| Author | Message | ||
     M2statz |
Being that I am not very mechanical and the bike is new to me I took it to Capital City H-D for a 5000 mile service. It was running rough after winterizing it with fogging oil and treating the gas with Sea-Foam. After running a new tank of gas thru it it has been running fine. Today it ran rough again. So at lunch I let it run to warm up nice and hot, and low and behold the rear cylinder is ICE cold. I am leary of riding it home for fear of causing any more damage. Have not had a chance to see if it has spark to the plug or if(my hope) is that the carbs need cleaning which I thought the dealer would check. I will have to look at the service report. Soooo.... anybody have any suggestions as to cause or what I should look for? Much appreciative for any help!! Thanks Michael | ||
| Reepicheep |
I would start with the plugs, especially if it were an M2 (where the plugs are really easy to get at). | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
There is only one carb on your bike. I would suggest pulling the rear plug. Heck! I would suggest blindly replacing the plugs since it's so easy/cheap on our bikes. Plug wires look ok? | ||
| Ratbuell |
Chances are either a plug is choke/fuel fouled or the plug wire is bad. The other thing to check for a bad running condition would be intake seals, but usually they manifest as a rough run, not a cold cylinder. | ||
| Sloppy |
You probably don't have a spark on the rear cylinder. Pull the plug, put the ignition wire back to it and ground the plug to your engine. Turn the engine on to see if you have a spark. Caution, you'll have a flammable vapor shooting out the spark plug hole so don't test the plug there. More than likely you don't have a spark. Put in a new spark plug and make sure all your connections are tight. If you still don't have a spark then do the same test but without the spark plug -- work backwards from there. Order the Service Manual and invest in the right tools since your local shop is far away. | ||
| Phat_j |
ok, problem he is describing is definatly running on one cylinder, which cant be caused byt he carb, since one carb feeds both cyls. and truthfully, grounding the plug to the cyl isnt that great of a test as plugs act differently under compression than they do in natural atmosphere so as it has already been suggested, just buy new plugs, and replace them..... fogging oil has been known to foul plugs... | ||
| M2statz |
OK as far as I can tell both cylinders are the acting the same except for the obvious. Compression and spark. New plugs on the way. Any easy way to tell if the jets to the rear cylinder are gummed up from the Sea-Foam? I do know enough that your bike needs 3 things to run: fuel, spark and air. Spark I have(as far as I can tell) the Force Winder is clean and seems in good order, the only thing I cant tell is the fuel. Thanks again!! Michael | ||
| Bad_karma |
Don't rule out the Coil,ignition or wiring. More than likely plugs or plug wire. which can be easily swapped. If you are running on one cylinder it will more than likely not want to ideal. Joe | ||
| M2statz |
Bike wont start with just the rear cylinder wire one but will start and idle with just the front wire on. Can I put the front wire on the rear cylinder to see if it will fire? Do I need new wires as well as plugs? Thanks Michael | ||
| Phat_j |
there are no jets independent to the rear cylinder..... if the front is getting fuel, so is the rear.... unless god forbid you have a valve issue, but i'll bet you dont.... just get new plugs and ride on...plugs on the way? they didnt have em in stock? even bad harley dealers have em in stock. | ||
| Ratbuell |
NO. Do NOT switch wires, that can cause other problems (and I don't think they'll reach, anyway). Pull the spark plugs out and smell. Probably reek of raw fuel. Blow the plugs off with air, carb cleaner or just shake them real good to get drops of fuel out, and leave them out overnight, with the plug ports in the heads open or covered lightly with a shop rag to keep dirt out but still able to breathe. You want that gas to evaporate as much as possible. Also check the plug gap - if your front is firing and you don't have a gap gauge (cheap at the auto parts store) you can just eyeball a match to the front one and get it close enough to get it running. While the plugs are out, remove (gently!) both plug wires from the bike and check the ends for corrosion or signs of arc-ing (black sooty stuff, or grayed-out burned looking rubber boots). Clean the corrosion really well, and if you see arc-ing, replace them. Reinstall in the AM after they have a chance to air out and I'll bet it starts up and runs. Maybe not perfectly, but it should run - if it stumbles try bringing the revs up and see if that smooths it out. If it does and it runs reasonably well, take it out and RIDE it, get it up to full operating temp, and that should clear the plug out at least long enough for you to get a new pair. If it only runs on one cylinder, shut it off. Fuel into a non-firing cylinder can eventually wash down the rings, basically pouring fuel into your oiling system and causing other problems. And I only say this since you mentioned in your first post that you're new to the bike. Carbureted bikes are tricky. Full-choke until the bike fires, then IMMEDIATELY reduce the choke as far as you can until it nearly dies but still has a decent idle. Let it warm up that way - NOT at full choke. Once it is warm enough to ride, leave the choke where it is (should be between 1/2 and 1/4 at this point) and ride to where you get out of stop sign range or traffic light areas. Once you're out where you won't have to stop (I live 1/2 mile from the highway), push the choke in and ride on. As soon as I merge onto the highway that choke's in, on either my Buell or my FLHP. And ANY time you start a bike, ride it for at least 30 minutes. Don't start it in the garage to hear the vroom-vroom noise and shut it off again, all that does is suck down the battery and foul the plugs. And again, you only have one carburetor for both cylinders. If you have fuel going into the front and making it run, it's getting to the rear too. Something else is keeping that cylinder from firing like it should. 9/10 times it's a fouled plug or a bad plug wire. Usually if the ignition goes bad (either the box or the pickup), you lose both cylinders, not just one. And for what it's worth? I never "winterize" my bikes further than making sure they have a full tank of fuel to prevent condensation (water), and depending on my service schedule either changing the fluids right before storage or right after. Of course, it's rare that my bikes sit for more than a month at a time anyway since I'm too dumb to come in out of the cold... | ||
| Wile_ecoyote |
Listen to Ratbuell, I think he's right on target. | ||
| M2statz |
Thanks Rat at this point I'm willing to try anything to keep from trailering the M2 back to the dealer. The plugs are on the way was my brother was picking them up for me. Will keep you guys posted on the progress. Cheers and thanks a ton. Michael | ||
| Ratbuell |
Don't hold it against the dealer, either. We've been known to get a bad plug out of the box, right from the factory. Whaddya want for $1.65 and mass-produced?  Just for grins, doublecheck and make sure they gave you the right heat range for the bike. Should be 10R12 for a Thunderstorm motor (99-up), 6R12 for non-Tstorm (98-earlier). | ||
| Rick_a |
Ratbuell's advice is good, but I'd take it one further and suggest that you allow the bike to warm up as described above but not ride it until it runs with no choke at all. That's the only surefire way to never end up with fouled plugs, and makes a motor happy  | ||
| M2statz |
When I grow up I wanna be just like Ratbuell. Just after reading Rat's post I pulled the old plugs(10R12A) and went to work. I got the new plugs(10R12A) checked the gap and start the M2 up per Rat's post. Let it idle at 1/4 choke for 10-15min and then no choke and got a nice strong even idle. let it idle for another 10-15 min. Then the fun part a nice 60 mile trip of nice easy throttle. The M2 ran and runs like a top. And I am happier than a buck in rut in an alphalpha field full of does. Thanks guys!! Ratbuell if you come to homecoming I am just over an hour and half away, I will buy the first one!! Thanks for the education!! Michael | ||
| Ratbuell |
...I only educate because I've been there before....and remember, every time you fill up with fuel, turn the reserve switch back to main tank. You don't have to push them far before they get HEAVY; ask me how I know, LOL. Glad I could help, and I'm glad it was something simple. If it can break, I've probably done it; feel free to shoot me an email anytime! joe | ||
| Joesbuell |
I had a similar problem, turned out to be the intake manifold seal on the rear cylinder. Before I replaced the seals, the rear exhaust header was cold to touch. Jodie | ||
| Adamrtx |
Hey everyone, new (used) Buell owner, 2000 M2, 4700 miles, just bought it and have yet been able to ride it, needs a few things like a new clutch cable and some light maintenance. Former YZF owner, a little less temperamental bike... the Buell seems to need a lot of attention. Anyway, I bought a bunch of stuff from the dealer where I purchased it (Cowboy Harley in Austin), 50 miles from my house and now realize they gave me 10R12A'a instead of 6R12A's. They knew what I was riding so I'm guessing that's the spec they show in their book??? or did they just mess up? Can I use the 10R12A? or am I looking at 100 mile round trip to exchange them? | ||
| Old_al |
anything added to the gas like seafoam or sta bill will foul the plugs. You should have siphoned as much gas out of the tank as you could have, and put new gas in to start the first start of a new season. Then after a few rides, new plugs. A fouled plug is common on a lot of cycles after a new season start up. It can happen after a cycle has sat for only a week, given that the gas sold now stales much faster than years ago. Always carry a extra set of plugs and a plug wrench. Dealers store a bike, charge battery, change oil and treat gas. When they restart, with ? fresh gas, if it runs fine then, it is yours. Stale gas plus water from a recent fill up, can foul a plug real quick. Put in new plugs, and pray ther is not a short. You may want to siphon out the gas and put in new gas in the bike. If you put premium gas into your tank, it most likely has water in it, cars run on regular, and your bike can run on it also. Just do not let it sit more than a week without running it, as octane drops after a week of sitting. |
