| Author | Message | ||
     Rwcfrank |
Can someone tell me if the 08 Uly's are prone to pinging like the earlier 06-07 models? If it does ping can anything be done to stop it? I really want to buy a Uly but it chaps my hide that a brand new fuel injected ecu controlled vehicle wont run correctly. I am coming of a BMW 1150 and the Uly seems to have it all over the competition (or lack thereof) | ||
| Davo |
Rwcfrank, It is my understanding that the initial timing can not be changed mechanically on the 08 Uly. The 06 and 07 have a timing cone with a cam shaft positioning sensor that could be retarded to totally eliminate pinging. Not all Ulys have pinging problems but it is my opinion that there are a significant number that did/do. I had an 06 and I was able to correct the pinging. The Uly is a great bike. It is a real mile eater and is the perfect bike for taller riders. One thing I did not like about Buell is that the factory would only communicate through their dealer network and I do all of my own mechanical work. There were "Anonymous" posts on Badweb that I considered to be quite patronizing without any significant dialog, so I sold my bike rather than continue my relationship with Buell. (Message edited by davo on September 30, 2007) (Message edited by davo on September 30, 2007) (Message edited by davo on September 30, 2007) | ||
| Rwcfrank |
Davo, your response is apreciated and now I am more confused than ever. I have talked to a few people I know that ride Harleys and some claim there bike never pings and some claim theres does. From what I can tell if I buy a Uly and it pings it will forever, if it doesnt it probably wont! Sounds like the timing is "set" on the 08 so unless I drop the comrepssion ratio there is no adjustment.. | ||
| Davo |
Rwcfrank, Lowering the compression or using fuel additives would be the only remedy if the problem exists. I think Badweber, "Treadmarks", found one of the problems with increased compression. A valve guide seal was not doing its job on the rear cylinder and carbon build up was excessive. I think Buell knows what the problems were and have probably corrected all of them for 08. The Uly is such a great platform that it is worth giving it a try. It is a bike to which all other bikes will be measured in my opinion. If you do your own wrenching you will be on your own because Buell will not deal with you unless you let one of their dealers do the talking and wrenching. I was one of the first forty Ulys sold and I communicated with my dealer and the factory about the kickstand issue and the pinging issue very early. They did not reciprocate. I called and wrote to the factory and never so much as received a phone call. If I had not been so hard headed I would still own the bike. I do miss the Uly. I would highly recommend a right side scoop, a service manual and a VDSTS as three necessary accessories. (Message edited by davo on September 30, 2007) | ||
| Bertotti |
Davo that is to bad about Buell. Good thing I didn't read that before I bought mine because it would have given me a serious second thought on buying mine. Rwcfrank some dealers will communicate with you mine does very well if I have a question. I guess I got lucky. | ||
| Hughlysses |
...prone to pinging like the earlier 06-07 models? While there were a significant number of 06 owners that reported pinging problems here, I only recall one or two 07's (if that) that had any pinging issues. I sure don't think you can characterize the 07's as being "prone" to pinging. I certainly wouldn't worry about it on an 08. | ||
| Teeps |
Rwcfrank, For all the bitching and sniveling about pinging and timing adjustments read about on this and other boards. No where on this or any other board (I've seen) will you find a single report of engine failure due to pinging. As for the '08 Ulysses, I don't own one, but a fellow I work with is supposed to be getting one soon; so we will see. | ||
| Court |
To help me put this in perspective with the 5,000 or so '06 Ulys sold what, in general terms, is that "significant number"? I recall reading something on the order of perhaps 20 folks (I don't recall the number, but it appears you do) which would be 0.004%. I just want to be clear about what folks consider significant. Thanks, Court | ||
| Gotj |
Court, 20 out of 5000 is .004 or 0.4%. Still small but not the trivial number of 0.004%. GOTJ | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
RcwFrank, I wouldn't give it a second thought. I'd love to have that 08' but I've only got 10,000+ on my 06' (pretty darn trouble free). A few have had problems but show me any model from any manufacturer and they all have their fair share. Any dealer (of any make) that tells you different is conveniently blowing smoke to get the sale. The problem with this board is that you don't have people writing about their trouble-free miles which they experience 99.99% of the time. No, you get to read about the guy who's battery terminal is loose but doesn't have the G2 to lift his seat to check that before bothering us here with it. There are legit gripes here but many are just rants by those that love to rant. Buy the 08' ULY and enjoy it. Use this board by filtering out the whiners and concentrate on looking for the fixes that intelligent ULY riders come up with to take care of the legit problems and annoyances. | ||
| Rwcfrank |
Thanks for all the feedback, they say the same thing on the Tiger board about bad trannies and the GS board claims the final drive will explode at 30??? miles. I really really like the Uly for several reasons and the local dealer is #6 in sales nationwide so they are doing something right | ||
| Raceautobody |
08 Uly 1200+ mi. I have not been able to get her to ping. My fan has not ran when the bike is running. Only when it is shut down. The only complaint so far is the way she runs as I just come off idle. If she not fully warmed up it will stall or give me a lean cough throw the throttle body. and even when its warmed up it seames to need more throttle and clutch to get moving. Off idle running is not nearly as good as my 01 X1 or my wife's 04 12S. But once on your way she runs great. Hardly any surge and not one ping. It almost acts like the Idle air controler is slow to seat when the throttle plate opens or the ECM programing may need a little tweaking. Just note that I have not returned it to the dealer for them to look at it. This condition is minor to me right now. I may have them look into it later in the year but for now it is just way to fun to let go of. Al | ||
| Reepicheep |
My 9sx pings when the static timing is wrong, or when I put in cheap gas. Good gas and correct timing and no ping. My timing was wrong when I first checked it at about 9000 miles. (for what that's worth). | ||
| Old_mil |
I think the pinging is only an 06 issue. They changed something about the compressions (I think) in 07, and my 07 hasn't pinged once in 3000 miles. Like Jim Cramer says..."Buy,buy,buy!" | ||
| Tipsymcstagger |
The only complaint so far is the way she runs as I just come off idle. If she not fully warmed up it will stall or give me a lean cough throw the throttle body. and even when its warmed up it seames to need more throttle and clutch to get moving. This sounds exactly like what I experienced on my '08 test ride a few weeks back. I'm still going to buy an '08 but it's a little disenchanting to know that a brand new bike doesn't run perfectly. I have to say that my carbureted '03 Suzuki Bandit runs perfectly at all temps...all the time. Tipsy | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Raceautobody, I said the same thing about the off idle performance when I demo'd at Rapid City during Sturgis week in August. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/298619.html They claimed it was emissions's regulations and that the ECM would have to be played with to overcome the off idle weakness ( way too lean ). I'd bet you could fix that with EMCSpy. | ||
| Rwcfrank |
These test concurs with Electraglider, claims it was a preproduction glitch? Hmmm http://www.motorcycle.com/shoot-outs/2007-aircoole d-twins-naked-comparo-64505.html?page=2 | ||
| Davo |
Court, It appears that what I consider significant is not what you and Buell consider significant and I find that to be very significant. I understand now that I was not significant to Buell. I still appreciate the machine and work on them whenever I have the opportunity. Every bike that I wrench on is significant to me because every one of them has a rider. People are significant. | ||
| Teeps |
Davo, Rest assured that you are no more or less significant to Buell than I am. Manufacturer's rarely interface with end user customers. Blame the lawyers. | ||
| Dentguy |
Teeps...."For all the bitching and sniveling about pinging and timing adjustments read about on this and other boards. No where on this or any other board (I've seen) will you find a single report of engine failure due to pinging." Maybe there are no failures yet but serious pinging causes plenty of damage inside and eventually it will catch up. I'm sure you know this. I unfortunately have one that pings and was told by Buell and the dealer to just ride it. Maybe it will pit the heads and pistons or crack ring landings while I have it, if it hasn't already or maybe on the guy who owns it after me. Maybe it will come apart maybe it won't. That is a big gamble for me if I'm 1000 miles away from home. If yours doesn't ping thats great I envy you. I'm not so lucky. The fact that we haven't heard of one coming apart yet doesn't make me ok with it. Sorry to bitch and snivel, but at 70 degrees yesterday and pinging I guess I'm just in a bad mood. | ||
| Davo |
Dentguy, Sorry to hear that your pinging has not subsided. Have you been back in the timing cone? I am confident of you go two thirds past center you should be ok. You are correct about the destructive nature of pinging. The only engines that should ping are Diesels. The first step to problem solving is getting past the people that don't have the problem. Been there fixed that. If you want come on down and we can check the compression and even put a light on the flywheel. success story: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/32777/211240.html?1153091226 (Message edited by dAVO on October 01, 2007) | ||
| Dentguy |
Davo..I'm halfway to the edge now and pinging is just as bad. When I was at the edge of the window I heard a slight ping once, but it was night time, cooler outside and I only rode about 20 minutes. Performance seemed down. I'm trying to get hold of another ecm from a buddy to try. Maybe mine is really jacked up with the timing. Thanks. | ||
| Davo |
Go to the right edge of the timing hole. I don't think it is your ECM. If you go to the right side and it still pings then we need to read the AFV and see if it is 110 or higher. If so then I would check your intake seals. They are not that hard to change. They can be changed without tipping the engine. The timing on the stock ECM vs. the race ECM is not that much different. I tried two different ECMs and a 07 reflash. No difference in pinging at stock setting. I set mine just at the edge of the right side of the window and it was fixed. | ||
| Snowscum |
My 06 still pings. 9k and still running. Me personally, would of passed on my Uly if I knew it would ping like this. I just try to enjoy the rest of it, The power,sound,comfy. Makes me feel like I'm driving a muscle car! No Davo I still haven't cracked open the timing cover. Unless the dealer does, it won't get touched by me. Still feels like a lean problem. Just gets to a certain temp and that 3k roll on ping till about 3.5k. Not the intake leak ping where you lose power as well. Just to clarify my issue. | ||
| Dentguy |
Davo... it's funny you mentioned intake seals. I was out running the bike about an hour ago checking the seals again, but it started getting too dark so I stopped. I knew you tried a reflash, but didn't know or forgot you swapped out a couple ECMs. I'll keep at it and see how it goes. Thanks. | ||
| Davo |
Good to hear from you Snowscum. I am sorry to hear that your pinging continues. Some of the folks close to the factory think that there are only 20 pinging bikes out of 5000. At .41 for each stamp I think that the factory should spring the $8.20 and send us a letter and tell us what they did different to correct the other 4,980 bikes. What do you think about that? | ||
| Dentguy |
+1 | ||
| Davo |
Dentguy, A Badweber with a pinger sent me their ECM to try. The AFV was 109.5 if I remember right. The ECM was from a bike right at sea level where there is a lot of O2. The 07 reflash with the 06 air cleaner is a good combination. My AFV was 103.5. and never above 105.3. After timing adjustments it stayed at 100 which is ideal. (Message edited by davo on October 01, 2007) | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Got my '06 to ping this weekend, but it was only after crawling in stop and go traffic, up a mountain for 45 minutes because some unscrupulous local constabulary had a checkpoint. As soon as I heard the first ping I turned around and went back down the mountain. It only pinged for about 2 seconds, but it was unmistakable. I'm not concerned though. I think any aircooled bike would've pinged under those conditions. | ||
| Dentguy |
Davo ..I asked dealer where I bought mine (always an adventure) about 07 reflash and they were clueless. May have to send it to somebody who knows better if it will help. |
