| Author | Message | ||
     Theirishbueller |
Yaaayy, on my way home to houston from des moines iowa, pulled over for gas, bike didn't want to idle. Thought it might be throttle cable related or something. Pulled air box cover off at gas station, saw a screw sitting on top of butterfly in throttle body. Grabbed it, flipped the butterfly over, the throttle shaft is broken! Great. No dealers have these parts. Does anyone have a throttle body? I've got an aunt and uncle in town, but they're not motorcycle people so they're only so much help. If anyone can help give me a call, 2815078103, thanks guys. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
hope this helps... http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/639789.html?1315712745 | ||
| Reepicheep |
At least you captured the screw before it really went wrong. That throttle body is expensive, and I don't think they sell that shaft separate, though somebody here machined one and was thinking about doing a run. If I were in your situation, I'd be looking for a sympathetic local machine shop with a lot of motorcycles parked out front. | ||
| Theirishbueller |
Not only is the whole throttle body pricey (about $465), of course they'd have to order it. I did catch the screw, but about half of the shaft is gone. | ||
| Akbuell |
Arrgh!!!!!! Depending on your situation, might be time to give U-Haul a call. Gets you back into the 'home' comfort zone, and may allow more repair options. | ||
| Buewulf |
Send a private message to Tootal and let him know you are stranded. He has a redesigned shaft that he is machining. Hopefully he has one available he can overnight to you. | ||
| Buewulf |
Luck of the Irish my ass! | ||
| Blake |
Where are you? | ||
| Blake |
I just fired off a PM to Greg (Tootal) asking him to give you a call. (Message edited by Blake on October 10, 2011) | ||
| Theirishbueller |
Thanks for the help guys, the uhaul idea was great and I liked it best, but couldn't find a truck for under $800. So I'm just going to have to leave the bike at my aunts (once we get it here), and fly home tomorrow morning because I have to get back to work. Then I'll have whatever parts I end up getting shipped here, then I'll fly back out in a couple weeks, fix it and ride home. A redesigned shaft sounds great, I don't want to have this problem again. I've been skimming ebay for throttle bodies, there seems to be options. Would I be better off just grabbing one, or will I be able to fix mine well (and fast) with a new shaft? I won't have the time to figure out how to put an awesome new shaft in, I'll need to remove, replace and go! Open to ideas, thanks everyone. | ||
| Greg_e |
If you have the money, grab a salvaged TB and then fix the one that you have. | ||
| Andymnelson |
And see if you can take the TB off while you are there, and bring it home. That way whatever you do (new TB, refurb your TB, redesigned shaft...) you can fly back down with a ready-to-install TB. We were in KC this weekend, and will be moving down there in a month....if the timing were better I would have been around to help! | ||
| Bike_pilot |
Also when shopping for TBs note that they are different on '08+ models from earlier models. | ||
| Boliver |
I thought u-haul rented small trailers too. | ||
| Tootal |
Jack, I just left you a message on your phone. I have a shaft for an 07 so I need to know where to send it. Give me a call back, I gave you my numbers. If the bike is still in Iowa I might be able to meet you there. I'm on vacation this week and next week and Iowa is just a days ride away. Let me know what you want to do, I'm pretty flexible. The shaft is only $75.00 including shipping but if I deliver it and put it in, well, then it's going to cost you some BEER! (Message edited by tootal on October 11, 2011) | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
 | ||
| Sam_07 |
http://www.buellsterparts.com/product.sc?productId =834&categoryId=-1 | ||
| Reepicheep |
Sounds like another "hot spare" part to keep on my bench... | ||
| Xb12mel |
Crap.... I didn't even know that could break... Great, one more thing to be worried about... | ||
| Tootal |
One thing folks might want to keep an eye out for is one of the butterfly screws loosening. It's my theory that one of the screws loosens which allows the shaft to start flexing due to intake pulses. It seems the butterfly is an intricate part of the shafts stiffness. When the screw loosens and the shaft flexes it breaks right at the screw hole which is the thinnest part of the shaft. If you check your screws once in a while you might be able to keep it from breaking but like I said, that's just a theory. The shaft I made uses a slot for the butterfly so it's much stronger. It's the same as the design of a Weber Carb. Some folks claim it will hinder performance and on a dyno you might see that but I've gotten feedback that those that are using it can tell no difference by the seat of their pants. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
What kinda dyno numbers do you think you will get with one that is broken??  better fuel mileage maybe... | ||
| Theirishbueller |
Tootal, thank you, I happened to be flying home when you called. I am absolutely interested one of those throttle shafts, I'll have to re-evaluate my finances before ordering one. I was thinking of getting parts, flying out to fix it and ride it home, but I think I've decided I'd rather just drive a truck out and pick it up. That way I can take my time fixing it, put a new badass shaft in it and use my throttle body, save some money. Plus I'm not %100 convinced a valve didn't get wrecked from that piece of shaft that fell into the motor. When I was trying to start it before I tore the airbox off at the gas station, I heard an airy noise. Thought when I took it apart it could have been due to the empty screw hole, but the more I think about that noise my stomach kind of turns and I think one of the valves or seats or both are wrecked on the intake. It wasn't a REALLY loud compression leak noise, but it was absolutely much louder than it should have been. Fly and fix plan is a no go, don't want to risk still being stranded after fixing the throttle body. Also tootal, thanks for the help offer, but I think picking it up is a better plan for me. Do you think I should replace the butterfly? I don't want to put it back in if it got tweaked. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Thanks Tootal, great info! | ||
| Tootal |
If the butterfly is flat and not nicked up along the edges then it should be fine. Here is a link to an installation thread. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/649487.html?1315164608 When you're ready for the shaft just PM me or call. (Message edited by tootal on October 11, 2011) | ||
| Tankhead |
Good on ya tootal!!! | ||
| Petebueller |
One thing folks might want to keep an eye out for is one of the butterfly screws loosening. It's my theory that one of the screws loosens which allows the shaft to start flexing due to intake pulses. It seems the butterfly is an intricate part of the shafts stiffness. When the screw loosens and the shaft flexes it breaks right at the screw hole which is the thinnest part of the shaft. If you check your screws once in a while you might be able to keep it from breaking but like I said, that's just a theory. The shaft I made uses a slot for the butterfly so it's much stronger. It's the same as the design of a Weber Carb. Some folks claim it will hinder performance and on a dyno you might see that but I've gotten feedback that those that are using it can tell no difference by the seat of their pants. Tootal On the broken shaft that I replaced one of the screws was loose, and you could see from the carbon stains that it had been loose for a while. I'd agree with you that this is a possible cause of failure. With the airflow disturbance that the screws cause I can't see that your design is going to cost any HP. If you see my write-up I list mistakes I made including getting the butterfly slightly off-centre. It isn't as neat a refit as yours, but the bike is going well. Smooth from idle to the rev limit and it pulls hard - gets away quicker than my 1125R. The biggest sensitivity was the positioning of the TPS. It was pretty tolerant to everything else. Fuel consumption is good. The bike is running as well as it ever has - and it has travelled 160,000 km (100K miles). I don't like the punching to deform the thread. Even if it well supported it is a shock on the bushes and the shaft. I used loctite red and manked the treads with grips. It can still come loose but it can't come out. The way the stock one is designed with the oval holes to deform the screws creates a weakness where the shafts tend to (always?) break. I had the shaft made as a copy of the stock shaft, but I like yours better. I would feel safer using slim profile ovoid lock nuts instead of deforming the thread. When I look at the stock setup with screw heads sticking up one side and ragged manked threads out the other I can't see that it will cost HP. A bit of turbulence in the intake to mix the fuel has traditionally been considered good in anycase. I'll PM you about getting a couple incase any other Australian riders have this problem. Peter} | ||
| Tootal |
E-mail sent but got an out of office reply. Hope you're having fun!  | ||
| Petebueller |
I was having fun. I'd been to the 2011 Australian Buell Muster. Always fun. I'm back now but can't turn off the Out Of Office through Webmail. It suits me fine to have it on until I get to the office on Monday  Reply sent thank you. | ||
| Tootal |
I was having fun. I'd been to the 2011 Australian Buell Muster. Always fun. Cool! I head out in the morning for a 175 mile ride that's supposed to be half off road. We should have 2 Uly's there. Looking forward to showing the non believers what a Uly can do!  | ||
| Pilotbiker |
Tootal, how do I get a hold of you for one of your beefed up replacement throttle shafts. I have joined the "broken shaft club" this week and was glad to see that I'm not the only one. Thanks, Pilotbiker. | ||
| Tootal |
Well you figured it out and it's on it's way! If your having to do this then you can go here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/649487.html to see what it takes to install. |
