| Author | Message | ||
     Thump4fun |
Not sure if I am encountering a problem or just a typical characteristic of the Buells. I'm a new Bueller (and a new rider) so this may just be my inexperience, so be gentle! Bought a XB12Ss with just 102 miles on it this past July. Yeah me!! Now with just over 700 miles on it, she seems to be running a little bit worse each day for the first 10 minutes or so. Sputtering and backfiring, particularly when letting off the throttle but leaving her in gear to slow down for stops (engine braking). Even once stopped, her RPMs bounce around in the 900-1200 range - doesn't idle smoothly. Now today for the first time ever, she actually stalled out on me as soon as I tried to throttle up out of my office parking spot on the way home. Home to office is just 5 miles on 45 MPH surface roads, with some stop-n-go traffic. By the time I get to work she seems to be ok. It's getting cooler in Ohio now each day, so maybe that plays a part. And the only performance mod I've done is replaced the stock air filter with a K&N. Is this just typical of the Buells or the XBs in particular? Do they need a good 10 minutes and/or 5+ miles to really warm up and run smoothly? Do they really NEED to warm up significantly before smoothing out or is something else potentially going on here? How long should I let her warm up in the morning before hopping on and putting her in gear? Thanks for any input on these newbie questions! | ||
| Redbuelljunkie |
Your bike is not getting warmed up enough in 5 miles (in summer... winter- not even close). Additionally, you're not riding it enough to keep the battery charged unless you take some longer trips or have a battery tender. Air-cooled bikes are very fussy until they are warmed to operating temp- you need to find a longer route to work. Short trips can wreak havoc on engines. | ||
| Ekass13 |
go do your 1000 mile tune up. | ||
| Indy_bueller |
The 1000 mile service calls for a TPS reset. This will probably make a significant improvement. | ||
| Xbrfirebolt |
The 08's don't need a TPS reset anymore. The ECM resets the TPS when you turn the key on I believe. You can reset it yourself without any tools. The procedure has been listed here if you want to do a search. I believe Redbuelljunkie is right about it not being warmed up. Do you let it idle for a few minutes before you ride to work? You could also try putting the stock air filter back on for awhile and see if it runs better. Some of the 08's do have a flat spot/stumble off idle. You could have a combination of the stumble/cold engine. I'm not a mechanic or an expert so you may chose to ignore any or all of my suggestions.  edit; ps congraulations on the new Buell! (Message edited by xbrfirebolt on August 30, 2008) | ||
| Bombardier |
Out of interest does anyone know if the tps can be read by ecmspy to see where it is actually setting itself? May be as simple as changing the position of the tps on the manifold. | ||
| Blk_uly |
thump4fun You most likely need the ECM re-flash thats been talked about here on this site. I had the same problems and so have many others. Take it to the local dealer and explain whats happening be sure to say that this is a 'rideability' issue. stalling in an intersection can be dangerous. the dealer can connect your bike to their computer and check with the mother H/D data base and see if their is an updated ECM re-flash available for your bike. this should solve the problem. | ||
| Thump4fun |
Thanks for the ideas guys! 2 for TPS resets, 2 for simply "that's the way they run, give her more time to warm up", and one ECM re-flash. I took her out this morning for a good hour around town. Sunny and creeping up to 80 degrees. I let her warm-up as I always do for about 3-4 minutes (start her up, back her out of the garage, then wait a few while I wipe my helmet visor and sunglasses, put them on, etc). She puttered and hiccuped like usual the first 8 minutes (for about 4 miles), and then felt fine. I was zipping around town, mostly 35-45 MPH, but with a lot of stop and go. Some puttering at 5 MPH through "people" districts, and a nice 70-75 for a couple short distances (1 mile or so). I rode her pretty nicely 80% of the time, keeping my RPMS puttering around 2500. 20% of the time I "played" with her a little, running her at 3k and pushing her up to a little over 5k a couple times (may not sound much but she's new and I'm new, so that's playing to me! LOL). With the exception of the initial few minutes of riding, she was (relatively) smooth and clean. I say relatively because under 3k RPM she's not so smooth. Throughout the ride the only thing to note (other then the initial few minutes) was some backfiring when slowing down with the throttle fully closed and the clutch still engaged. Based on this I'm leaning towards this simply being the nature of the beast. Thinking back I don't think I let her warm up quite even 2 minutes the one time she stalled after work (I was in a hurry to get home that evening). If this continues to become more and more of an issue, I think I will: 1. Let her warm up a bit longer the cooler it gets (per Redbuelljunkie & Xbrfirebolt) 2. Replace the K&N with the original stock air filter (per Xbrfirebolt) 4. Potentially look at an ECM re-flash (per Blk_uly) For right now, I'm going to read up more about the TPS and see if there's anything going on there. Thanks again everyone! I really appreciate how people help out on here - this is great! | ||
| Brucen |
You said that you were running at 2500 RPM. I am not sure how different the 08's are, but with my 06 I find that it runs best above 3000. At 2500 in any gear above 1st I get a lot of vibration. I usually keep it between 3000 & 4000. It seems happiest there. | ||
| Thump4fun |
Thanks Brucen, that helps too. I think as a new rider i may be over-complicating or over-analyzing some things. I run my cars in the 2500-3000 RPM range, while the more I read and ride my bike, I'm getting that they like to run a bit higher (steadily between 3000-4000 it looks like). I also think I just need to get used to the bike needing to warm up more. Finally, I think I used the wrong term for backfiring. I don't think it's technically a "backfire", but rather an "exhaust pop" based on additional reading. I actually kind of like the sound - unless it's harmful or a tell tale sign of an underlying problem. So to wrap this up I guess I'll get used to having to let her warm up longer and ride steadily in the 3000-4000 range rather then <3000. And enjoy the popping sounds! Xbrfirebolt - Thanks for mentioning there being no need to reset the TPS on the '08s. I looked in the service manual and found that the '08s no longer require a manual TPS reset, unless you mess with the ECM or the TPS itself. And there's a simple way for zeroing it out yourself in the manual - without a visit to the dealer. Yeah! One last question - I read some remarks in other posts about possibly needing to remap the ECM after changing to a K&N filter. This is because of the increased air flow that the filter provides, thereby requiring more fuel to balance out the air/fuel mixture correctly. Since I do have the K&N filter installed, do I need to perform this remap (is this the "re-flash" that Blk_uly was referring to)? If so, any clues as to how to do this? | ||
| Yardsale |
well an exhaust pop on decel isnt a problem at all, thats a normal condition that happens to any internal combustion engine if placed in the same situation, you should hear my 12R pop after i cut the muffler apart, hehehe. as far as i know from reading these forums is that there is no aftermarket programming available yet for 08 and newer bikes. my bike has a k&n filter and a cut up muffler and i can tell you she runs just fine without and other tuning needed. i think the reflash mentioned earlier was refering to the factory reflash for improved operating parameters that apparently buell came out with some time back. | ||
| Cable |
The pop that you are talking about after replacing the stock air filter and cutting you exhaust is due to the bike running leaner. This isn't necessarily a good thing either, if it is running to lean you could be doing a lot of damage of an extended period of time. It may see to run better but thats only cause you are actually burning all the fuel that is being sprayed. If the pop is really bad, you might want to look into getting the ecm remapped. The one thing that I am also wondering about is when the bikes come from the factory are they all mapped the same. Cause if they are depending where you live you should really get them remapped before it even leaves the dealer. Mainly due to air density of the particular location. Originally from PA my Super Glide ran good with a small amount of pop on the high rpm decel, but once I moved to FL it leaned out a good deal and the pop got alot worse. Also remember it is better to run rich as opposed to lean. | ||
| Yardsale |
engine pop caused by being lean??? WTF?! you do understand that the pop we are discussing is on DECELeration right? Thump4fun : backfiring, particularly when letting off the throttle but leaving her in gear to slow down for stops (engine braking). and I think I used the wrong term for backfiring. I don't think it's technically a "backfire", but rather an "exhaust pop" that is not from being lean! you can take the finest tuned internal combustion engine with the BEST of any kind of fuel management and make it pop out of the exhaust like that! hell you dont even need to "engine brake" it to make it happen, go get in your car, rev it up and let off real quick and tell me that it doesnt pop and then tell me that your going to take it in to some shop cause its 'running lean' | ||
| Sincitydavid |
You're bike sounded like mine when i first got it and my commute is about the same. Now that I have over 1000 miles on it, it runs soo much better. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
I have found on my Buells (98 S1W and 08 XB12R) they run best above 3000 RPM. They run even better above 4000 RPM! | ||
| Akbuell |
+1 on the RPM range of operation. My '08TT just doesn't like running in the 2500RPM range, for long anyway. Also vibrates a lot. I try to motor around at 3k or above; the ride is much better. | ||
| Werewulf |
if you have an 08 that runs like poop at low speeds, welcome to the club...nothing will make much of a difference at this point in time... hopefully down the road a cure will appear....but then, ive hoped for a lot of things! |
