| Author | Message | ||
     Onemanclan |
My Uly fouls the plugs every single winter. It sits for a couple of months (because of the road conditions), have to jump start it, and then after a ride it will not start no matter what. Left me stranded at work yesterday (with about 50 people watching and laughing). Someone made the comment, "no wonder they are out of business". Love this bike, but when my co-worker (who tried to help) fired up his Kawi and rode off made me think (for the first time) of trading it in for something more reliable. I'm not giving it any gas when starting it...Fouled plugs every single year (my fourth year of ownership)... | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
What kind of plugs are you running? I've never had a problem with the NGK iridium plugs.... just a thought. | ||
| Ulynut |
Mark- your bike never sits for months either. Onemanclan- how long of a ride did you take before you shut it down? When you install new plugs, how long before it happens again? Does it ever happen to you during "riding season"? | ||
| Two_buells |
1.Get a new set of plugs 2.Get a battery tender and use it always, with a low battery it is very easy to foul your plugs. 3.Learn how to start a cold v-twin. (This is what works for me. DO NOT TOUCH THROTTLE! Hit the starter button for five seconds, if the bike doesn’t start or stalls repeat after the fuel pump cycles) 4.Make sure your air filter is clean 5.Eff the people that were laughing at you, I don’t have to explain! | ||
| Froggy |
I have had 5 different Buell's, I am yet to foul a plug, but I don't let them sit over the winter even here in NY. I would change to a different type of plug, use a battery tender if its going to sit, and reset the TPS. It is highly likely that something you are doing is fouling the plugs this much. How long do you ride it for on a typical commute/ride? If you are only going a few miles, you aren't doing your bike any favors as it isn't getting a chance to warm up and come off the cold start enrichment. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I've never had a problem with stock plugs on my '06, and I consistently ride with weather in the teens... Ride more than half an hour, to get the bike a) up to operating temperature and b) actually *recharge* the battery. Any less does not, as Froggy noted, get you out of coldstart mode (think "choke"), and it does not put the voltage back in the battery. Use a battery tender. Take longer rides. Do not start the bike unless you are going to ride it for at least 30 minutes. Do a TPS reset, it can't hurt - DO IT WITH THE BIKE AT OPERATING TEMP. | ||
| Gernick |
30 minute minimum run time? Seriously? | ||
| Ourdee |
If it is too cold to ride 30 minutes, it is too cold to ride. Gotta get it warm enough to cook some of the water out of the oil, and then cook that water for a few minutes. You are doing yourself no service if you don't. And that battery has to be charged up, idling doesn't get it. Gernick, Yep and yep. | ||
| Gernick |
Huh. I've only got a 10 minute ride to work. I just brought mine home today. starting the learning phase. | ||
| Froggy |
It's never too cold to ride. It was 14°F when I left for work yesterday. 
At least try and take a longer route home. 10 minutes won't get any vehicle properly warmed up and you will be doing long term damage to the motor. | ||
| Dio |
Change your oils more frequently, and keep the battery topped off in cold weather use, and you'll be fine. I'm like Froggy, and ride year around. The coldest trip to work on 2 wheels for me was -25F. I was 20 years younger then, but I still hit zero or a little less here in central Kansas enough times in a winter for it to count! | ||
| Snowscum |
I started mine and rode without a problem after it sat for 2 months in Colorado. Its not very warm in my garage either. It did barely turn over though. No tender. Original battery. 06 16k. Race kit. I have never fouled a plug ever. | ||
| Ourdee |
Froggy, Your killin' me here. I did not mean that it gets too cold to ride. However, I do get hesitant when it is 5 degrees or less. My clothing is not rated for it. After frostbite got me the second time, I started paying more attention. I heard someone say,"There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing".  | ||
| Mikef5000 |
I take it as, if the fan kicks on upon shut-down, the bike was at operating temperature. My ride is this: warm-up (idling) in the driveway for 5 minutes, then a 12 minute ride to work. Almost always the fan will kick on upon shutdown. BTW, I do have both scoops and the oil cooler covered. And get a Battery Tender!!! It's a $30 accessory that will make your $100 battery live twice as long! (Message edited by mikef5000 on January 31, 2010) | ||
| Etennuly |
Mike, that is still not long enough. You may want to pull the clutch cover to see if you have the coffee colored milk shake. It needs to run long enough that the trans heats up well also. I would be taking another fifteen minute tour on the way home at least every other day. It does make a difference. | ||
| Gernick |
The segment in the owners manual explains this pretty well. Not sure if 30 minutes everyday is necessary but it should be done a few times a week. No problem with that. Just another excuse to ride. Keeripes. Every time I left early for work to go for a little ride I ended up calling in to work so I could take a longer ride.   | ||
| Ratbuell |
Mike - the fan kicking on means the engine saw "operating temperature". For an instant. Long enough to tell the computer to turn on the fan. It does not mean it was necessarily on long enough to burn the moisture out of the oil. As far as I know, fan logic is only "when temp reaches XX", and does NOT include "for XX amount of time". I put this in another thread a while back - think about a pot of water on the stove. You can bring it to a boil...but you have to *leave* it boiling for a while before it all burns off (evaporates). Same thing with water in the oil - gotta not only GET it hot, but you have to KEEP it hot. FWIW, I've been playing with scoop covers myself. I wouldn't cover them completely. I did for a day and the fan was on while riding...in 18 degree weather. I should NOT have had the fan on; covered scoops mean there is NO airflow at the rear head, which is where the temp sensor is. Happy place for covers - at least on my '06 with comfort kit and race ecm - seems to be between 1/2 and 2/3 covered on the RSS and LSS, and an open oil cooler. I think totally blocked scoops create too much of a temp variation between the areas that are in the wind - cases, cylinders, front head to an extent, swingarm and primary - and the areas that are 'hidden' - rear head, intake, transmission. The goal of a scoop is *even* airflow, for the areas that are in the wind and the areas that are hidden. | ||
| Hardlya |
Onemanclan, are you blipping the throttle kinda like Harley riders like to do? That is usually a good way to foul the plugs on a Uly if it is not really warmed up. I never touch the throttle until the motor picks up and smooths out in the warm up phase. Fact is I try not to goose it at any time until well into a ride. I've never fouled a plug either. | ||
| Stoneageman |
You could try shifting later (and less often) at a slightly-higher RPM for part of the ride. Are you keeping the rpms above 4K for a few minutes after the first couple of minutes? Or is your engine more often running lower than 4K?  So wen the weather's colder, I'll don't rev the engine high or fast, but I leave it in 1st gear for a bit longer, same in 2nd, stay out of 4th for quite a while when I can on the slower segments. On the freeway, I'll keep it in 4th, slightly helps with the man too :-), it's harder to run at 80 in 4th without getting the engine rpm going pretty good. Sort of like running the XB9X gear set. | ||
| Onemanclan |
Thanks for the input guys (and the venting). I think 'Hardlya' probably made the right call...I'm going to take 'Wolfridgeriders' advice and get some iridium plugs. Going to change the oil and filter too... | ||
| Corider |
Funny that no one mentioned fuel stabilizer. Sometimes it's just too icy to ride for a few weeks (or months), and you need to put stabil in the fuel, plus the battery tender. I've never had a problem w/ that combination. | ||
| Tenn10 |
Too new to be a pro yet. Still breaking mine in. Changed the oil at 500 miles with Harleys 10w40. Made a big difference starting in cold weather. My engine would die at least once a few seconds after starting cold every time. That problem has completely been eliminated by using the lighter grade oil. Also installed iridium spark plugs. |
