| Author | Message | ||
     Ihavemanyfleas |
From what I understand, they weren't able to determine anything, and ran out of time to really dig into it. They want to ship the motor back to buell and replace it with a new one. I should have it by next thursday. | ||
| Court |
Good job. I know and have worked with both of them and they know their stuff. I spent an afternoon meeting with the Customer Service Team several months ago at Juneau and spent the morning with one of the development test engineers. One thing is certain . . . Buell has retained some incredilby talented new folks. Glad to hear you were taken care of. | ||
| Naustin |
That's great -- and really scary at the same time. If it was a simple timing or setup issue, I doubt they'd want to keep your motor as a test specimen. They'd just adjust the timing and anything/or whatever else (assuming, as many of us - or at least as I did, that its a combination of several small mis adjustments that combine to cause the ping) and then issue a service bulletin to let the shop morons (I mean mechanics) know how to fix the ping --- wouldn't they? I mean, its great (really awesome, actually) that Buell is taking care of you and that they want to go over your motor with a fine tooth comb to develop a solution for everybody else - but doesn't this indicate that the problem is more than something they can simply tune out of it? I'm sure once they get the motor back to East Troy, they'll have the problem pin-pointed asap.  Its good to see some progress being made. Fleas - hope you get your bike back in riding order soon.  (Message edited by naustin on March 10, 2007) | ||
| Court |
Don't read too much into any single component of this. It could be, just as an example, that the team of folks who need to do the forensic work, are otherwise engaged on a project and can't do it for 4 months and they simple, following Buell's marching orders, want to insure the owner a quality uninterrupted ownership experience. Engines are abundant, time is finite. This, mind you, is strictly hypothetical to make my point that you can't make any logical conclusions from this single step of the process. Court | ||
| Naustin |
All I'm saying is, if it there was a simple fix, they would have simply fixed it.  (Message edited by naustin on March 10, 2007) | ||
| Ihavemanyfleas |
I think in part paying a local mechanic to dig into it is more expensive than just swapping the motors and taking it apart in the lab. From what I understand, Allen is flying down with another engineer to do the swap... which I think is kinda cool. I imagine it will get a certain attention to detail it didn't get on the production line. I'm missing some great riding weather in the mean time. It sure would be nice to hit some hill country today. Lucky for me it's a nice day for surfing the lake  | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
So do you get an 07' motor with all the new part numbers (oil pump, heads, tps mechanism, ect)? Make sure they do the 07 ECM reflash but ask if that means you need the 07' airbox cover. | ||
| Court |
The motor will match the bike. Gads. . . can you imagine trying to sell a bike with a non-matching motor? Not only would Buell have "created" a bike in violation of fed regs, but you'd never be able to title it. Assuming (I didn't go back and rad the thread) that the bike is a 2006, you'll likely get a fully upgraded current copy of what you'd get if you went to the Buell parts manual and ordered a 2006 motor. Just a guess. . . | ||
| Teeps |
Naustin Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 10:20 am: All I'm saying is, if it there was a simple fix, they would have simply fixed it. That was true before the FED's stuck their noses in our business. Naustin, you are probably very close to the truth about the fix being simple. A simple reprogramming of the ignition map might be all that is needed. Getting that remap certified is the bugger; time and money are involved. Buell will proceed at their own pace as their engineering protocol dictates. | ||
| Dennis_c |
I see what is wrong you got a orange one  . Good they are putting a new motor in it  . The bad part is you have to break the motor in again  . | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Yeah, but maybe the motor will be for a black one!  | ||
| Ihavemanyfleas |
Belive me the thought of having non matching numbers has crossed my mind... I'll be glad to get it back, but I'm hoping this wont be a problem when I go to replace it down the road. At least it has a story to go with it... It would be nice if they just gave me an 07. Maybe I'll be lucky and get a black uly motor & a free tee. I feel good about it for the most part. If I didn't, I'm not about to complain... | ||
| Mizilus |
So who else has had the ping and what all (besides replacing the motor)has been done to fix it? I just ask because I just finished "breakng in" my Uly and have maybe 530 miles on it and I swear I just developed a "ping" or it has been doing it and I hadnt noticed. Maybe I'm nuts, but it seems to me just after shifting into second or so I get a ping. Its not hot where I live or anything. I'll be riding it to work in the morning (just so I can drop it off at the dealer and have the BAS relocated and the oil changed)so I'll be paying special attention. | ||
| Chadhargis |
The Buell motor is full of rattles and other noises. If it pings, you'll know it because it won't have any power and it will sound like a diesel powered jackhammer. If you don't have that symptom, you most likely don't have pinging. | ||
| Davegess |
As far as I have seen so far these pinging bikes have had timing issues, a few have not and I am thinking that this engine is one that is displaying behavior that should not be displayed and taking the engine back to the shop is a very good way to find the root cause and fix it once and for all. I can't help but imagine how Honda would be handling a problem that effects a tiny percentage of bikes. First would be flat out denial that they have any problems, then if they actually found a problem bike and did something like this the owner would be signing so many pieces of non-disclosure crap he would have hand cramps and third maybe they would fix it but I doubt it. To me it shows the incredible level that Buell will go to to make owners happy. Swapping out the motor is one thing but letting you talk about it is totally off the charts. Most firms would want to keep this quiet. | ||
| Court |
You could not have said it better. I own, and frankly could care less about the problem as it's obvious BMW is never going to substantially address it, one of the famed "Surging BMW's". BMW has, for years, written it off as incompetent riders. Honda had what was essentially the recall to end all recalls. . . depending, of course, on how you feel about toddling down the highway and suddenly having a frame failure and they basically sent a diagram to folks suggesting they take it to a local welding shop and have some weld added. Obviously, these are a bit dramatic and on the end of the continuum examples but it's a huge credit to Buell, Erik and the company, that they put merit in "hey, something doesn't seem right" communication from owners and, for all intents and purposes, go out looking to find anything that's wrong with their bike. I've long maintained, and Buell effectively proved it with the shock recall, that Buell has set a very low threshold of what violates their acceptable quality level. None. . NONE. . of the data that prompted any of the various shock recalls would have even moved the meter in most places. This is the way Buell, Erik and the Company, are and always have been. I have one of the greatest stories of all time about a Buell engineer (also head of the group that evaluates recalls) standing in front of a door and refusing to let a HD marketing exec leave with a 1998 Buell that had to go today, after being ordered to stand aside. Remind me to tell you sometime. . . . Buells always been on the right track with regard to quality. The addition of Jon Flickinger provided the ability to make "no mean NO". Buell refuses to compromise. . . it's truly an amazing company. . . principled from Flick to the last guy/gal on the totem pole. | ||
| Naustin |
I hope my seething contempt for bad dealers does not shroud the fact that I am truely impressed by Buells commitment to its customers as demonstrated here. | ||
| Ihavemanyfleas |
...Counting down till...  | ||
| Ratbuell |
As for the concerns about a "matching" motor - all HD/Buell motors are properly (or are *supposed* to be properly) coded with the vehicle's engine number. They may not build to order (i.e. complete engines are on a shelf) but they DO "stamp-to-order". It'll have your VIN when it's all done. And any and all running production upgrades. | ||
| Nutsosane |
Unfortunately, My Ulysses began to ping again today. I have already been in contact with Buell CS and they were extremely helpful the first go-round. As soon as the Ping re-appeared this afternoon I headed immediately over to my dealer and asked if a tech could take it for a ride. Shortly thereafter a tech was produced and ride he did. He agreed there was a noticeable ping, so I left the bike. I asked the initial tech( who worked with the Buell CS Gents) to contact those gentlemen again. Hopefully we're on our way to saving this bike because I really enjoy it so much. I bid the Service Dept. luck and informed them I was in no immediate hurry for the bike back: I'd rather have it properly diagnosed and sorted without a foot tapping owner in the wings. Smiles all around and I got to take an XB9sl home for the day. Ever see a 6'3" goon riding an sl? Funny stuff. Looking forward to my Uly though. NUTS | ||
| Reepicheep |
All these ping threads made me go out this winter and set the timing on my 05 9sx (15k miles). Sure enough it was off, and sure enough setting it right made it impossible to get my engine to ping (where before I could get it to ping if I really tried). | ||
| Court |
Good timing. | ||
| Ratbuell |
"Good timing".  | ||
| Nutsosane |
Any news Fleas? I hope my bike is ready for MBIV. Maybe I can get a TT loaner?  NUTS | ||
| Ihavemanyfleas |
It's supposed to go in this week... They mentioned I could have a loaner while my bike was there... too bad they didn't tell me that 4 weeks ago... What's MBIV?  Reep, As far as I know, they are only have the pinging on the uly, and the lightnin long... | ||
| Reepicheep |
My 2000 M2 Cyclone would do it as well, and I never bothered to set the timing right on it either. Good luck on the new motor! Sorry to hear you had so many problems, and glad to hear it sounds like people are trying to make it right. | ||
| Court |
Henrik used to ping as well. . . I just swatted him upside the head and that was the end of that. I suppose, looking back, I should have retimed him. Ah . . . what the hell. | ||
| Ihavemanyfleas |
Picking it up tamale! | ||
| Chadhargis |
Now you have to break it in again.  | ||
| Naustin |
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