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Ducxl
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 09, 2008 - 05:54 pm: | 
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Mike's efforts to fix his bike are constantly trivialized and dismissed,and that is sad.
I'd say,given the fact that he had to push his bike that his voltmeter is pretty darn accurate.
Mr. ChevyCummins,get rid of the piece of crap by ANY means necessary.
(Message edited by ducxl on July 09, 2008) |
Zac4mac
| | Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008 - 01:26 am: |
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Mike - ever since I hooked up the Kuryakyn meter, I see both green lights when running.
For a minute or so, on cold start, I see the yellow flicker.
Mike at a CT of 220, your stator output is gonna be weak.
The learning method clicked when I thought about the Solenoid really bothering those folks that had good running bikes otherwise.
It's only in 3rd gear, so is the learning process.
I had no solenoid issue and I had a slow learner.
Tried it in Wisconsin and reset in Nebraska and Colorado with perfect results.
Loretta purrrrs.
Z |
Chevycummins
| | Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008 - 07:31 pm: |
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Zac4mac, I'll try the to force the bike to learn as you stated. I have a good road in mind for the ride.
Baggermike, Sorry to hear your still having charging problems. When I got my bike back from the dealer when they did the reflash the battery was almost dead also. The bike went in with 12.8V and the next day when I picked it up my battery bug was beeping and the voltage was 11.9V. I thought that they ran the battery down during the flash also. I went in and talked to the mechanic and he said it was on the charger during the flash and was fully charged at that time. I took it home and fully charged it with a high frequency charger and rode it about 60 miles that night. The next day the voltage had dropped to 12.4v from 12.8v. At noon it was at 12v and at one it was 11.8v and the battery bug was beeping. I knew then that it had a draw and that it must have had the draw when it was at the dealer overnight. I found the cluster was the draw on my bike. I like my Battery Bug because you can see the voltage and it warns if there is a low voltage. I checked it with my fluke meter and seems very accurate. They sell them on Amozon.com and I would recommend them to everyone. If I did not have the battery bug on my bike I would not have caught the draw that my bike had sometimes. |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008 - 07:55 pm: |
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Chevy - you also do not mention if you have the latest flash update for the ECM. It does address a lot of the issues you list, especially the pump cycle after shutdown and the hard restarts.
I echo the notes above - have your fuel rail checked.
I applaud your patience. The fix is out there, it's just a matter of time (and perhaps the right dealer) to find it and mate it with your motorcycle. |
Chevycummins
| | Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008 - 08:37 pm: |
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Ratbuell, I do have the latest reflash done to the bike. Thats what they were doing at the dealer when they gave the bike back to me with a dead battery. Kinda funny. I guess I don't know what the fuel rail would have to do with the fuel pressure. It is a return less system. The fuel does not leak onto the engine from the fuel lines, no external fuel leak. The fuel does not leak into the combustion chamber, no leaking injectors. The pump primes up then the pressure rapidly drops and the pump prims again. It will continue to do this until the ecm goes to sleep after 10 min. It never did this before, it may have primmed up 1 time in 10 min before. The pressure must be leaking back though the fuel pump into the tank.
I also have the bonus of having no other dealer nearby that will touch or sell a Buell. I think they need to have a franchise opportunity separate form HD. I'll sign myself up for it and then I could get some bikes fixed. In my opinion Buell needs to be separated from HD. I'm sure there are some great HD/Buell dealers out there but customers need their Buell bikes fixed and mechanics who have limited training on the Buell line or don't want to work on Buell probably won't get them fixed right the first time. My customer satisfaction was the highest in the shop that I worked in, and it was almost at the top nation wide in GM shops. If there was any question of the repair I did the vehicle did not leave until it was fixed. Thats just the way I am and it worked well for me. I wish more mechanics care about there work as much as I did. The work you do does reflect back on you and your shop. I would love to have a Buell dealer, and would have people that want to work on and understand Buell motorcycles. Training and the right people= happy customers. Thats the way to move forward. |
Baggermike
| | Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008 - 09:10 pm: |
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Chevy not really a problem just an gremlin,
my bike has been fine all these months and has not been on the battery tender and is around 12.5 most of the time,
I had to go to a closer dealership for the fifth gear problem and I did not tell them I got the re flash because I was thinking what they said about having the bike fully charged to do it and when they did it the other day they did something to drain the battery,
so I thought maybe the bike battery was weak when they did it and had the closer dealership do it.
now the bike runs awesome, the bike is not surging and I can ride it at 2000 rmps now so the low end is really good but have only ridden it home and then around the town for 20 miles so now I am going to go out and see how it runs now after sitting for a few hours.
From all of the problems some of us have been having I have nothing to complain about I know my charging system is weak and what I can do and what I can not do and it has been starting and have not had any problems with a dead battery so far,
I hope when I go out to ride it now it starts and runs like it did earlier and there is no reason it should not, maybe my problem is that I have a bad cell in the battery,
there is no way to test for a bad cell in a sealed battery so it might be this and would make sense with the battery always being around around 12.5.
Mike |
1125chick
| | Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 - 09:22 am: |
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Bagger-When the recall kit is in at my dealer I'm planning to do the reflash at the same time. Do I understand correctly that they should charge during the reflash or do you think the battery drains I've been reading about are due to a bad cell(s). I don't want to go in there like a big dork and tell the guy to charge during the reflash if it is irrelevant. I read somewhere in here that a guy did the charge and his battery was fine (post re-flash) and another where the guy didn't and has had battery problems since. What gives? |
Hitman44139
| | Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 - 09:36 am: |
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I had my recall done Wednesday. When I picked it up ......dead battery! No biggy, they forgot to charge it after the flash. The tech told me that they cannot charge while doing the flash. Apparently, it causes an error in the system. I assume a fully charged battery is needed prior and then a charge after. just how I understood it. |
Pxl2562
| | Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 - 09:43 am: |
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Hey guys, you can test for a bad cell in the battery. As much as i hate supporting them, autozone will do a free test of any battery. the tool they have will test the internal resistance of the battery, which will indicate the state of the plates inside. if they tell you they "can't" do a mc battery, give them sh*t cause they can but they're just being lazy. im lucky enough to have access to these tools because of my job, but for those of you who don't, i would suggest taking the battery to be tested. takes the guessing out. |
Baggermike
| | Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 - 12:30 pm: |
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Thanks Px I might do that.
1125chick when I went to my dealership to have the re flash I rode there 100 miles with high beams on and the volt meter was green when I gave them the bike,
when they gave it back to me it was running but had the engine and battery light on,
I had two choices one get on the highway and the battery would get charged or return to the dealership,
lucky I chose door number two because there was no power going to the battery from the charging system and is why it dropped down and stopped running, if the battery was getting juice it would not have died,
they said I had a bad voltage regulator after having telling them the charging system has been a problem thence I bought the bike,
when I got home I went into dio mode and had many trouble codes,
I am not sure if the replaced the voltage regulator but they did not have the parts for the fifth gear problem so I called and ask to make an appointment with the dealership that was only 60 miles away from me and this time made sure I left with the battery fully charged and rode there with low beams on all highway and got there the battery was reading 12.6 when it should in my opinion be higher unless I have a voltmeter problem which I am going to buy a new one to see if it is my volt meter that is wrong,
then I guess auto zone would be my next step if it the volt meters are the same,
I gave them the bike at 8:30 am and the techs got there at 9:00 so the bike was cooled down for them to start working on it,
I got the bike back at 1:20 but could not check out anything because I was late for my sons appointment and picked him up and the bike was running really good,
last night I had to go out so I put it in dio mode and no codes were there,
the first dealership told me that they had the battery charger hooked up during the re flash because it needs full power,
but how did the battery go dead this is a mystery, the only thing I can think of is the battery cable going to the battery or starter was disconnected because there was no way the bike would have went dead that fast on me and they had taken a test ride on it to so they should have seen the engine and battery lights on,
this is the last time I go in for service there, way back when I first was having problems with charging I had them hook up all my electric gear to the bike and they said I was good to go when I was not and just made it home and the bike would not restart.
I WOULD MAKE SURE IT IS FULLY CHARGED WHEN YOU BRING IT IN AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE NO TROUBLE CODES AND THAT THE BATTERY IS CHARGED WHEN THEY GIVE IT BACK TO YOU.
I think then you should be fine and plan on like two or three hours for the re flash,
yesterday I had both done, the fifth gear problem and a new re flash and took almost four and a half hours to do so plan on being picked up and leaving it there if possible, I did not have a choice and had to waite. |
Chevycummins
| | Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 - 02:52 pm: |
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If you don't want to go to autozone to have the battery tested you could go to your local GM dealer. They have a tester by Midtronics. This tester can check for a bad cell and other problems. It is required for GM battery warranty and works very well. I think that your HD/Buell dealer also uses this tester for their warranty. I personally don't like to deal with the sales people at the autozone near me. |
Pxl2562
| | Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 - 03:24 pm: |
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I agree Chevy, I don't like dealing with them either. I hate the store, except that it's so conveniently located for me. I def agree, if you can find a dealer to test your battery for free, you're much better off. |
Chevycummins
| | Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 - 09:12 pm: |
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At least at the dealer they will know how to use the tester!
My Battery Bug tests the battery state of charge every time the bike is started. It gives you a percent of battery life left. Its like having a battery tester with you all the time. |
Stewadi
| | Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 - 11:15 pm: |
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Chevy,
The battery bug you have is it the regular one or the one for powersports? (BB-SBM12 vs BB-SBM12PS) Also, how did you mount it?
Thanks |
Chevycummins
| | Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008 - 11:59 pm: |
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Stewadi, I think it is just the sbm12. I'll see if I still have the package at home. I mounted it just under the cluster on the metal support with double sided tape. That way I could see it when walking by the bike or while riding. I spliced in longer wire and connected it to the battery terminals. One thing that I did notice is that it is usually at 55% battery life with a fully charged battery. I just thought that it was a little low because the battery is a little small compared to the cranking amps the starter draws when first turning over. I think it tests voltage drop on the battery while cranking to calculate the battery %. It might be that I should have bought the power sports version instead. It still gets the job done and the percent stays at 55% so I just figure it as my 100%. At least when the percent starts to drop I will know somethings up. |
Chevycummins
| | Posted on Sunday, July 13, 2008 - 12:45 pm: |
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My bug is the BB-SBM12. It states on the package that it is for car, light truck, motorcycle, atv.
WWW.argusanalyzers.com |
Chevycummins
| | Posted on Sunday, July 13, 2008 - 12:50 pm: |
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Thats nice, I just looked on there site and even though the paper that came with the bug said its for motorcycle the site is different. If I was to buy another one I would get the one designed for the 100 to 400cca battery. That should make the life monitor more accurate. |
Budo
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - 12:08 pm: |
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Chevy, I am sorry you are having so many problems. Your experience with the salesman -
"The second time it was at the dealer my sales person came out to the shop and started blaming me for the problems. I think the bike had like 200miles at that time. He was vulgar with me and very rude and unprofessional. He said that I am the only person with problems out of the other 2 bikes they sold."
is unacceptable. You should notify the owner of this guys behaivor and let him know that you intend to let eveyone on Badweather know about this guy and his dealership. I admire your restraint. Some guys would have put this jerk on his ass and rightfully so.
I have been where you are. You don't enjoy riding the bike anymore becaues you no longer have confidence that it will get you there or back home. I am sorry to say that the only cure is to sell the bike. I also tried to trade in my S1W and found out that the dealership did not want it at any price. List it here and find it a home. That is what I did. Good luck. |
Chevycummins
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - 02:39 pm: |
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Budo, I did talk to the owner of the dealer and he was on my side one day, all proactive and we will get the bike fixed and make you happy. The next day he was against me, I'm causing the problems, there is nothing wrong with the bike I'm the only person with problems and there was thousands of miles of R&D done with this bike. My dealer won't even listen to me any more about buying it back or selling it for me. Its kinda funny because if there is nothing wrong with the bike then it seems like they would have no problem selling it for me and taking a cut of the sale. My dealer seems to be anti-buell and only sells and works on them because they have to. I wish I knew this before I bought it from them. |
Baggermike
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - 04:22 pm: |
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Chevy you can take you bike to any buell dealership to have service done,
I did it with my bike the service guys were I bought the bike killed it when they did the re flash, and the batter went dead like the forgot to hook up something,
I had trouble codes I never saw before and the bike was overheating and running bad,
they said the bike needed to be fully charged to do the re flash and said the hooked up a charger to the bike while doing this,
this had to be untrue or they just messed up somehow, the bike was fine when I bought it there.
they did not have the fifth gear parts in so I went to another dealership and did not tell them I had the re flash because I knew they screwed it up at the place I bought it from, the did the re flash and fifth gear thing and I did not buy my bike from them,
now the bike is running very good and I am happy with it, I still have a weak charging system but will save that for another day.
SO you can take it to any dealership you want to just ask if they like to work on buells first and find the dealership that will help you it does not matter they all make the same money fixing it and does not matter were you bought it.
Mike |
1125chick
| | Posted on Thursday, July 17, 2008 - 05:26 pm: |
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No reflash done here yet and I found the weak charging system last week when I dressed to go for a spin and the battery was DOA. I jumped it from my car and it would charge and start but would not maintain the charge. Hooked it to the charger for about 2 hours and it finally fully charged. Never got error codes. Wasn't pleased that day because with the weather around here you have to ride whenever you can. Back to full throttle today though... |
Chevycummins
| | Posted on Thursday, July 17, 2008 - 05:38 pm: |
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1125chick, you might have the same problem I had with the parasitic draw. If it had been ok and one day the battery is dead after sitting overnight it was probably a draw that ran the battery down, not a charging problem. My bike was ok for months then one weekend it just went dead for no reason overnight. Sound like what happened to you? |
Kttemplar
| | Posted on Thursday, July 17, 2008 - 06:48 pm: |
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1125chick,
The same thing happened to me, just before I got the re-flash. NO problems for a couple months and then, a dead battery out of nowhere. I have had it on a tender since.
Mike |
Chevycummins
| | Posted on Thursday, July 17, 2008 - 07:17 pm: |
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Kttemplar, why not get it fixed? Its under warranty. That was the one thing that could actually be fixed on my bike. No problems with the dead battery since the faulty cluster was replaced. |
Ridenusa4l
| | Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 02:32 am: |
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kttemplar- what kind of a battery tender do u have, i too have had the issue as 1125chick has..it sucked...
I put it on the charger that day for about 10min then fired right up and after riding had a full charge..but don't want it to happen again so im in the market for a tender.. |
Badlionsfan
| | Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 07:19 am: |
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http://www.ironpony.com/ironponydirect/productPage details.asp?ImageName=BATTERYTNDRJR.jpg&Brand=BATT ERY%20TENDER&Class2=Lighting%20and%20Electrical&Cl ass3=Battery%20Chargers&Class1=ATV%20PRODUCTS
Even comes with a quick connect so you can perminately connect to the terminals and have a pig tail connection somewhere for ez access. tenders are a good idea no matter what you ride. One of the dealers around here puts the connection with the pig tail on all their bikes. |
Ccryder
| | Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 08:20 am: |
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That is a pretty good price on the Battery Tender junior. Splurge another $20 and get the Battery Tender Plus. It is built heavier and has more charging capability. I've got two at home and my ST13 and 25r smile when they are charged.
I've got the pig tail on the 25r coming out of the scoop on the right side of the tail section. Hardly noticeable but real handy.
Time2Work
Neil S. |
Ridenusa4l
| | Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 12:43 pm: |
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thanx..do the pigtails come with the tender?.. |
Ccryder
| | Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 02:23 pm: |
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Yes both the SAE plug pig tail to hook to the battery and a set of alligator clips, with an SAE plug to plug into the Battery tender. |
Chevycummins
| | Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 02:41 pm: |
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Got my tender at Lowe's. It came with cig. lighter plug, hardwire for battery and alligator clips. Think it was about $25
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=284085-37266-BM2B&lpage=none
(Message edited by chevycummins on July 18, 2008)
(Message edited by chevycummins on July 18, 2008) |
Thurstonbuell
| | Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 04:10 pm: |
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Here's the "plus" model for $39.95
http://www.derbycycles.com/cgi-bin/eShop/index.cgi ?cart_id=9796164.12911&pid=2600&product=Battery_Ch argers&count=1 |
Fmaxwell
| | Posted on Saturday, July 19, 2008 - 05:07 pm: |
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Here's the Yuasa SmartShot for $49.97 and it is a much better charger than the Deltran Battery Tender Plus (I own both and an electronics engineer with a good bit of knowledge about battery charging):
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=44 3554&kwtid=283538
Unlike the Battery Tender Plus, the Yuasa SmartShot has a 28 day reconditioning cycle that maximizes the battery life and performance. It also is better for reducing sulfation.
For a great (though older) review of motorcycle battery chargers/maintainers, see:
http://www.wingworldmag.com/archives/august2002/ma gazine/article/battery.html |
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