| Author | Message | ||
     Ferrolano |
Fellow Buellers, Went out for my first ride this a.m. with 4 miles on the clock. Rode for twenty four miles, stopped for a cup of coffee to give the bike a little cooling off rest. When I came out to resume my ride, the check engine light would not go off. I limped home at all times below 2,500 rpm. It ran progressively worse near the end--missing and abrupt throttle changes. The local dealer was kind enough to give it a quick check and found that the cooling fan was not coming on--a short they thought. It makes sense since I beleive I read somewhere that the ignition does not fire consecutively if the engine is running hot in order to protected from damage. We'll see what else they find and how easy it is to fix. I am profoundly disappointed and more than a bit aprehensive about the future reliability and durability of this bike. Hope it's only a small glitch that happens infrequently, the scary stories that I read about in this website are more than I can stand for very long! | ||
| Ozymandismotard |
Shit happens Well, that is how I see it. Hi, I am, Ozy from France How you all doing? | ||
| Wammy |
Built by Humans hands... | ||
| Barker |
They make bad Rolex's every day. Sorry it happened to you. | ||
| Pupu |
same exact thin happened to me,althought i have about 6k on mine, was riding with a group, put on 100 miles that morning. stoped to eat and everything was ok, i even notice the fan come on. but when we left, ran just like you set after a bit, and even got worse. trucked to it a house and messed with the wires to see if i could find anything, noticed the fan was not coming on. after i checked everything, took it out and it has been fine ever since. dont know why, but it was the fan not coming. i hope it doesnt happen again, but post up if they find something an i will check mine to. but on a lighter note, if you go to any bike specific forum, you will read problems with that bike there too, so dont worry. it just seems bad becuase we only talk about buells on here so it seems more condenced. | ||
| Glitch |
Hope it's only a small glitch that happens infrequently I had nothing to do with it! Let us know what your dealer says. Good luck! | ||
| Crusty |
In 1973, My wife (at the time) bought a brand new CL450 Honda. Since she was a novice rider, we decided to put it in the back of the pickup and after we got it home, she could get used to it at her leisure. The first time she fired it up, the starter would not disengage, and was making a horrendous sound as she revved the engine. We hauled it back to the Honda shop, and they replaced the bad starter drive unit. I won't tell you about the BMW that had oil leaking right through the crankcase, or the Yamaha TX 750 that shattered it's cases, or the Suzuki rotary that locked itself into second gear, or... All manufacturers have occasional product malfunctions. How they take care of them is what's important. | ||
| Signguy |
"They make bad Rolex's every day." No, they don't. | ||
| Rfp69 |
I have two. They BOTH run about 3 minutes fast a week! | ||
| Signguy |
RFP69- I don't want to get this post far off topic so PM me if you want to talk watches. | ||
| Teddagreek |
I got bad fuel..... It Caused my Bike to skip.. put some STP in tank and it was fine in the morning... Our Tanks are small I try not to get fuel from pumps that don't have separate nozzles for each Grade... | ||
| Pcmodeler |
Engine temp sensor maybe.... | ||
| Djkaplan |
The worst motorcycle I ever had was my very first; a 1975 Kawasaki F7D 175 dual-purpose bike bought brand new in 1976. The clutch failed, the carburetor had a horrible sticking problem, and the oil pump stopped working and caused the bike to seize, all within six months. What a pile. | ||
| Skeeter_xb |
I can beat that. Mine quit after 16 miles. Was some loose wires at the voltage regulator. | ||
| Davo |
Ferrolano, Was the engine light on steady or did it flash? | ||
| Adamcooney |
I wouldn't worry too much, probably a small glitch, it happens with ANY vehicle or anything made really for that matter. Just remember, people post what BAD stuff happens on here to get reactions and to start drama, for every 1 problem, theres 100 extremely satisfied customers. You wouldn't see people just writing about they're bike running great, lol. | ||
| Pupu |
when mine did that, the engine light only came on for a quick sec, at least that is all i saw, and i tried to limp it for a mile or so. i had tried to start it and ride a few times but i only saw the engine light that one time. i would have thought if it was the temp sensor, it would have made the light go on and stay on, so i thought is was a connection to the fan, but with all the wrestling with the wires it fixed it self. that why i am curious to see what he comes up with cuz mine did the same exact thing a week ago. | ||
| Ferrolano |
Guys, The check-engine light stayed on steady. I shut it off two or three times, jiggled wires under the seat, looked at ground connections, battery cables, etc., but the light would always stay on, not flash. I rode it home slowly (about 2,500 rpm) and although it was not running smoothly, it never felt that it was going to quit. As I stated in my earlier posting, the dealer (High-Country H-D in Frederick, CO) took a quick peek to see if they could get me back on the road and their preliminary diagnosis was that the cooling fan was not functioning. I had to leave the bike until they could get time to find the cause and fix it. No one has addressed my assumption that the engine spark is interrupted when it gets hot in order to avoid overheating or damage and that's why it was not running smoothly. Am I right in thinking this? At any rate, I will post the cause and the fix when I get the bike back from the dealer. In the meanwhile, though I'm a little disappointed, I still like the Buell and have faith that it will be a real fun ride when it gets fully sorted out. Thanks to all who have posted with responses, suggestions and good wishes. | ||
| Pupu |
yes, if the rear cylinder gets to hot, it does interupt the spark, mine felt like it was running on one cylinder. i asume that was what yours felt like, might be your sensor then, i think mine was just a bad connection, but who knows. | ||
| Shinobi13 |
I had this happen to me yesterday. My XB12Ss only has 450 miles on it. When it happened I pulled over, shut the bike off for about 30 seconds, restarted it, and the situation went away. Figured it was a small gremlin.... | ||
| Dbf |
My Ss had similar problems, which had me stumped for quite some time. My symptoms were lack of power, the fabled 3K-stumble exaggerated considerably, horrendous backfiring, CEL was throwing codes and to finished it off, the bike would stall while riding. I was able to cause the bike to stall by wiggling the smaller wiring harness under the seat. Since that time, I installed a race ECM, drummer and K&N. All of the above mentioned symptoms have never re-occurred. I’m thinking I had a bad ECM, but I could not confirm this, as the dealer was very non-committal. As far as they were concerned, since I laid down 3 bills and the problem was cured, their responsibility was negated. My recommendation to you is to really lean on the dealer to find the problem. I made the mistake of being too lenient by allowing myself to be sucked in by paying to have a warranty type problem solved. Good luck. Dan | ||
| Davo |
Ferrolano, It is my understanding that the engine light flashes during the skip start mode. It is probably a minor electrical problem. With so few miles on the engine, the ECM had no history of your fuel management and this probably made a minor glitch more pronounced. I am sure that you did this correctly, but it is important that the start up procedure is followed carefully so that the ECM can "boot up". I had a problem when I rushed it once. Regardless, I would just continue your easy break in procedure and the bugs will get worked out. The systems in the bike are relatively simple and there are many resources for keeping them on the road. You have found the most valuable resource, BadWeb! | ||
| Aeholton |
My cooling fan quit on my XB12X. The engine never ran bad. I don't think I ever got hot enough to cause a problem. I did, however, ride it all the way back from Birmingham, AL without a working fan. Tried to keep moving though. If I got stuck at a long light, I just turned it off until the light changed. | ||
| Brucelee |
11K miles, no issues. Go figure. | ||
| Ozymandismotard |
The worst motorcycle I ever had was a 9OOss Ducati, circa 1974, It blew, it blew up, it blew up..... The worst Rolex I had; 2000 Submariner It blew up; it blew up, I blew up, They gave me a refund ! Ozy from France | ||
| Ferrolano |
Got the bike back from the dealer yesterday at 1'30 in the afternoon. The diagnosis: a short in the cooling fan circuit. The remedy: a 10 amp fuse ($1.75). The cause: unknown. Here's where I did not feel totally satisfied. Fuses blow for a reason but the tech could offer nothing but guesses. He did do a comprehensive testing of all systems (1 hr labor charge @ $78) and found nothing amiss. Since we think the fan had never come on in the bike's short 41 mile life-span, the tech guessed (key word) that the damage to the fuse may have been done during the PDI--crossed wires, something touched a battery post, etc. We'll see if indeed this was all there's to it. At any rate, rather than trailer the bike home, I rode it back (14 mi) in the heat of the afternoon and it behaved well--no big hicups, the fan came on and remained on after shutting off the engine. The fan seems to have two speeds by the way, one which is fairly loud, and a second slower speed which followed. It shut off totally after 45 to 60 secs. This weekend, armed with a service manual and patience, I plan to spend some time making sure that the wiring is well routed and that no wires are visibly damaged. After I'm satisfied that nothing looks out of place or suspicious I will try for a longer ride. Once i reach the 200 mile mark I'll treat it to its first oil and primary change. | ||
| Typeone |
hmm, glad to hear the bike seems to be back in working order, Ferrolano. Curious though, did you have to shell out some money for the 'comprehensive testing' they did? For a bike with ~50mi on it? | ||
| Daves |
I have run XBs in 95+ heat on the race track for long periods of time,riding hard and I have never had one go into "skip" mode. I do not think that is what was going on,but I could be wrong. You should not have had to pay a dime, that is what warranty is for. Your bike's fan is a 2 speed, that is normal. | ||
| Ferrolano |
No cost to me, billed to H-D I suppose. Since I'm the nervous nelly type I opted for a 5-yr extended warranty. I have it as peace of mind, and will use it when and if it's ever needed, confident that it'll cover whatever is reasonably needed to fix it. There's no deductible that I'm aware of, but --of course-- it excludes normal wear items such as tires, batteries and so on. Chances are that after five years I'll be itching for something else anyway. | ||
| Typeone |
ah, good to hear. sounded like you had to pay. hope she continues to run smooth for you. | ||
| Daves |
The ESP plan does have a 50.00 deductible | ||
| Firewhirl |
Well the XB's do have certain items that give out, just part of owning these bikes. But they don't always go out, like my belt has 16,000 miles on it and has never broekn yet. I do wheelies, am not easy on the bike. Even Hondas have problems sometimes, guy I know next morning after picking up his bike, he turns the key to start it and the entire wire harness went up in flames. So any bike can have issue. | ||
| Honu |
Ferrolano, I think your ECM/FI did not have time to adjust, something like 15 minutes at 3500 steady RPM on the highway to let ECM/FI adjust for conditions. Last year I trailered the wife's and my XB's back from a week in Silverthorne CO, 8K elevation straight to sea level. Both bikes had the same symptoms you describe untill I did the 3500 or above steady state for 15 minutes or so, then they both were back running fine. |
