| Author | Message | ||
     Maximum |
OK...OK...go ahead and get the wise cracks out of the way.  Yesterday I was heading down to Florida (south of Tampa) from Alabama for Thanksgiving with some family. About half of the 6 hour trip was in light rain, but it wasn't bad at all. Shortly after a refuel stop, I started a fairly hard acceleration and the engine began a constant hesitation until I backed off the throttle a bit. I thought that it might have been bad gas, but as I tested things out I found that it would happen approximately at the same throttle position in all gears. A little later the problem seemed to be gone...but later it appeared again. Today I went out to check it out and the issue was gone. Weird…huh? Fuel? TPS? Anyone have any ideas??? | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
in light rain More than likely the culprit. Mine runs a little goofy when it's raining. I don't think it likes the higher humidity air. It's cooler, yes, but it also has A LOT of water vapor as well. Mine has run like yours has, and it's always been in the rain. Has it done this before? I'm sure you've ridden in the rain before, right? | ||
| Etennuly |
Ft-b has bad gas! Steve, have you ever checked your plug wires? The front one usually lays across the idle adjuster cable and wears part way through. When it rains it can be enough to let it bleed off some spark. When you ride through Tampa wave for me and tell everybody I said hi! | ||
| Sparky |
I have 3 Buells, a '96 S1, a '98 S3 and a '03 XB9R. I have ridden all of them in dry and rainy conditions in the local LA area. Of them, only the S3 gives me problems in the wet. Specifically, after about 10 minutes of freeway speeds, it starts slowing down, seemingly starving for gas. The fix is to open the gas cap and let air in. Apparently the rain-induced humidity causes the gas tank vent valve to stick shut, and relieving the vacuum in the tank by opening the cap amounts to resetting the vent valve and the rest of the trip in the wet is no problem. So, the next time yours starts to run like it is running out of gas, try momentarily opening the gas cap and see if that helps. | ||
| Rekrab |
My 08 runs like that when riding in steady rain. When it drys, the issue goes away. | ||
| Maximum |
I have ridden in many thunderstorms before (which generally lasts less than 30 minutes), but in my nearly 18,000 Uly miles this was the first time to ride in several hours of continuous light rain. Vern...are you sure that the good folks of Tampa won't start shooting at me if I mention your name? I'll check out the plug wires next I'm tearing things apart. BTW FB...I am disappointed that you missed an opportunity for sarcasm!  | ||
| Etennuly |
Ok-Ok, just wave then. I'm sorry to have put you in that possible situation. I wasn't thinking clearly from the exposure to the bad gas! Could also be a plug wire coming loose at either end. I've seen that happen. As with it wearing partially through, it will run fine when dry, but give it a little time to scoop in enough water and it will occasionally skip and cough. 'Bad gas'.......I can't believe he let it go either! He's probably recharging at a discount Mexican restaurant with the never-ending burrito platter! | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
There are some slow high ones that are just too easy. I prefer the sneak attack, humor where you least expect it.  | ||
| Ratbuell |
My vote is also for plug wires. My S2 would run awesome until it rained...then poop. Changed the wires (which "tested" fine and showed no signs of spark leakage) and presto! runs like a champ, even in a downpour. | ||
| Etennuly |
There are some slow high ones that are just too easy. MERCY??? You have humor mercy? I'm sure if you hadn't ridden with him recently you would have pounced and hammered it home!  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Here:  Better? | ||
| Reepicheep |
I was waiting for one of these...  | ||
| M2nc |
I stay away from the bad gas. It seems Ft B has that covered. I say the rain too. My Uly runs fine in rain but the M2 since I added the force winder, you have to make sure the rain sock is pulled all the way up or it will start coughing. With the stock box I did not have that problem. Did you open up the airbox any? This is one of the reasons I stuck with the '06 Airbox. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
07 Airbox, check.  | ||
| Maximum |
Me too, '07 airbox. Interesting! | ||
| Etennuly |
I still have the '06 air box......with seven 1 1/4" holes in it. Rain has not been an issue there. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Yeah, but your holes are round. Mine are squareish. Rain doesn't like squares. | ||
| Etennuly |
I drilled them oblong, just to be different. Anybody can drill round holes! | ||
| M2nc |
The one thing I did not like about the '07 air box lid was the holes in the front. I have seen XB9s with opened up air boxes completely choke off in down pours that my M2 with the stock air box rode right through without a problem. If you know a stock bread box on the latest tubers, they had a side opening. The '06 box is the same way. Opened up boxes and the '07 and later get front air. If its raining, where is the water going? | ||
| Etennuly |
If its raining, where is the water going? Usually down the crack of my ass!  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Usually down the crack of my ass! I just barfed in my mouth a little. I really didn't need that mental image. | ||
| Maximum |
Now there's the sarcasm we all know and love! Thanks guys. | ||
| Maximum |
Well I rode back from Tampa to Alabama today (Monday) and only had about 2 hours of rain to deal with...but the problem re-appeared...and it was worse than last week. The constant hesitation even appeared at almost every stop after about an hour or so of rain. The bike would still accelerate, but I had to work the clutch and fan the throttle a bit to get it going...then it was fine again until I stopped. I noticed that when I had the issue, the idle speed while at a stop would suddenly drop from around 1100 rpm to about 750 rpm. A couple times it would instantly jump back up to 1100, and then drop back to 750. I'll check out the spark plug wires in the morning...then next time I plan to ride in the rain I may tape up the holes in the front of the '07 air box. Of course in three weeks I am heading back to the much dryer climate of Colorado, so I will probably not be able to duplicate the problem unless I set the bike up on my Pit Bull stands and have my kids spray me with the hose for an hour or so! | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
unless I set the bike up on my Pit Bull stands and have my kids spray me with the hose for an hour or so! We will expect pictures. | ||
| Thunderbox |
I would put money on a secondary ignition problem. Rain = wet. Wetness and any kind of secondary insulation leak will cause your engine miss or hesitation. It misses at a certain throttle opening because that is where the mapping is the leanest and the voltage required to jump the gap is highest. It jumps another way because there is less resistance through the wet or moist break in the insulation. When it dries up it goes away. Check your wires to see if they have rubbed on the frame under the left side of the tank/frame. I would bet there is some rubbing there. | ||
| Maximum |
Is this the kind of spark plug wire wear you guys are talking about?  When I pulled the wire off the ignition coil, it looked like this...  | ||
| Etennuly |
Hmmmmm........could be ......... but it might require further testing to be sure!!  | ||
| Gsron |
I've ridden my GS for hours on end in rain so hard there was 1/2 an inch of standing water on the road-way. This was the norm for 2 out of the 4 days I was on tour last Oct. The big yellow pig never missed a beat even when hitting standing water at 60mph + that was 2 or 3 inches deep. Now I read that Ully's (several posts) don't like water/rain. Before that I read (even more posts) that the charging system sucks. Just how bad do I want a bike that requires so much work to keep running??????? Everybody here tells about how much fun the Ully is. Well, as a German Car tech I spend 8 -10 hrs a day spinning wrenches. The last thing I want to do is go home and fix my toys so I can go play. This must be one hell of a bike for people to put up with problems that have been solved by every other mfg for decades. The Ully is still at the top of the list to replace the GS. However, my enthusiasm is waning.... Oh Yeah, Maximum. It looks like maybe you wash the bike and then park it? This may cause all the corrosion you see in the plug wires. I always ride my bikes a mile or two after a bath so they get good and warm and the water will evaporate. Either that that or they are just •••••• wires and don't seal well???? | ||
| Sparky |
Gsron, how many posts have you read where people are reporting their problems with Uly's compared with the number of Uly's in the field. What is it, 10 or so out of 10,000? Don't be the superficial, sarcastic troll comparing your problem-free foreign-made bikes and cars to those who are reporting problems. There is no such thing as a problem-free bike or car. If there were, you wouldn't be reading about it here. This is a board for resolving problems. Do you think 10,000 Uly owners are going to post here saying their bikes are problem free? Heck no! They're out riding. Geeesh. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Easy Sparky. Gsron is posting his perceptions. Most riders don't ride in the rain. Therefore the issues Maximum is experiencing go unnoticed. Obviously his cable rubbed. Easy to fix. Now he knows. It's now an opportunity to upgrade his wires to prevent the corrosion (which probably doesn't affect performance at all), improve spark quality, and minimize chaffing. As for the charging system, a few folks have experienced charging problems. I am one. I know why it happened. I know what the symptoms are. I know how to help it in the future. Most bikes have no charging problems. If you spin wrenches, I wouldn't want to have to do it on my toy either. If you had to wrench on your bike, there are few that are simpler to work on than a Buell. Gsron, with your skillset, you could knock out just about any problem that MIGHT arise very quickly. It would take much less time than say replacing a final drive or replacing a clutch on your GS. The other benefit of Buells is that the parts are quite reasonable. Complete charging system can be had for $150. What's the charging system on the GS cost? Belts are $140. What's a final drive cost? I snapped off the shift linkage and had to replace everything from the shift shaft out. I had less than $60 in it. What'd the shifter linkage on a GS go for? Every bike has little "niggles". The trick isn't finding the bike that doesn't have them, it's knowing what they are and predicting when they need to be dealt with ahead of time. CANBUS problems, carboning, surging, and final drive failures are much more difficult to deal with than BAS failures, Stator/VR failures, Fan failures, or the occasional chaffed wire. Why are you looking to replace your GS? How will the Uly provide a benefit over your current steed? What else are you considering? |
