2004 XB12R Starting issues

[coreyyeggy]

New member here. I just bought my first Buell about 2 months ago. No issues right off the bat. Took it out today to get it warmed up to change the fluids. I stopped at a stop sign and as I was starting to pull away it just died and wouldn't even attempt to start after that. I shut everything off, turned everything back on and got it to do maybe a half a crank and then it quit. I was able to do that twice and then couldn't get it to do it again. Pushed it home, luckily it was downhill and only about 3 blocks. Got the fluids changed while it was on the battery tender and still nothing in the way of starting. I have 12.4 volts at the battery. All of the lights are working. I can hear the fuel pump turn on when the ignition is turned and also if I use the kill switch. Anyone have a good starting point on this one?

 

[Lusiphur]

TPS reset?

 

[Dellinger]

Pull the battery and take it to autozone or one of the free battery diagnosis centers out there for starters. 12.4V isn't great. A load test will find out the CCA. This is where you may be having issues. Factory new battery puts out 225 CCA.

My battery just died this weekend, it was only 8-9 months old. I had a stator issue that may have tourched the old battery. I replaced it and ran the new bat for a month or two before the stator and VR went out completely.

My battery test showed 12.8V and 165CCA, not enough CCA to turn over the motor. Start there...

They will charge your battery if it can be or you will use a new battery.

After that, with a volt meter check at the terminals with the bike running. Should be damn near 14V. If not search VR stator diagnosis.

 

[coreyyeggy]

Thanks for the responses guys. The TPS was supposedly reset at the dealer before I bought it. I took the battery to oreilly and they didn't have the capability to measure the CCA, had them check it anyhow and they said it was good. Took it to Advance and they were able to measure it and it showed 12.27 volts which is a little on the low side. The CCA showed 295. Not sure if that's too much or not? Re-installed the battery and had a gee whiz idea. Turned everything on and twisted the throttle about a quarter of an inch and hit the starter and it fired right up. I'm assuming that it definitely needs a TPS reset. I took it around the block and it ran like a champ. Shut it down and waited 10 minutes and tried again. This time without touching the throttle it fired right back up. Thoughts? Also while it was running the multi-meter was showing 13.8 volts at the battery terminals.

 

[Chicknstripn]

You have any idea how old the battery is?
Do you have ECMspy or ECMdriod?
Be a good idea to look into one of those so you can see live data.
The voltage while idling seems good to me. But the battery COULD have a dead or bad cell in it that is causing it not to work properly under load. Before even thinking about replacing the battery check that all your grounds are good.
What's it look like when you hold it at 2500rpm. Of course do this test when the bike is properly warmed up.
Try wiggling various areas of the wire harness, around the ignition, fuse boxes, ECM and battery to see if that causes the bike to shut down again.
Does your throttle have a lot of slop in it? I find it's a lot easier to get a good TPS reset if while a properly adjusted throttle.

Also, a battery tender is not a battery charger. You might want to look into having the battery properly chargered.
I know I've jumped all over the place here.
1- insure battery is properly charged
2- insure all your grounds are GTG
3- check harness for any possible shorts
4- check throttle adjustment
5- use ECMspy or ECMdriod to monitor what the bike is doing while running.

One last thing. How long ago did you buy it? You might want to talk to the dealer about the issues you're having and see what they'll do for you. You approach them the right way you might wind up with a new battery and TPS reset free of charge.
Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Dellinger]

I should have suggested bringing the battery to HD. They have a fancy full charger they use before they do all the load testing. They give a print out with the stats. The auto stores testers are more set up for car bats. Trickle chargers don't cut it as stated above. Glad it's running.

 

[HighwayHum72]

this happened to me the other day except not as bad because it started back up and I rode all day. I have noticed several times before however, that the bike had a weak start, sometimes requiring a short press followed by a subsequent press to get the motor started. My battery reads 13.9v sitting, not running and since I'm not sure how old the battery is I just ordered a new one from Batterymart.com shipped for $84.95. This battery came highly recommended from several of our fellow forum members. Battery's can be deceiving at times. I've learned that despite having normal voltage readings, if a battery doesn't crank like it should then it is probably not in optimum condition.

 

[user_deleted]

had a gee whiz idea. Turned everything on and twisted the throttle about a quarter of an inch and hit the starter and it fired right up.


actually not unusual at all for a 2004 XB

I have noticed several times before however, that the bike had a weak start, sometimes requiring a short press followed by a subsequent press to get the motor started.

again...standard fare for all XB's. i named it compression bump. google buellxb.com compression bump and read. i have explained it in depth on here numerous times.

 

[HighwayHum72]

yeah i know lunatic...i read all of your posts. i still wanted a new battery tho, come to think of it, you were probably the feller who steered me over to batterymart...:eagerness:

 

[user_deleted]

yeah i know lunatic...i read all of your posts. i still wanted a new battery tho, come to think of it, you were probably the feller who steered me over to batterymart...:eagerness:

ten ****ing letters right here

 

[coreyyeggy]

Thanks again guys for all the info. I have the Bluetooth adaptor coming in the mail. Going to do a lot of checking this weekend. Out of curiosity how frequent do these things require a TPS reset?

 

[Cooter]

Typically? Never in a perfect world, unless the program or the throttle assy are messed with. But it's free to do, and we don't live in that world.

 

[coreyyeggy]

Haha yeah that's true. Did the tps reset and it fired up like a champ. Anyone have any experience with using ecmdroid to put a tune in? It has a k & n filter and the Jardine pipe. Buelltooth has the tune for it but I'm a little bit nervous to mess with the ecm.

 

[Cooter]

I've done it a bunch, just follow the instructions. There's lots of existing threads.

Super easy and I haven't been able to mess a single one up yet!

 

[coreyyeggy]

I was able to get the tune loaded onto the ecm. My next question is to get the idle correct I'm down in the 4.9-5.0 range on the tpd channel. Shouldn't I be up in the 5.5-6.0 range?