Do all 07 XB12s run like crap for the first 3+ miles ??

[mtkawboy]

Just wondering if everyone elses XB12 bucks & snorts & generally runs like crap for the first 3+ miles when its cold ? I thought fuel injection was supposed to eliminate that. I tried the breather mod for 50 miles and it really ran bad every where like that so I changed it back to stock. Im not real happy with this thing after wanting one since they first came out. Its got 500 miles on it and I hate to ride it. Is there anything that will cure that ?. I love the bike if it would run right. Im staring to wonder if it might have an intake leak but it idles perfect. Im open to ideas, help !

[gtp3800]

is your throttle too low? should idle around 1k.

they should warm up for a couple min before you ride it, I usually give myself all the time to get my gear on, let it idle for about 2-3 min then go. if you jump on it right away you could foul a plug which may also be the issue. get new plugs, i suggest dcpr9's

[TooFst]

Short answer. Yep, pretty much.

[anrkizm95]

Just wondering if everyone elses XB12 bucks & snorts & generally runs like crap for the first 3+ miles when its cold

no not really,try letting warm up longer

[jonzin]

Mine does not.

[airBuell]

Mine does. My r6 did too. I usually just give it a couple min warm up, esp if its been a few days.

[Oakes_86]

I have an 07 scg and I get the occasional cough or "hiccup". But like everyone else says if u let it warm up for a few min it should help. But something about these bikes even warmed up I sometimes get a little miss here and there but nothing too bad.

[roxxx]

I have an 2004 and a 2006 they both need to be warmed up the 2006 is stock so it is more forgiving but the 2004 is nasty and grump if it isn't completely warm

[vanson1200r]

An 07 with 500 miles? Sounds like it sat for a while. Could be a gummed up injector?

[captain chaos]

When I test rode my XB12R it was 20deg out and snowing. The bike ran just fine from a cold start (the P.O. did not start it before I got there, it was still ice cold). I rode it many, many times in 35-40deg weather; never had a problem with it running badly. I don't know what your idea of "cold" is but I can't imagine you're seeing temps lower than that this time of year (unless your in norther Canada or something).

My normal routine in cold weather was to start the bike and then put on my helmet and gloves, This gave the bike a min. or 2 to warm up, and then off I went. It never once complained. I would go out every week or so last winter and fire it up when it was in the single digits (temp) and it always fired right up and ran fine. Even the carburated GSXR I had would fire right up and run good in the cold.
I'm thinking you have some kind of problem with yours. Did you plug the intake air sensor back in when you did your breather re-route? Without a good intake temp signal it will most definately run bad when cold.

[user_deleted]

both of mine have iridium tipped NGK plugs and breather reroute with hayden one way scavenging valve. they both run exactly the same way and yes, they are not very smooth for the first mile or 2. i'm not big on "warming up" anything but it does seem to work with XB's as captain chaos said. if it makes you feel any better or mirrors your bike, i roll mine out of shop, put on helmet and gloves...etc...start it and off i go. nature of the beast is that it just isn't very smooth till it gets a mile or 2 of heat in the motor then all is fine. even the newer fuel injected H-D sportsters and big twins are like this.

[user_deleted]

coincidentally enough, an H-D factory tech who used to be one of their main Buell techs called me this morning to order some parts for his bike. i asked him about this topic...Buells running rough when cold. this guy knows his stuff and offered up an opinion on it saying that it is common among buells as well as injected sportsters and big twins. he said that the injector nozzles are a pretty long distance "upstream" from the combustion chambers. the injected fuel droplets tend to condense on the cold intake tracts and cylinder head surface areas until the motors get some heat in them. this makes the bikes stumble and act lean. once temps build up and stabilize the condensation stops and the fuel vaporizes in a normal fashion in the combusiton chambers and the bikes run fine. he described it as "the nature of the beast". i asked him why this doesn't occur in japbikes and BMW's for example and his opinion was that the injector nozzles are much closer in distance to the chambers making this a non-issue on those types of bikes. made sense to me.

[rockerphotographer]

Mine is in 1st gear and I'm releasing the clutch as it starts and off I go. Yes it huffs and puffs at me but it doesn't keep me from going anywhere.

I would run some Sea Foam through it to see if it helps you any. It sounds like that bike sat for a long time at one point.

[captain chaos]

i asked him why this doesn't occur in japbikes and BMW's for example and his opinion was that the injector nozzles are much closer in distance to the chambers making this a non-issue on those types of bikes. made sense to me.

It doesn't occur in "Japbikes" because they have a decent design to begin with (your friend is right). Harleys intake setup leaves a LOT to be desired, ESPECIALLY on Sportsters with the side draft setup. Incidentally, the piss-poor intake is also a big factor in the infamous "cough" when you crack the throttle quickly.

[chrispudd]

Lots of great advice here, but just thought i'd add that there is some adaptive fuel strategy. As you ride, the fueling will change according to the 02 sensor's input. Ride it for a bit to allow for adaptive learning.
Also, after installing my EBR ecm and having my HD tech reset the TPS, he suggested i ride in 4th gear at about 80km/h as this was the optimal leaning rpm/ speed. Best of luck.

[mtkawboy]

The bike idles perfect around 1100, runs perfect once warmed up. I doubt it would be an injector problem. I forgot to mention that I put the iridium plugs in when I had it apart doing the breather mod, no change. It makes perfect sense to me that everyone else in the world could make FI that works but Harley. My 95 Fatboy needs about 100 yards of light choke & runs perfect but it has an obsolete carb on it thats way furthur away. I swore Id never buy a bike with water in it or FI on it, should have listened to myself. Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated [up]

[roxxx]

When I test rode my XB12R it was 20deg out and snowing. The bike ran just fine from a cold start (the P.O. did not start it before I got there, it was still ice cold). I rode it many, many times in 35-40deg weather; never had a problem with it running badly. I don't know what your idea of "cold" is but I can't imagine you're seeing temps lower than that this time of year (unless your in norther Canada or something).

My normal routine in cold weather was to start the bike and then put on my helmet and gloves, This gave the bike a min. or 2 to warm up, and then off I went. It never once complained. I would go out every week or so last winter and fire it up when it was in the single digits (temp) and it always fired right up and ran fine. Even the carburated GSXR I had would fire right up and run good in the cold.
I'm thinking you have some kind of problem with yours. Did you plug the intake air sensor back in when you did your breather re-route? Without a good intake temp signal it will most definately run bad when cold.

8 degrees c when I started the bike this evening. ran like crap till warm and then rocked . I guess its just habit for me now glad i don't have to start it at 5 in the morning .... the pipe is kinda loud

oh by the way my buddy has a RC 51sp2 which is just as cold blooded and will stall if not warmed up coughs and sputters to

[mtkawboy]

Everything is plugged in, it did it before I did the breather mod. Temp has been in the mid to high 70s. Its done it starting it at 85 degrees. Starting temp doesnt matter, takes 3-4 miles then runs perfect. Maybe thats normal but I just cant picture it being normal for a modern fuel injected bike. Its agravating that you cant take the bike for a short ride, its not worth the hassle. I own 15 motorcycles & have been riding for 50 years, Im no rookie at biking or working on them but I dont know squat about FI.

[Mike Van V]

The "Breather Mod" is about as useless as T__'s on a shark.

Just sounds like 98% of the rest of the XB/1125 Buells....they need ECM work.
I bought my used XB12S, all stock...ran like crap around 3000/3500 rpm.
Took me a while, but with the help of ECMSpy, it's great now.

Also my 1125CR. Bought new...it sat in my garage, unsafe to drive in traffic until a way to change the mapping came about. NOW...it runs like it should have when I picked it up..!

Once they have quality mapping...they are very nice bikes.

Mike

[unionthug]

Funny I was just thinking how well mine ran especially at start up on Sunday. I had been off it for 6 weeks and had been riding my carburated Harley.

That bike needs to warm up for like 5 minutes to ride. I start my My 07 XB give it about 60 seconds to warm up and of we go.

You might try whay Mike V suggests and remap the ecm or at the very least reset the throttle position.