy to accomplish yourself and you can probably be done in less than an hour.

Once you are completed with the air cleaner install then a common question that comes up is what do you need to do about the fuel supply? In most cases, if you are just changing the air cleaner, then you don't need to modify your fuel supply. If you are changing the air cleaner and exhaust at the same time then you will either need to rejet the carburetor or install some kind of fuel management device.

Which device is best is beyond the scope of this article but I have had great luck with the Dynojet Power Commanders. Simple and easy to use and a ton of dyno operators around the country that can maximize your tune.

Inevitably the question of how much power will I gain from a Stage 1 upgrade will come about.  It's a question that most of us guys always want to know, must be a guy thing.  The problem is that there isn't really any concrete way to answer it as what kind of power you will gain will depend on what state of tune your motorcycle was in before you started.

If you must have some kind of reference point then an exhaust and air cleaner upgrade is usually good for somewhere around a 10-15% improvement in horsepower with some bikes coming in on the high side of that and others coming in even lower.  On a typical Harley Davidson this will translate to somewhere between 7 to 12 horsepower, which may not sound like a whole lot at first, but it's a very noticeable power improvement that you will definitely be able to feel when you ride.

Again, I need to stress that all bikes are different and your power increase will dramatically depend on what state of tune your Harley Davidson was in before you started.  The Arlen Ness Big Sucker air cleaner has a Stage 1 upgrade option as well as a Stage II version.  The Stage II version is more designed for Harley Davidson motorcycles that are modified beyond an exhaust system.  If you have free flowing heads and cams then the Stage II would be the better choice for your motorcycle.  If you don't have these items then the Stage II is a waste of money.

So to summarize, if you are looking to upgrade your Harley Davidson motorcycle with a Stage 1 upgrade, then you are going to need an air cleaner setup. The Arlen Ness Big Sucker series of air cleaners is a great choice at a very economical price compared to many of the other choices on the market.

It isn't the most fancy, it is a simply designed and very effective air cleaner setup for your Harley Davidson motorcycle. If you are a fan of clean, simple and effective then the Arlen Ness Big Sucker is a great choice in Harley Davidson Air Cleaners.