| Author | Message | ||
     Az_rider |
I was riding on the highway @ 70 mph when my bike just died. I remembered reading about this on BadWeb, so I cycled the kill switch and it started back up. This happened three more time in the next 10 miles. I kept cycling the kill switch until I got to my destination. When I stopped, I removed the seat to check the battery connections. I did not have to look far to see that my stock seat wore the insulation off a purple wire w/ green stripe that connected to the stock ECM, exposing bare wires. I taped it and rode another 20 miles to the dealer without any more problems. Chandler Buell took the bike in immediately and repaired it while I went to lunch. They soldered and shrink wrapped the damaged wire. Here is a picture of the repair:  The dealer said they will notify Buell on Monday about this. I am not sure if they would do anything else for a repair. You can see that the spacer is also worn, and the green wire w/ white stripe was starting to wear. I am looking for feedback- is this repair sufficient? I do not want to have to worry about problems in the future. | ||
| Davo |
I am curious about this. The wire that you are referring to is the Violet/grey wire at pin 4 of 11B (gray connector). That is the O2 sensor wire. I have been running without the O2 wire when my VSS is also disconnected. No engine light or trouble codes. I will do some testing with the O2 being the only wire disconnected. Was the bare part of the wire just touching the vinyl seat or do you think it was grounding out. If it wasn't grounding out then I think you might not have found the problem. I would try to pull some codes using the jumper wire method. I had a similar problem and it was not the O2 sensor. | ||
| Davo |
Az rider, What is the connector on the left side of the picture that is worn on the top? I do not have that connector on my bike! How many and what color are the wires? That may be your problem. It looks like it has been pushed down pretty hard. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Whoa! That front spacer wear is about 2x worse than mine, and the wear on the rear socket also. Good pic, thank you. The designed location for the ECM I don't think is ideal, perhaps it was positioned there so the max heat from the fan could help keep it dry (...) but it could be located better behind the battery. These pressure-on-the-ECM problems are troubling, ask Panhead_dan. Davo I think the culprit may lie elsewhere also, Az_rider taped up the bare wires and proceeded w/o incident but how could bare wires in contact with seatpan plastic affect anything? Is the ECM is so sensitive to electrical disturbance that contact of the O2 wire with (maybe statically charged) plastic could mess it up?  | ||
| Davo |
Xbimmer, I am with you on that. I had similar problem but when I replaced my exhaust servo the problem stopped. The experts said it it had nothing to do with it, but I was pulling a 21 trouble code. I also had a short in the wiring harness but that is a completely different break down. I could write a book. | ||
| Az_rider |
Davo- that is a spacer on the left side of the picture. It looks like there are wires running to it, but there are not. Xbimmer- I also thought it strange that bare wires hitting a plastic seat pan could shut my bike down. I will take a closer look tomorrow, and go for another ride to see if I can duplicate the problem. Thanks for the feedback. | ||
| Birdmanrh |
AZ rider, Maybe that wire was shoved toward the bottom and was shorting on the screws or metal that are there. Keep in mind when they did the repair that they would pull the wire up and possibly even space the others out to keep a repeat from happening. That's some pretty serious wear on your spacer. I cannot remember if you have the lowered seat or not. Just a question, does your seat go into the front pins easy, or do you find that it sometimes sits on top of them? | ||
| Chris_in_tn |
I do not believe the wire is the problem. If cycling the kill switch starts it back up, it is most likely the bank angle sensor. It is a known problem by Buell. It will not trip a code in the computer as most dealers believe. Have your dealer call Buell and explain the problem and they will most likely have them replace the sensor. This problem is very intermittent, it will run fine with no apparent problems and all of a sudden it will act up for a while. My dealer would look at it and replace this and that and I would think it was solved for a week or so and bam, it would die again. They replaced the bank angle sensor and it has not died since. | ||
| Az_rider |
My bike died 5 more times today, at different speeds and in different gears. Never accelerating, only at steady cruise or when I let up to coast. The electrical still works (including tach) when the bike cuts out, but I did not notice if the engine light came on. Chris- I think you may be right about the bank angle sensor being the problem. Birdmanrh- I have the standard seat, and the seat goes on pretty easily. I will follow up with the dealer on Monday. They will also have to come up with a solution to the seat rubbing the spacer so hard and also the connector on the right of the ECM. You can see the wear marks on it in the picture. Thanks for the feedback. | ||
| Centurion |
'Chris- I think you may be right about the bank angle sensor being the problem.' I'm baffled about this bank angle sensor thing. I've dropped my Ully twice while turning at under 5 miles per hour in car parks (this is in 9,200 miles) & neither time has the engine cut out despite the bike being right over on its side, this being what I assume a bank angle sensor is supposed to do. But then neither has my bike ever cut out while being ridden, does this mean my b.a.s. is totally defunct/not fitted or what? | ||
| Teeps |
What's this spacer thing about? My bike doesn't have a spacer, as pictured above. Should it? I put a '07 seat on my bike, a few weeks ago, and do not see any witness marks on the seat or ecm. | ||
| Husky |
Very interesting, I checked out a 07 Black Uly a week ago at Lancaster Harley/Buell. They had received the bike a couple days before, and I just wanted to sit on it to see if the 07 changes would help my 29" inseam touch the ground with at least the balls of my feet. Very close, and with one foot I could flat foot it safely, but would not be able to shuffle it around in a rough parking lot. I would have to get off to properly back it up. The bike was in the back room with many, many Harleys, and not fully assembled yet; hand guards, wind screen, and a large note across the instruments, reading "No Bank Angle Sensor" The salesman said it was missing. Joe. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
I think they should consider removing the bank angle sensor altogether and using a seat with enough support and clearance to avoid damaging various vitals under it. I would truly love to have THAT Uly. | ||
| Etennuly |
AZ, see post on ECM/low seat. My experience was just like yours, after putting on the low seat it just quit running and every thing else worked. I cycled the Ign switch it restarted and ran fine until it quit again. My ECM rearward plug looks the same as yours, as if it has been rubbed with vibration marks. If you push down gently on the rear plug (as if the seat were doing it), look for a gap in the sealer at the plug housing. If the plug is bent down it seems the engine will quit. I put a second spacer block kit at the rear bolt and it hasn't quit since. | ||
| Birdmanrh |
AZ, Did you get that bike from Chandler? They had a Uly on display with a low seat. I am just wondering if they sold you that bike, put the standard seat back on and forgot to remove the spacer? That might cause a problem.... | ||
| Lorazepam |
My bike had a spacer installed when I bought it, and had the standard seat. | ||
| Az_rider |
Lorazepam- does your spacer have wear marks like mine? Birdmanrh- I bought my bike from Chandler in April. It is possible it was the display model. Does your bike have a spacer? There are several pictures of the ECM in the Official Factory Manual, and none of them have a spacer. When I push down on the spacer, the ECM pivots raising the connectors on the right just a little. That may be causing the rubbing. Is there supposed to be a spacer on the ECM for a bike with the standard seat? Will the seat have contact if I remove it? | ||
| Lorazepam |
I dont have near the amount of wear on mine, it looks almost new. I weigh 250, and have 10k on the bike since feb. I am amazed at the variety of problems and perceived problems on the Ulysses. Mine has been problem free for the most part. Regular TPS resets, and the race kit have made the engine run fantastic. I have a slight leak at the oil cooler, and the recall done. Pretty minor stuff, but I would feel differently if I had one with the pinging, or the rubbing wire harness, or the angle sensor failure. I dont understand the differences in the seats, and how they can vary so much from bike to bike. I hope you find a solution to your problem. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Maybe more rider weight is absorbed by the much thicker padding of the '06 Standard, the thinner padding of the '06 Low allowing more rider weight to distort and/or depress the pan? Remember that the pans are all the same for all five seats. I can't see much wiggle room under the seat for assembly variance of the electronics, or seat mounting for that matter. Why do many of you report having no spacer with your '06 Ulys, and my '06 Low seat came with one, but my (new) 10/06-built bike came with the spacer and the standard seat? And if my suggestion has merit regarding the seat padding thickness, are all the '07 riders and the guys who've bought the '07 seats (me too) in for problems also? Think I'm gonna put some serious thought into relocating my ECM. I've never liked its location anyway... | ||
| Crusty |
I've got a low seat on my 09/05 built Uly. I put the spacer on the ECM when I got the seat at 200 miles or so. Nothing is rubbing at 16,000 miles. | ||
| Etennuly |
My bike never had a bit of trouble until I installed the '06 low seat, I had; quit running issues, miss and cough issues, and discovered rubbing and chaffing of ECM and many wires. After I put the second spacer block on, it ran fine for about 100 miles, then it would just cough and miss, just once, about every 10 miles. After about 50 miles of that I put the stock seat back on and have ridden 170 miles with no problems since(yet). I'm heading out to FL tomorrow AM. should be about 1200 mile trip. Be back on Monday. We'll see how it goes......... | ||
| Etennuly |
Fla trip was 1377 miles. Stock seat. Bike flawless. 9030 miles on orig plugs too! | ||
| Rayinla |
I recently installed the '06 low seat on my '06 Uly. Riding down the freeway at 85MPH, 95 degree day, and the bike shut off. Crossing 4 lanes of LA traffic was....interesting... I hadn't yet heard of this problem, but after reading these threads, I now know that I can cycle the kill switch and restart the bike. This knowledge came in handy yesterday as the bike shut down again on the freeway. Thanks to this forum.... you guys may have saved my life!! My low seat came without the ECM end plug, although the instructions for mounting the plug were included with the seat. The dealer had no knowledge of the end plug. So, the general thought here is that the Bank Angle Sensor is bad (it has been re-located to the rear of the bike). It seems that the scenario of low seat, high ambient temperature and extended freeway cruising is similar for most of those experiencing this problem. Any further thoughts? Should I replace the BAS? Re-mount the stock seat or order the ECM end plug? Is there a lister in the LA area with the ECMspy and ability to defeat the BAS? I have no desire to ride with the nagging thought that the bike may shut down at the worst possible moment..... Thanks, Ray | ||
| Teeps |
Ray, The BAS is covered by a recall. I have the ECM Spy, and would be glad to help you out. |
