Pinging

[dcastle]

I don't ride aggressively, but under simple passing accelerations I get a lot of pinging. I am working with different brands of gas the best being Entec's 93.5 octane. It is now October and I have found that the pinging persists in 40 degree weather.
Do other Buell riders experience this? Does anybody have any solutions? The dealer told me to stay away from octane boosting aditives, because it will only foul the plugs and make it worse.

[2Evil4U]

I've only had my XB12X for a couple weeks, but in the 700 miles I've put on it I have noticed a bit of detonation. Not too excessive, usually at low revs (2500) and 5th gear. It seems to be more prevalent when the motor is fully warm (fan on). I haven't felt it was excessive yet though.

The Service manual does explicitly state that you should never use octane boosters though. But it also says that 91 octane is fine. I'm using 93. I guess I'll see what happens as the bike breaks in and if they adjust the timing at all during the 1000 mile checkup.

[buellxb]

I have used 89 octane in my '05 Buell XB12S for 800 miles with no problems. When I bought it (used) it was running rough. I changed the oil to full synthetic, changed the plugs, and started using 89 octane. I wouldn't use 87 and I'm not sure it's a good idea to use 91+ for any extended period of time. I've heard of the pinging issue and some buell riders I met told me that the dealership can adjust your timing to correct this. The XB12's don't like the race kits, you're almost guaranteed to have pinging.

[dcastle]

Thanks guys. I bought the bike used and it has a race-kit. I mentioned the pinging to the dealer at the 7500 mile check up and they said everthing was fine. I told the service manager that I was concerned about the race-kit. He told me "more air, more power is good for the bike don't change anything just use the best gas that you can find". I just passed 10,000 mile today, so it is due for another checkup. We will have another talk about that race-kit. The Buell dealer in Dothan AL has great bunch of people working form them, I hope that I can depend on them.

Thanks again for your help.

[Thaloc]

I always here u guys talk about "Pinging" iv never experienced this as far as I know on my Firebolt. Could I get a better description of what I should be listening for to be on the lookout.

'08 Firebolt XB12R

[blackxb12r]

mine does it when i accelerate on the highway above four thousand rpms, even with the engine fully warm. the noise sounds like its coming up through the airbox or at least bewteen the cyclinders. i have the race ecm and buell race muffler and run 93 octane. i have tried switching brands of gas but it didnt help any. i think i am going to try regular or mid range for awhile and see if that helps. i am also going to pull the plugs out and check them. i bought my 04 xb12r used with the mods already installed, so i dont know if it had this conditions or developed it recently.

[LeFox]

quality fuel, good oil and good plugs are a way to solve the problem.

if your ignition timing is correct, it doesn't matter if you have a racekit or not.

[typeone]

did your dealer check the static timing? if that is off, you'll get ping. might be a little too advanced. then when you add the Race ECM, the timing is advanced a bit more compounding the problem.

make sure the static timing is dead on. if you dont trust your dealer, its possible to do it yourself with some basic tools and a multi-meter.

[burnteyes]

mine does it all the time. But mostly when hot I think the hot
wheater makes it ping more.

[LeFox]

mine does it all the time. But mostly when hot I think the hot
wheater makes it ping more.
yes, but it's still not good for your engine.:o

[vtwinjunkie]

I would be interested to hear more about this static timing you speak of....i thought the timing was not adjustable on these.