The kit was ordered through John Davey at "The Harley Shop" in Castleford, West Yorkshire, and delivery took just over one week. I parted with my cash and took home the two large boxes for a good read of the instructions and an inventory check. There were a number of discrepancies found during the inventory check which, after contacting AeroCharger direct, were found to be the result of the wrong kit being supplied.

I can't stress enough that you should make sure the kit you order is for the correct year/model of your bike. There are subtle differences, which will make for an easy or very hard installation so the best advice is to check, check and then check again. My background is in building light aircraft and I've scratch-built seven of varying degrees of difficulties over the previous eight years so I was well-equipped to modify and/or create my own installation taken rather than return the kit. A local bike meet was imminent in ten days so what the heck: you need a goal to meet.

After consulting AeroCharger, the first thing to do was remove the old sports cam and replace it with the stock one and I took the opportunity to replace the push rods with adjustable ones to aid the installation of AeroCharger's own cam which was due to arrive at the end of the month, along with the special ignition module. In the words of the techies at AeroCharger "the stock cam and ignition work just fine with the kit, it just works better with the AeroCharger units: horsepower and torque will be down about 15%". The Screaming Eagle ignition was replaced with the stock unit in the interim and the ignition timing was set to 28 degrees maximum advance.

Next the carburettor was replaced with the specially adapted Mikuni HSR42T supplied in the kit. New throttle cables were needed, and those supplied in my kit were of the screw type, so the bottom of the twist grip assembly had to be tapped to take the UNC thread rather than the spring clip type on a 97 bike.

The front crash bar was also removed along with the horn, never to return, and the entire stock exhaust was removed in preparation for a dry fit of the turbo system. Lastly the gear change assembly was removed along with the regulator.

The kit's instructions advise that you need to file a small amount off the corner of two or three cooling fins on the front barrel to allow clearance of the turbo flange but this only took a few moments with a good bastard file. Then two crankcase bolts were altered as per the instructions and the turbo assembly offered up for fit.

Ahh.

This opened up a nice bag of worms: things fouled all over and it was a very tight fit. Due to the wrong kit being supplied we had to tweak the shape of some of the exhaust pipes and alter the angle and position of the rear brake master cylinder assembly, together with its hook-up to the actuation lever, and the stock voltage regulator had to be mounted an inch further forward on two new brackets. The rear mount for the timing-side running board had to be mounted with a longer bolt and ½" spacer.

A good dry fit was getting nearer but we still we had to make a small indent to the second section of the exhaust outlet pipe to give adequate clearance between the rear brake master cylinder when the rubber-mounted engine rocks at idle or under load.

All the pipe-work came into position after a new bracket was manufactured to support the exhaust in place of the stock one mounted to the gearbox. An inch had to be removed from the second section to allow the correct fitting and alignment of the supplied muffler ... errr, muffler? This "muffler" is a straight through pipe tapering to a 5" slashcut outlet! AeroCharger must support the theory that LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES.

The dry fit was now complete. Most of the nuts and bolts in the kit were replaced with stainless cap heads, just 'cos I like it that way, and the final assembly started to take place. Much attention to detail was called for, as the tolerances are tight.

Only the FLHT's crashbar had to go as the mounting of the intercooler prevented its refitting. AeroCharger advise that the kit for the '97 FLH comes without an intercooler which allows you to keep the stock crashbar at the expense of full throttle duration at full boost but, being a radical type, full throttle at full boost for the longest period was the order of the day so the crashbar was left with the other stock parts, on the shelf.

Further discussions with AeroCharger have now resulted in a new UK designed intercooler and associated hook-up pipe work, which should allow me to refit the stock crashbar - but that's for another day.

So, the turbo is on, exhausts complete and all is done, right?

Wrong!

The problem which took the most effort to overcome was the remote mounting of the oil filter. First of all the bracket supplied would not fit, then the oil pipe connections were of the wrong size, and last - but not least - there was no room to mount the damn thing. The pipe-work was sorted by tapping a NPT thread into the stock unions, installing the brass coupling supplied with the kit into the newly threaded union, making a small adapter to allow the stock union to re-seal into the oil filter housing.

The oil filter-housing mount was eventually sorted with the aide of a 1" x 5" bracket made from ¼" aluminium stock bar which was mounted to the oil filter housing using the stock holes and the front timing-side crashbar bracket. Assuming the eventual fitting of the new intercooler, together with the stock crash bar, a new bracket will be produced to mount the oil filter off the crashbar instead of the frame.

The electric fuel pump and pressure regulator were fitted where the horn used to mount and the horn was relegated to the space above the starter motor using an existing threaded hole in the frame. As luck would have it, the stock wiring reached the horn's new location without any problem. To finish off the fuel delivery system, the petcock was next. You need to be aware that the fuel pump keeps the fuel pressure a few pounds above the boost pressure to ensure that enough fuel is available for the extra air charge being pumped into the motor. This means that at low boost the extra fuel pumped has to be returned to the tank. Now the stock petcock for a '97 FLHT is a vacuum type, so instead of changing it for an earlier none vacuum type, it was originally modified to operate in the required mode - thanks Tom for a nudge in the correct direction here - before ultimately ditching in favour of a Pingel Power-Flo. The fuel pump was wired up so that it comes on with the ignition not the accessories.

Last but not least the gear change linkage was re-installed after shortening the push pull rod by 1¼", and readjusting so that all gears could be made with ease. AeroCharger suggest that the forward gearshit lever be sent to them for modification so that it clears the Aerocharger unit, but as long as you don't mind a heel-toe operation you can set the forward shifter so that there is enough movement for downshifting and change up with your heel.

So far, so good. All that was left to do was reinstall the tank, seat, panniers and other appendages, and then to shorten the gearshift linkage by an inch and a quarter to accommodate a slightly modified positioning.

The moment of truth was here. Everything was checked, checked again and rechecked. It's very important that you remember to fill the turbo's oil wells with the special oil provided and make a special dipstick to check the level when you next change your main engine oil.

Choke on and by the fourth stab on the starter the motor ran. As soon as the motor was warm enough to come off the choke it dropped to a smooth idle. The exhaust note is something unexpected and one of those who heard it described it as 'Harley but different, makes a statement of power without anger'.

It seemed to be holding together so it was time to get it on the road for the first proving runs.

Pickup from a twist of the grip was instant, no hesitation and the turbo made boost straight off idle - this was promising.

Having checked again for oil leaks, exhaust leaks and unwanted interference between any components it was off for the first proper test ride. This resulted in a damaged front mudguard when the clutch cable came between it and the turbo unit under breaking, so a quick return to the workshop where the cable was re-routed and the front suspension blown up to 12psi as specified in the manual and all was well. That said, the front mudguard could benefit from a little more clearance so I had a turbo-shaped dent knocked into the mudguard for peace of mind..

With that out of the way it was time for some more serious riding, and my first impression of the transformation was awesome. The torque from 1500 rpm to 4500 was shattering. Acceleration from 2500 to 5000 in second gear has the front wheel off the ground, snick third and you have almost 950lbs of bike and rider generating some serious inertia. Now, hook fourth and you are wondering when it will all start to fall off. By the time you have got fifth away, and it is still pulling hard enough to keep the front suspension fully extended, you pass the 100mph mark and start rolling off because Electra Glides at this speed start to become a little nervous under the butt, to say the least. I made a note to look into a steering damper before we try a run up our local drag strip, where AeroCharger suggest we should make the mid-to-low 12's if we fit the cam and ignition module. Am I game enough to try it? Time will tell.

This is now one outrageous bike but it still retains its tractability – in fact much better tractability than the stock bike. Fuel consumption – well you have to put it in to get it out – before the turbo averaged 160 miles to the tank with my riding style – now makes about 130 miles which isn't too bad a compromise.

Anyone who fancies fitting this kit to their own bike should give it a go. My installation was done in a normal home garage, with nothing but hand tools, patience and ingenuity. Receiving the correct kit for your bike makes it much easier and if anyone wants help I am only an email away.

My special thanks go to Ian Miller, John Bong, Marion and all others, sceptics included, who assisted directly or indirectly.