2005 buell xb12 lightning starts but wont run properly

[horace]

Hi All
I have just joined this group I live in London
I have a 2005 buell xb12 lighting with 9k miles on clock I have owned it for around 10 years but not ridden for 5 years
now i have time during lockdown i have got it out of my garage and tried to get it running
It will start but as soon as i open the throttle it dies
if i gentley feather the throttle i can get to around 3k revs but have to keep gentley tweaking throttle to keep it running
I have tried to ride it to see if it clears but no luck

so over the last few days I have removed all fuel and flushed through
replaced spark plugs
removed and had injectors cleaned by a company
put it all back together but still no luck

I have now run out of ideas as to the problem
Has anyone got any thoughts on the fix
Thanks
Nye

 

[Sdrxb12s]

Did the company give you injector specs showing they work?
Usually I'm messing around with carberated stuff and that's a common symptom of sitting. As the gas solidifies in the carb. Your gas injected so the next step is the pump. Your fuel sock and filter are likely clogged up. When you try revving the bikes rpms up it requires more gas which your not getting so it Boggs out and dies. That's where I would go next.
5 years is a long time even for gas with stabilizer in it.

 

[njloco]

Did you also do a TPS reset ? Get a fuel pressure gauge and check it before taking your fuel pump out.

 

[Sdrxb12s]

Thanks njloco

 

[Endopotential]

I had similar problems with my '09 XB9Sx. Would take about 6 hits of the starter button to get it motor to catch, and then if I played with throttle it would die. But then bike would run fine, no problems with power at speed. Starting on warm engine was much easier.

Ended up replacing the entire fuel pump assembly, which solved all the problems. There's an internal fuel flex hose, which on mine developed a pinhole. This would apparently blow gas back into the tank, and likely never put enough fuel pressure into the injectors during cold startup.

 

[horace]

hi
Thanks for the help
I think my next step is removal of fuel pump
I wanted to try everthing else first as i have seen the posts regarding how arkward it can be
but i think i have run out of ideas on the fix

 

[Endopotential]

hi I think my next step is removal of fuel pump

It's not that bad of a job. If I remember the procedure correctly, you need to disconnect the shock to drop the swingarm. But if you can lift the bike high enough (suspend it from a rafter or step ladder?), you don't need to actually remove the rear wheel.

Lunaticfringe / John on the forum here is a good source of fuel pump parts for a rebuild.

Good luck, and be sure to let us know if that fixed things!!!

 

[Jonus]

Had almost the same symptoms on mine and it was a cracked gasket on the fuel filter. I could hear fuel rushing into the fuel lines as I cycled the pump. After I tried to start the bike the pump would cycle again and I could hear fuel rushing back into the lines.

 

[Drew3387]

Get a buelltooth… They are cheap.. Like 50 bucks. You want to find the problem, get ecm spy. Dig into your bikes computer. Mine ran like ****, choked up, sputtered, I was at utter loss. I did a tps reset as suggested. I adjusted the screw out like the procedure says, I started the bike. Still ran like ****, actually even worse.. I adjusted the screw back until the bike idled normal again. Than I adjusted how much fuel the damn thing was running. The reset caused it to run at 60%. I raised it to 98%. Obviously the next time the bike started the idle was really high! So I adjusted the idle screw again until it normalized, and Waaalaaaa! The ECU than self adjusted itself to 115% and well! It is a powerful little mother F'r. It ran like ****, because it was running to lean and starving itself of fuel. Pops wheelies with out clutching off the line. So you have a fuel injected bike, tune it with ECU Spy and a Buelltooth. You can do tests with the App. A lot better than spending $$$$ to be told nothing... That's my advise.

 

[Rampant]

Unless you know what your doing, I wouldn't recommend a TPS reset.

Even if the Throttle position sensor is out of adjustment, your bike should run at a constant throttle (cracked open a little)

I'd agree with the others and look at the filter etc in your fuel pump.

 

[horace]

Hi All
Quick update I have just removed Fuel Pump not to bad a job But had to buy a whole load of new spanners and allen keys as I had thrown away all my non metric tools as everthing is metric these days
anyway looks like the gauze filter has disintergrated and maybe damaged pump I dont know if this is the problem but it needs fixing anyway
What do you guys think could this be the culprit
Thanks

 

[outthere]

age

 

[horace]

hi
its a 2005 xb12 lightning with 9000 on clock I have owned it for around 10 years but not taken out of garage for around 5years

 

[34nineteen]

age

This ^^^^^^^^


Its a 10 year old filter you left sitting in a pool of gasoline for 5 years.

 

[njloco]

More than likely yes, I would clean the fuel system out and definitely the injectors and install new seals. If you can get in touch with the Lunaticfringe, he has a rebuild kit for the fuel pump.

 

[horace]

Have stripped down pump and filter and cleaned it out
have been looking at replacing pump and regulator but not sure if pumps from a 2008- will be the same as my 2005 pump
I was looking at the replacing the whole unit around £400 but the ones on ebay look slightly different to my one
the seem to have a flex hose from the regulator are they interchangable
thanks