| Author | Message | ||
     Joojoo |
Hey all, Looking to get another Buell - Went into a Softail - and now I can have both! Heres the thing - when I had my XB12 - 2006 - It suffered from pinging when on full throttle (at low RPM while it built power). Did they fix the issue? I heard the XB9 never did this... Ill either grab another 12 or go for a 9....I considered an 1125 but Im scared of the motor - so much more going on in there than the XB motors.... Any help would be appreciated. | ||
| Hammer71 |
Did they fix the issue? Didnt know there was one. Wouldnt have been an issue for you if your dealer adjusted your timing correctly. Now for the purchase..I'm biased here and would recommend the 9 | ||
| Andymnelson |
Yeah there's no pinging issue, your bike was not setup properly if it was pinging. I ride piss out of mine and no pinging. | ||
| Joojoo |
My 12 had it.....pinged when REALLY hot...even with good gas...and a reset.. Must have not been set up right....so goes.. | ||
| Froggy |
Funny, I rode the piss out of my 06 XB12SS on 87 octane during the gas shortage last fall, didn't even ping once. | ||
| Boltrider |
I haven't heard of any pinging problems on 2008 or later bikes. Buell changed the timing system and fuel injection for this year and it seems to be for the better. My 2008 Firebolt doesn't ping at all, and it has seen all kinds of hot weather and hard riding. | ||
| Metalstorm |
My 05 used to ping pretty bad under hard acceleration from low rpms when it was really hot out. I finally got around to checking my static timing and it was wayyyy advanced! After finding the sweet spot (race ecm likes the mark perfectly centered, go figure) she pulls much harder, better than she used to. Ping seems to be gone now but I've yet to ride in 95+ degrees again to know for sure. But comparing the way she runs now to the way she ran then I'd be willing to wager that ping is a thing of the past. (Message edited by metalstorm on September 23, 2009) | ||
| Dentguy |
"Did they fix the issue? Didnt know there was one." "Wouldnt have been an issue for you if your dealer adjusted your timing correctly." "Yeah there's no pinging issue, your bike was not setup properly if it was pinging." Sorry guys, but some did ping even though they were set up correctly. Had an 06 Uly that was a pinger. Was set up by dealer with Buell involved to help guide them and locate the problem. After 2 weeks I was told by dealer that everything is in specs, but it still pings so just ride it per Buell CS. Called Buell CS to verify what the dealer told me (they did) and was told "we haven't had one come apart from pinging yet". You could retard the static timing enough to make it stop, but it would lose power. It was all stock and only premium fuel. Maybe not a problem with most, but some did have a pinging problem. | ||
| Wfhaag |
How do you check your timing? I am pretty dealer dependent. Do you need the software to hook up to the ECM? | ||
| Xbrfirebolt |
My '08 XB12R has had the problem. I didn't have it until they did the 1st flash of the ECM in May of '08. It did it until they did another updated flash around may/June of '09. After they replaced my dead fan in the end of August, it's back again. | ||
| Joojoo |
Ok, So it seems that its normal...some have it and some dont - some got rid of it - some didnt even after using the same solution.... I guess the most important thing is that motors have never been blowing up or dying with low miles on the clock due to the pings... maybe its part of the beast. The xb9's never seem to ping tho. I think maybe its a design characteristic? The longer stroke of the 12 could be a contributing factor here - the additional torque. ? Anyway - all good. I want a 12 or a 9.  | ||
| Hughlysses |
Funny, I rode the piss out of my 06 XB12SS on 87 octane during the gas shortage last fall, didn't even ping once. Froggy- I'd say that's an equal indication that your timing's not adjusted correctly- it's not sufficiently advanced. I've read that the optimum ignition advance setting will cause just an occasional ping under normally "stressed" conditions (correct octane fuel with a reasonably hot engine under low speed WOT acceleration). If it doesn't ping AT ALL under those conditions, your timing is not advanced enough and you aren't making all the power you should (or in your case getting optimum gas mileage  ). If your bike won't ping on 87 octane, you need to check the timing. You may find 5 or 10 HP you didn't know you had (provided you're running premium gas now). (Message edited by Hughlysses on September 24, 2009) | ||
| Froggy |
Hmm... advance the timing, and get better than my normal 65mpg? Sounds like a plan. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
I've read that the optimum ignition advance setting will cause just an occasional ping under normally "stressed" conditions (correct octane fuel with a reasonably hot engine under low speed WOT acceleration). If it doesn't ping AT ALL under those conditions, your timing is not advanced enough and you aren't making all the power you should (or in your case getting optimum gas mileage This seems to be the trick de jour. Would love to read this for myself. Any idea where it could be found. I can accept that Buell would put the timing at a safe setting but I want more concrete info than just "advance to ping and back off". I would also have a serious issue with allowing it to ping, ever. Taking a bike for a 4 hour walk along a summer road is not an experience I wish to repeat. Because nothing in an engine works in isolation, can anybody tell me how sharp the valve indent edges are on the piston head? (Guess why I would ask that?) | ||
| Hughlysses |
Hmm, here's an interesting take on the issue: http://www.snowvalley.20m.com/bikes/pingtime.htm Evidently slightly less advance than I suggested above provides maximum power/efficiency. I found a couple of other sites that seem to back that up. | ||
| Boltrider |
I must say I've never tried to get mine to ping. I don't grab a fistful at 2500 rpm in 5th; I try to keep the bike almost always in the midrange. Now if some bikes ping in the mid/upper revs, and Buell couldn't do anything about it, then that would piss me off. A similar topic to this one is being discussed on another board - advance the timing until it pings and then back off a smidge. The OP on the other board went a little further and is allowing his bike to ping lightly throughout the powerband with premium, but then adds octane boost to smooth it out. (Message edited by boltrider on September 24, 2009) | ||
| Froggy |
I personally wouldn't do the octane booster route, many of them contain lead and can damage your O2 sensor. | ||
| Dentguy |
Now if some bikes ping in the mid/upper revs, and Buell couldn't do anything about it Mine did. ...then that would piss me off. It did. |
