| Author | Message | ||
     Mnbueller |
I have finally been able to ride my bike enough to do a couple of fill ups. And I'm only getting like 30 mpg?? WTF! The Bike: 2005 XB9SX Race ECM Gutted Stock Muffler ~5500 miles on the clock Other Symptoms: After driving for a little while, the engine light will come on. Checked the codes and it says O2 sensor, so I did replace it once, but it came right back. I have done a TPS reset and reset the AFV.} I would have thought if anything I'd be running lean, not rich...Ideas? I am getting a Special OPS muffler from Odie here in the near future. Would I be better off with stock ECM over the race? I really want my 50-60 mpg advertised. That fuelmilage is half the reason I bought a motorcycle in the first place. If I'm only gonna get 30-35, I'd be better off with a compact car. | ||
| Indy_bueller |
No, you'll want to keep the race ecm. I'm not sure what the problem is, but there is obviously something wrong. I wonder if there is something wrong with the ecm itself. | ||
| Glitch |
Gutted Stock Muffler Is a potential problem. ~5500 miles on the clock The more miles you get, the better mileage, although you should be getting better. After driving for a little while, the engine light will come on. Checked the codes and it says O2 sensor, so I did replace it once, but it came right back. Sounds like it could be the connection, not necessarily the sensor itself. Have you checked to make sure the light coming back on is the O2 again? Would I be better off with stock ECM over the race? Not at all, I get 60mpg HWY with mine. What gas are you using? If you're using Ethanol your mileage will suffer. | ||
| Pwnzor |
At 5500 miles, the bike is just about broken in all the way. My mileage was around the 30-40 range until my fourth oil change which I performed at 6000 miles. Now I get 55 or better all the time, no matter how hard I flog it. oh yeah, 2004 XB12R, race kit | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
Are you riding on your first couple of tanks of gas for the season? Did you use Stabil over the winter?? If there's any left in your system, it'll screw up MPG. My first tank and a half of the season gave me horrendous MPG. | ||
| Mnbueller |
Have you checked to make sure the light coming back on is the O2 again? Yes, everytime the light comes on its the 02 sensor that is throwing the code. I know the Gutted Stock muffler could be a problem, but wouldn't a gutted muffler cause it to run leaner not richer?? Maybe what I should try is some new spark plugs, and get the ECM reflashed. | ||
| Mnbueller |
Buellinachinashop - Yes this is my 2nd tank for the season. I did not put any stabil in it, and I don't know if the guy I bought it from did either. I bought this bike used back in December. I have ridden to work twice this week, started out with a full tank of gas, and now on my way in today the fuel light came on with about 54 miles on the clock. | ||
| Werewulf |
a too lean engine will get bad gas mileage also.. | ||
| Pwnzor |
wouldn't a gutted muffler cause it to run leaner not richer?? Mufflers don't affect air/fuel mixture. | ||
| Darthane |
As Glitch said, if your O2 sensor is consistently throwing a code even after replacement, you need to figure out what the actual problem is and resolve it. Carefully check the wiring and connections related to it for any signs of abuse. That wiring travels through some very inhospitable areas and it's possible that you've got a chafed or melted wire that is causing an intermittent issue. Those sensors are there for a reason, ya know. They need to be working for your bike to work properly.  | ||
| New12r |
If your O2 is screwed so is you gas mileage, end of the story. Fix your O2 and get back to us. If you have replaced the sensor the only thing left is the ECM(possible) Or wiring(more likely) so I would check those out, make sure there are no opens or shorts in the wire and go from there. | ||
| Beachbuell |
All I ever got was 100 mile to the tank full on my 2004 XB12R. I get about 165 on the tuber though! | ||
| Growl |
"Mufflers don't affect air/fuel mixture." Actually, I think so... especially if by gutted one means shortening the exhaust tract length (header plus pipe inside muffler). These things effect how & when exhaust backwashes into the combustion chamber. The backwash of exhaust does effect mixture and certainly effects MPG because fresh gas gets pushed out unburned through the muffler. | ||
| Mikexup |
New12r, your profile picture is great!Gotta ask..did he turn around and get ya and who was there getting the shot? | ||
| Azxb9r |
The O2 sensor is usually the victim, not the culprit. As others have mentioned, check the wiring from the ECM to the O2 sensor for opens or shorts. Also, an overly rich mixture can set an O2 code since the ECM does not see any switching in the O2 circuit. Things that can cause a rich condition include: the temp. sensor always reading a cold engine bad injector bad ECM Good luck | ||
| New12r |
Mike, No ticket. Killboy took the pic. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Growl, I have it straight from the R&D guys at Kawasaki that slipping on a pipe, no matter what kind, is totally safe and doesn't affect the air/fuel mix. I'm just passing on what they tell me is the result of many years of testing for that exact thing. They go on to say that changing your airbox or air filter at all will throw things out of whack and remapping is the smart thing to do at that phase. At Kawasaki, changing your pipe does not void the warranty. Changing the air filter or airbox does. So make of it what you will, but I'll go by their recommendation. | ||
| Teddagreek |
Do, You have a manual for it yet? Its a must imo... I have a City-X no matter how I ride its always steady around 43mpg, | ||
| Rpm4x4 |
I have a city X also and haven't got under 50mpg yet. 43 seems low to me. Mabey with some extended hard riding. | ||
| Bad_karma |
Checkout ECMSPY.com should help with your trouble shooting. First get a good muffler. Joe | ||
| Glitch |
So you're Kawasaki friends say that changing a muffler on a Buell won't do anything to the air/fuel mix? Take a look at the oldest posts by BuckinFubba and his work with Kevin Drum on the first Drummers. While you're at it take a look at some of the Dyno Graphs posted in the KV that have the A/F ratio. There are quite a few that will show that your Kawasaki R&D friends know not about Buell fuel injection. According to Kawasaki I could run a free flowing exhaust and it would not lean out the engine? If they did say this, they are wrong. You're giving out bad advise. If you'd like to call someone that has actually done research in this area, I suggest calling Kevin Drum (www.kdfab.com) | ||
| Spiderman |
Growl, I have it straight from the R&D guys at Kawasaki that slipping on a pipe, no matter what kind, is totally safe and doesn't affect the air/fuel mix. Ya know a friend of mine who knows a guy who is friends with the Sherrif of Deals Gap says that If you rub a girls nipple the right way you can hear the Star Wars theme song.... | ||
| Strmvt |
I get 55-60mpg hwy the last 2 days I've been riding around town and a few country roads and the low fuel light came on at 132miles | ||
| Swordsman |
If the muffler has been gutted and it has a race ECM, the previous owner may have monkeyed around with the fuel maps as well, and screwed something up. I didn't see that mentioned above. Oh, and that nipple thing is false. You actually hear Prince, not Star Wars. ~SM (Message edited by Swordsman on April 17, 2008) | ||
| Werewulf |
i know from personal experience, that when i merely bolted on an after-market pipe on my good running X-1 that it ran so bad that i could hardly make it to the dealer to have the race ecm installed....then it ran great... | ||
| Randomchaos |
I get around 50mpg when all I do is quick 5 mile jogs through town. Get around 60mpg when out on the highway for most of the tank. I have the full Racekit installed. | ||
| Darth_buell |
I don't think that any pipes for the Kawasakis have valves to adjust back pressure.Therefore going from one to another wouldn't affect anything. Buell on the other hand, Some aftermarket mufflers have the interactive valves and others don't. Seeing as how the Buell was designed with the valve, it has to affect the whole of the bikes engine.  | ||
| Blake |
Pwnzor, The Kawasakis likely use a very different scheme for controlling air/fuel mixture compared to Buell's DDFI; they probably rely on mass air-flow sensor(s) which can detect and adjust for increased or decreased flow into the engine, so your R&D friends may be correct, for a Kawasaki. They are dead wrong for a Buell. | ||
| Rainman |
I know from experience that you hear Prince doing "Little Red Corvette," the extended version. | ||
| Mnbueller |
I haven't gotten as far as thouroughly inspecting the wiring yet, but I did notice that on the side of the throttle body there is a little 90 degree elbow with a rubber cap on it. The cap is cracked all the way up, so I'm assuming I have a vacuum leak there. Do you guys suppose that is where all my grief is coming from?? |
