| Author | Message | ||
     Johnnylunchbox |
06 Uly about 6k miles. Rode around New England this weekend and noticed that as the bike heats up, as in riding for several hours it starts to get really "throbby". In other words in top gear on the highway at 65+ MPH when accelerating it almost feels as if it's running on one cylinder. When I stop the bike for about 10 minutes while fueling up, the bike will be smooth again, but not soon after start with the vibrations again. I added gas dryer and that seemed to help, but again I think it was because of the cooling down period while I refueled and not necessarily the dry-gas. I know somethings up because in my bikes previously glass-smooth zone at 73 MPH, I feel the pulsing. Anybody else experience anything like this? ANy obvious culprits like spark plug wires or primary chain...? Isolators even? | ||
| Etennuly |
Do you have a flashing red light? It sounds like it is running hot and into run-skip where it fires every other time to help cool it down. Do you have enough oil? Oil helps to cool the engine. Is the fan running when needed? Are there obstructions in the air scoop or the path through the fan air exit? Mine has been showing this problem lately on occasions. I have been moving the wires around under the seat and that will make it run normally for a while. I am about to get deep into this issue. My bike has been doing it without being overheated. May even be a heat sensor failing. I have 30,000 miles on my '06. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
No flashing red light, but skip spark mode did enter my thoughts. That's what I imagine it would feel like. Oil was a bit low, I have added more, but haven't test ridden it yet. Good insight. Fan runs constantly on high even during steady highway cruising (may have been the low oil) If adding the oil doen't help, I will be digging into the wiring harness as well. Thanks for the input | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Come to think of it, last time the bike ran poorly it was in a WV frog-strangling downpour. Last saturday the bike sat outside in a 3 hour downpour. Hmmmmm...my first place to check will be the spark plug wires and make sure the boot is seated fully. | ||
| Uly1080 |
I think you may be onto something with the spark plug/wires. I had a similar experience, and changing both improved the "odd" pulsing vibrations while cruising significantly. Sometimes I think they've returned, but not nearly as harsh. I just tell myself that sitting on top of an engine with wheels may, at times, vibrate. It makes me feel better.  Good luck! | ||
| Etennuly |
I haven't been out to test ride it yet, but I just found that the blue/orange #2 coil to ECM wire is shorting out on the battery bracket. That could be causing my skip and Ign flashy light. | ||
| Etennuly |
Confirmed it today. Intermittent flashy red light and seemingly into run/skip mode. It was caused by that little blue wire with the orange stripe. I found that the anodizing on the battery mount where it had been rubbing and arcing had turned black and there was only the smallest bit of wire showing through the insulation. The first time that the symptom happened was over a year ago. The problem was too intermittent and small to find since that time. Did a 300+ mile test ride today and it was flawless for the first time in a while. Johnny, your first paragraph spells out exactly what I was feeling. I believe it only did it when hot, letting the wire hang loose, and pulling on hills, miss under load on one cylinder. I hope this is your problem. Hard to find, very easy fix. A little tape and unplug the ECM, one twist to the wires, plug it back in and go. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Etennuly, thanks for that. I will save this thread and check it out on my bike. Good eye. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Rode the bike a little bit today. All was well and smooth. I parked the bike and rode it again about 20 minutes later and it started acting up again. Annoying as hell. I checked the wires coming out of the ECM and found no fraying. The center connector (interactive exhaust valve) was not fully seated. I snapped it in, but I haven't ridden the bike yet. This got me thinking, that it sort of rides like the time that the exhaust valve fuse blew. Maybe I found my intermittent problem. I'll ride it tomorrow evening and see if I can duplicate the problem. |
