| Author | Message | ||
     Rwven |
Riding out of Cripple Creek (Colorado) last week heading toward Independence Pass the throttle on my Uly started binding at about the 1/2 throttle position and giving her more throttle didn't give her much more "go". Holding the throttle WFO in neutral would give me about 5500 to 6000 rpm. On the road I could get about 65-70 mph out of her given a bit of time. In Twin Lakes I did a TPS reset and that improved things a little, I was able to ride up through Independence Pass at a decent pace. A few miles from the top of the pass we pulled into a campsite and after setting up camp I tore into the bike. My first suspicion was that I had a broken throttle plate (very bad in the mountains 1800 miles from home) or the throttle cable had frayed (not so bad but still a problem as I didn't have a spare). I checked the throttle plate and it was fine, the cables were a bit slack (I adjusted them while I had it apart) but they looked great also. It appears that the TPS itself is binding up internally. I didn't have a wrench to fit the small bolts on the sensor so I put the bike back together and just just continued riding....for another 2500 miles. Performance gradually improved, when we hit I70 for the grind home I was barely able to maintain 80 MPH but by midday on day two it would run up into the 90's although sluggishly. It never did get any "snap" back into it's acceleration but at least it would accelerate freely and maintain an 80 mph cruise easily. On the (very) bright side, she got me home through a 900 mile day followed by an 850 mile day. And she gave me the most fantastic motorcycle trip I could have imagined. And I got home feeling fresh, what a comfortable long distance tourer. Despite all her quirks and irritations I simply love this bike. | ||
| Tootal |
Rwven, pull the throttle apart at the handlebars and see if a cable jumped out of track. If they were loose one might have slipped out on you. I had that happen once but fortunately it was in the garage when it happened. If it slips out of the track it will still open your throttle but since the radius isn't as large it won't open it as far. I agree with your analysis of Colorado. Spent two weeks riding the peaks and the bike was such a joy, on road and off. Now with the 08 trees and XB9 primary I'm looking forward to doing it again. Let us know what you find. | ||
| Rwven |
Tootal, I'll check that, but I did verify that the throttle was operating fully. The throttle plate would open the full 90 degrees from closed to wide open. Plus the binding was occurring somewhere in the throttle body, it would not return even with the cables slacked. I would have liked two weeks, I only had four days in state. Actually I would have liked two months, that might have been enough time to scratch the surface. | ||
| Swampy |
I have had to lube the throttle shaft before because it was binding. | ||
| Jont |
If you gained/lost a lot of elevation in a short time and didn't spend that time with the rpms between 3-4k your AFV will be all out of whack. These Buells do tend to learn a bit on the slow side. I had similar problems after dropping into Death Valley. | ||
| Rwven |
She's got plenty of ass now. The sticking throttle was being caused by dust that had gotten into the throttle linkage in the return spring area. That 25 mile run down Phantom Canyon Road might have had something to do with that.I cleaned that out with some penetrating oil and it freed right up. Jont seems to have hit the running problems I had in CO being caused by the extreme elevation changes. I installed the newly programmed (brand new program developed just for 4 other guys and me to this point!) Erik Buell Racing ECM that has been optimized for stock air-filter and muffler. She kicks ass now! Pulls the front wheel up on throttle alone again. Michael Richter at Erik Buell Racing says this one shouldn't learn lean again either. | ||
| Snowscum |
What year is yours Rwven? | ||
| Florida_lime |
Username: Rwven Full Name: Ronald Vennell E-mail Address: (Hidden) Last Logged In: July 01, 2010 Registered: October 17, 2007 Total Posts: 1012 Status: XBRR Birthday (Year) & Occupation: 1956 / Electrician City: North East State/Province: Maryland Country: USA Bike Model (Ex - M2, XB12Rr, S1W, P3): Buell Ulysses XB12XT Model Year (Please enter full 4-digit year): 2008  (Message edited by florida_lime on July 01, 2010) | ||
| Rwven |
Good job Scott ! Rode her into work this morning. The best word I can think of to describe her now is "Eager". For this brief moment in time everything on my Uly is running perfectly. Bearings, brakes, suspension, electrical system, and the fueling/spark map. When she's good, she's very very good! | ||
| Methed |
Ron, did you happen to snap a pic of said spring and linkage? I'd like to check mine and apply lube similarly, and I just want to make certain I'm hitting the same spot you did. | ||
| Rwven |
Methed, It's right on the front of the throttle body. Linkage was a bad choice of word. There is the bellcrank that the cables attach to and the throttle return spring is directly between it and the throttle body. I just sprayed the heck out of the spring to wash the dust out of there. | ||
| Ourdee |
Now that it's oiled the dust will stick better next time. My throttle body iced up on me last winter holding it open. It was a weird weather morning. Only time it has ever happened. | ||
| Rwven |
Ourdee, Yeah, I thought of that...too late ....perhaps I should have used some brake parts cleaner.... | ||
| Tootal |
WD40, fixes everything!!  It will clean it and leave a dry lubricant that won't collect dust. I used it on my o-ring chains on my dirt bikes when riding in sand. Kept it from rusting and didn't collect the grit. | ||
| Tootal |
Rwven, Look familiar?  | ||
| Rwven |
Tootal, Looks like Phantom Canyon Road! What a blast that was. We rode a bit of Gold Camp Road also but we didn't get past the blocked tunnel, a gentleman on a KTM dual sport recommended that we not take my riding partners PC800 down the road that provided the detour around. | ||
| Tootal |
I want to ride the shelf road too. I was passing through to get to Durango. Next trip I'll take one of the others through there. I rode Old Monarch Pass too on that trip. I recommend it also:  |
