| Author | Message | ||
     Arry |
"... exhaust was modified I think." "It acts like it is starved for fuel." If its got aftermarket or modified exhaust system, and a stock ECM that hasn't been remapped, you could have some running issues like you describe. | ||
| Chisleu |
It looks like the cable and software to load maps is really cheap. I'm very familiar with MegaLogViewer and VE maps. I've tuned a Sentra Spec-V with a MegaSquirt 2 I built. Sounds like a hot ticket! I'll try to get that here ASAP. I tried to take it offroad a little today and hit some silt. It was hella scary. I turned around and went back to good old asphalt. I need tires if I'm going to mess around offroad. I got my homework done so I'm going to go take another ride and try out the lowbeam!  | ||
| Tootal |
Loose sand or silt and or mud are not the most fun for sure. In Colorado it was mostly hard pack, even when wet, so not too bad at all. I was using a new set of sync's then. I have since started using the trails for longer tread life. I did hit mud one time and just leaned back and let the front tire slide along. I was pulling a pretty good vacuum on the seat!  | ||
| Chisleu |
Hahaha. It has street tires on it. It was maddening for the 30 seconds it took me to stand up and power through the sand to get turned around and headed back to safety. Haha. I was considerably puckered as well. | ||
| Chisleu |
I ordered the ECM Spy cable today. Hopefully I can figure out how to buy the software so I can richen up the fuel. | ||
| Froggy |
The older versison of ECMspy is free, and works perfect on 99-07 models. | ||
| Froggy |
While it could just be a cheap bulb, it is often a sign your voltage regulator is failing. Voltage spikes will kill the bulbs, and untreated can damage other things like the ECM. If your bike does not have one already, get a dash mounted voltmeter on it. | ||
| Chisleu |
Woo hoo! The cable will be here tomorrow and I hope to fix this low-load lean issues. I ordered 3-4 things and paypal failed to give my entire address to the vendors so they aren't being delivered correctly  I think the $25 bulb I put in just shaked to death. It died when the bike stalled (and shook hard) because it was cold and I tried to drive off without warming up to fight the lean issue. I really hope I can solve the issues because I want to love this bike, but the hesitation at light throttle is scary. I'm doing some searching now for the old version of ECM spy. | ||
| Gp81 |
It's worth every penny plus all the time just to get the EBR race ECM.... hands down one of the single best mods you can do for any uly... | ||
| Chisleu |
Interesting. I'll do some reading into that. I'm not trying to mod the bike, I just want it to be comfortable and reliable for winter riding here in SC. I got my rox risers in today. Hopefully I can get them on tomorrow afternoon. I've actually adjusted well to the peg height. I suppose 1 more inch of drop wouldn't hurt though. I would definitely like the 08 triple trees. I installed windows on a virtualbox vm and installed the old version of ecmspy. I need to figure out where I am suppose to plug in the cable when it gets here. I've tuned VE maps before with megasquirt2 / megalogviewer. I hope to trim out the low load and cold map modifiers. When it is cold, the fueling is way off. You have to open the throttle a little just to get it to crank. I have to let it idle until it warms up or the bike is unridable. When I get the fueling sorted out a bit, I think I'm going to swap the plugs and be sure it was gapped correctly. | ||
| Tootal |
It sounds like you know more than I about dialing in the fueling. I've played with ecmspy and have improved the running of the Uly but I'm still a rookie. I do have years of experience dialing in carbs. I love side draft Webers as that's what we still use on our race car. I just have one recommendation and that's to change the plugs before tuning. Fuel adjustments should be the last thing you do. The rear plug isn't that bad if you have a good plug socket with a u-joint and extension. Putting the new one in is tricky unless you use a 3/8" fuel hose over the plug and start it with that. Once it's dialed in you are going to really love it! | ||
| Froggy |
Bone stock the bike should not need any fuel adjustments, I would look elsewhere to the cause of the issues, like needing the TPS zeroed out, the AFV reset, fouled plugs, etc. There are tens of thousands of these out there without issues completely stock fueling. | ||
| Chisleu |
I think it may have an air filter and the exhaust modified? I'm unsure. The person I bought the bike from was no help. I popped the seat off to discover an ECM branded with "FOR RACE USE ONLY". It is 32621-03Y. I couldn't see any way to plug in the cable I ordered for ecmspy. I'm doing some hunting for information now. | ||
| Froggy |
Well you already have a Race ECM, one of the old ones available from Harley. It is possible the fuel map on it is not tuned for your exhaust, they were only made with the Buell Race Exhaust in mind. The ECM interface plug is part of the main wire harness, the plug is in that gap between the two lugs for the left seat rail and frame. It may be covered if the heat deflectors were installed.  | ||
| Chisleu |
I found it through another thread. I might need to do a TPS reset. It couldn't help. I found a guide for the xb12 sport bikes. I might try that next. It worked! I managed to load up the software in VirtualBox and get the drivers installed. I had to reboot to get it to work. It works though! WOO! I increased the VE for low load across all the RPMs. I need to increase it some more below 2000rpms. It is still struggling down there. I think the startup / warmup enrichment might be too high as well. Baby steps. I'm so excited to see there are spark maps as well as fuel maps. I would love to get this thing on a dyno at some point and tweak them out. They look a little erratic. | ||
| Chisleu |
I played some more. Apparently this ECM had unmodified race eprom/maps loaded. I overdid it with my modifications. It seems the big difference between the race and stock eproms I got from buellmods.com are the timing. The race timings are greatly advanced. I expect that is where the huge gains are coming from that people were referring to. I noticed that the stock ECM maps are very different around idle. I've been having trouble with idle especially when cold. I'm going to reset to the default race ecm and copy over the fueling around idle from the stock ECM and see what happens. I really hope I can get the bucking at low load to stop. It is unsafe. I wish the previous owner hadn't modified the exhaust. Is there a typical manor that people modify the exhaust to force the flapper to be open all of the time? It looks like the stock exhaust, but I can't see between it and the engine. Should I just get a different exhaust? I would want something very quiet. | ||
| Gp81 |
Low speed bucking??? I had a similar problem with my 06.... Turned out to be the primary chain had some stretch, a quick adjustment fixed it right up. Just a thought. | ||
| Chisleu |
I was going to wait until the brake pads came in next week I have the primary chain adjusted. I guess I will adjust the primary chain myself today when I install the Rox risers. EDIT: I had my mechanic pull the primary cover off and it was barely 1/4" inch of deflection hot. It wasn't real slack, but I could move the chain 1/4" with my finger. Is that correct or should it be real slack in the chain? I am going to put the risers on today and I can loosen the chain a little at the same time if it is too tight. Do you think that could cause the slight bucking I'm experiencing? It is worse around 1500rpms in a parking lot, but it happens up to 2500 or so at low-load. It can even happen (almost much less noticeably) at freeway speeds and zero throttle. Thanks for all of the help! My mechanic said it could be plugs and wires, so I guess I'll be ordering some of those today too. (Message edited by chisleu on October 16, 2014) EDIT: Maybe I need to replace the primary chain and sprockets? (Message edited by chisleu on October 16, 2014) | ||
| Chisleu |
I'm guessing it isn't the chain adjustment because the shifts are perfect and there is no noise from that area. I'm guessing it is a fuel or spark issue. I get no codes on the bike w/ ecmspy. I'm going to get some cables and iridium plugs and seafoam her. | ||
| Sagehawk |
A note on my 0712x, key off, fan off setting is 170 c. So come off a freeway run, shut down, and rear head is cooled to 170 as per sensor fairly quickly. Flip side, cold start enrichment doesnt go to 100% till 180 c. So, actually , you are hot, but cs enrichment is active for a short time. Also, im thinking the cold start timing advance goes to 0 ° at 160 c? So even tho you are well into your ride, these other items come into play all through the day. Its a system the elves developed for a whole countrys environment, but your right, on the texas gulf coast with temps normally 75+. They always seem to enrich a bit much. Timing, well ive never seen a program like mine. I always thought as much as the motor could stand without detonation was a performance curve but ive only got the emission maps that im looking at. | ||
| Arcticktm |
Chisleu, You did already do the TPS reset before starting the calibration changes, right? I think you were saying yes above, but not clear. I would strongly suggest you do that and verify a clean (or reasonable)air filter before using the calibration to mask other issues. Sounds like you still need the service manual, too. best $75 I spent on my '06 Uly. the stock '06's are not really very smooth below 2500rpm in many cases. Some things I did to smooth mine out to below 2000 are: > '07 airbox lid (more open, also louder though) > lower gearing in primary from XB9 (the biggest help, but also the most work and money) > EBR "stock" ECM (also labeled Race Use Only, and no longer available in "stock" trim If your exhaust is not loud, and if the rear of the muffler is close to the rear tire, the you likely have a stock exhaust. I'm not familiar with the Harleyr/Buell race ECM and how it handled the muffler valve, but I would guess it either ignores it or commands it open all the time because the Harley/Buell race muffler it was intended to be used with would not have had any valve in it. Others here are much more informed in that area, as my bike is stock engine except for EBR ECM, K&N air filter, and '07 airbox lid. have you checked out the new Uly owner's thread at the top of this area? It has a TON of useful threads and links for these and more subjects. you should still get the Service Manual though. | ||
| Uly_man |
There are a number of "tricks" to Uly ownership that need to be known if you want it to work for you. The main one is this site and the VERY experienced members like Rat and Frog. Another is to know EXACTLY how the bike should be running/ working and how to ride it. I know that sounds strange and/ or dramatic but it is a FACT with this bike. They are not like other bikes and as such some of its "quirky" nature needs to be taken into account for this reason. I could expand on those reasons greatly but I am sure you will find these out for yourself. | ||
| Chisleu |
I will check the air filter and do a TPS reset tomorrow. My exhaust is very loud. I will take a picture tomorrow. I was told the previous owner "might have modified the flapper". I have the PDF of the manual. Very helpful. Yes, I have gone through that threadlist, as well as googling all over this site. This is a fantastic resource. I tried to install the 2" drop pegs and found the would only be 1/2 inch or so drop and didn't fit my uly. I tried to install the fox risers Tod find there was already the flipped bar mount installed and I need shortened bolts and I think I would need to remove the fairing mounted brake line retainer. It is way too short. I am exited to hear the low throttle / low rpm issues aren't unique to me. I gotta figure out the low temp issues. It is way rich idling while cold which is expected, but I have to throttle the shit out of it to drive it cold. I might jam a lambda sensor up the tailpipe and see how rich. I hate to idle bikes up to temp in the winter. | ||
| Etennuly |
The way these things handle a cold start is to just barely throttle it enough to get it to start. Then leave the throttle alone. Let it "potato-potato-potato" until it warms up. I usually start mine, let it warm up while I am putting on my gear, the colder it is the more gear I wear so the longer it gets to warm up. Do not plan on riding it for at least a five minute warm up when the temps are below 50F. If you input throttle at the cold stages of warm up you will throw the ECM's cold start enrichment program out of whack. This will have you buying new spark plugs often. Unlike a carbed engine it does not run too rich and wash down the cylinders on a cold start like a manual choke would do.....unless you turn the throttle. It was a hard concept for me to get used to at first, but since I have learned to let it warm up on it's own, I have been able to get over 20,000 miles on a set of spark plugs. Prior to me learning that I had to always carry a spare set of plugs to cover for my mistaken old way ideals of forcing it to run cold. I guess the key here is "let" it warm up, don't try to "make" it warm up. | ||
| Ourdee |
They don't like to be rode below 2,000 rpm. | ||
| Figorvonbuellingham |
Shoot some carb cleaner down the idle air control valve. | ||
| Chisleu |
I finally got to do the TPS data cache reset today. I took a brief ride around town and some parking lots and it seemed to ride much better. I will post back with a picture of the muffler and detailed ride report after class. I will search for the idle air control valve in the manual and check that out. I really appreciate everyone helping me come up to speed. I really like this bike!! | ||
| Uly_man |
"I will search for the idle air control valve in the manual and check that out". The 06 bikes do not have one. Bucking? If it is at speed it is most likely fuel, plugs, wiring and/ or a faulty electronic part like the ECM, BAS, etc. All the problems I have ever had on my 06 and 10 bikes have been caused by wiring and electronic parts. The problem is that unless you eliminate each potential problem point in a logical fashion it is easy to become confused. You CAN NOT fault find electrical faults on this bike as you would others. Trust me I KNOW. | ||
| Chisleu |
I had a second headlight blow out. Suck. I hope it isn't voltage spikes from a bad stator. It seems much better at parking lot speeds. If I back off the throttle in 2nd gear to hold it around 3000rpms, it acts like it is missing or something. Sucks. I am going to datalog it tomorrow afternoon if I can to see exactly where it happens on the map to see if I can add some fuel to stop it. Next I will replace the plugs and wires and see if they are OK. I was told the plugs were replaced recently when I bought it. We had to pull the muffler to fix the kickstand and we painted it with black high temp paint. The front pads were replaced and the brake shaking is gone. I think the muffler is aftermarket. It is loud, and no signs of a valve anywhere in it. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Shoot some carb cleaner down the idle air control valve. Pre-08s don't have an IAC. The muffler would have a pulley-cam on top of it, that has a spot to hook a cable, like a throttle cable. If your muffler doesn't have that...it's not a factory muffler. Photos please. I bet we can ID it on sight. Make sure - assuming you have an 06/07, which I believe is the case, you use 10R12A spark plugs. 10R12X were for 08-up bikes. Don't reinvent the wheel for no reason - stock plugs work just fine. And make sure your wires don't show any signs of rubbing/grounding to the chassis. Get a voltmeter. Yesterday. Use it to keep an eye on your voltage - blowing headlights could be V spiking...or bad wires in the steering head. I just fixed a hot lead in mine (06, 33k miles) that was intermittent-broken and kept resetting my gauges as I turned the bars. I run a Kuryakyn voltmeter on my handlebars, so I can see my system V at all times. My VR went bad last winter - low V condition - and I replaced it with a Shindengen MOSFET unit. There's a thread with photos on here somewhere. You'll learn to ride around the bucking - it's not a high-revving IL4, it's a big honkin' snarky twin. Ride it like one. I have noticed my bike gets a little buck-ier in the cold weather...so I just keep the revs up, and grin anyway  Also, if you have an old-school VU-meter style multimeter, you can test the TPS easily. Well...once you remove it. Hook the leads of the VOM to the ground and signal pins on the TPS, and rotate it slowly through its travel. The needle on your VOM should sweep smoothly as you rotate the TPS up and down. Any drops or spikes...is a dead spot on the TPS and will most likely coincide with your fixed-throttle bucking position. Sometimes the TPS can be cleaned...most times, its worth the $29 at Autozone to just get a new one. |
