| Author | Message | ||
     Shea |
These cold engine symptoms are going to kill me. I started up the bike today, let it run for a moment, then hopped on. As I was pulling out of a parking lot, the bike sputtered as I was turning. I had to stick out my left foot to keep from falling over and I twisted my ankle. When it sputtered, it literally threw me sideways. It's seriously going to get me killed. Does anyone have this problem? | ||
| Bikoman |
Air cooled beast, let it warm up while you put your gear on. John | ||
| Mikerocket |
Mine is shakey, very shakey, on take off or staying in either 1st or 2nd gear. I was told its normal due to the v-twin setup. Is this normal? | ||
| 99buellx1 |
What rpm do you ride at? Once you get above idle the motor should smooth right out, if your motor is chugging when you are going down the road you are probably riding at too low of an rpm. Which is also called lugging the motor, which is not real good for it. Remember these motors have a fairly agressive cam in them and enjoy some rpm speed. | ||
| M1combat |
Let it warm up. One FULL minute on a hot day, two when it's cool out. | ||
| Jerseyguy |
Same symptoms here. Its a cold blooded beast. The problem is exacerbated by opening up the airbox. Just let it warm up. | ||
| Daves |
I let my bikes warm up for more like 5 minutes | ||
| Grlryder |
Like Bikeoman said, I start the bike, then put my gear on. Always good to go after that. Don't throttle unless moving forward. My older bikes used to like the throttle-play, my Buell when cold...she hates it! | ||
| Glitch |
Don't throttle unless moving forward. I knew I was doing something wrong, I've been throttling while moving backward. Thanks for the heads up! J/K  | ||
| Shea |
LMAO! I was told that these bikes are best treated if you only let it run for a moment, then let it warm up the rest of the way while riding it easy. The salesman said that these harley engines can potentially foul plugs and running them like that helps prevent that. Of course, I understand that the salesmen are not mechanics, but not sure who I should believe. | ||
| Glitch |
It's always a good idea to warm up your bike first, gets all the juices flowing. These are air cooled, think about it, start up a cold engine, and start riding right away, and the oil cooler tries to cool the oil, not good, you want/need the oil to flow without any resistance. | ||
| Henrik |
A local shop owner who's been in the V-twin business for a looong time, and owns one of the few shops in my area I'd trust for any HD work, once told me to let the bike warm up until the head/cylinder becomes hot to the touch. Seemed like a good rule of thumb to me. Henrik | ||
| Blake |
Shea, That is disconcerting and dangerous for sure. In the interest of certainty, and full disclosure, have you modified at all the intake or exhaust tracts on your XB12? If so, that would exacerbate the cold cough likelyhood. | ||
| Blake |
As a general notation to your rather dramatic thread title, I suggest we all learn from this and try to be more prepared to react well when confronted with immediate threats as we ride; this could be anything from the hesitation Shea describes to a blown front tire, to failed brakes, to a stuck throttle. If we aren't prepared, any one of those potential gremlins could be the death of us, and we won't have anyone to blame but ourselves. Just remember, we aren't out there riding in mom's minivan. It's a motorcycle, inherently unstable, unprotected, and prone to accident. Ride it with that in mind and we'll likely be okay. Okay. Done preaching.  | ||
| Glitch |
once told me to let the bike warm up until the head/cylinder becomes hot to the touch. On a tuber you can get to the head easy. If I start the bike, and let it idle while I get to the head enough to touch it, I would have to shut the bike off to take off enough parts to be able to touch the top of the head. | ||
| Jackbequick |
The top of the cylinder head is under the rocker boxes, that's not what you want to touch. You just want to touch the upper cylinder somewhere around the cylinder/head junction. Like around the spark plug level. You can see the cylinder from the side on a Uly, but you're saying you can't touch it? On my M2 I use the enrichener for about 5-15 seconds, until I start hearing a slight too rich condition. Then I close the enrichener and open the throttle slowly to 1,500-2,000 RPM and give it 30 seconds to a minute there. If If I want to do it hands off I can use the idle speed adjuster. After a minute the cylinder is just warm to the touch. I don't do any sudden throttle transitions for the first few minutes or it might pop or sputter, after that it does fine. Jack | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
i do the same as daves...let it warm up for about 5 minutes or so. i'm usually gathering up my gear and such while letting it run. shea- hope you didnt hurt yourself to bad. it is to early in the season to need top take time out to heal. good luck! | ||
| Grlryder |
Don't throttle unless moving forward. I knew I was doing something wrong, I've been throttling while moving backward. Thanks for the heads up! J/K Glitch & Shea...the comment was made as it is my observation that men (in particular) seem to have this need to rev the bike excessively when sitting still...perhaps in an attempt to compensate for something lacking elsewhere. | ||
| Buelluk |
I let mine warm up while I am getting my gear on ,whether it is cold or hot outside, generally two to three minutes, I have never had any stumbling problems with either my Lightning or the Uly. | ||
| Jlnance |
Shea - My Uly, which I believe has the same engine as yours, runs noticably better when it is warm. At the same time, it has never sputtered. I did at one time have an M2, which ran horriably when cold. I later discovered that the intake seals were loose. You might want to check for intake leaks. Its an easy test, involving spraying wd-40 onto the seals and seeing if the idle changes. I'm sure there is a more detailed description in the KV section somewhere. | ||
| Shea |
I have had the muffler modified, as someone had asked. I am quite sure that this is one reason why the hesitation is exacerbated. I will start letting the bike warm up a little longer and see how it goes. Once the bike it warm, it gets quite smooth on pulling out and usually have no problems. Every once in a great while I will have a miss, but that is very rare and I really have to rev it hard from idle to replicate it. (i didn't do it cold, only when the engine was hot) | ||
| Blake |
Glitch, Do we really need to hear about your difficulties trying to touch your parts?  "it is my observation that men (in particular) seem to have this need to rev the bike excessively when sitting still...perhaps in an attempt to compensate for something lacking elsewhere." Hey! I'm pretend revving my bike right now. I am however NOT touching myself! Shea, Perfect! Thanks for clarifying. | ||
| Bodyshot1 |
yup..let it run while you gear-up..seems to work for me..at least a couple minutes when cold.. |
