Bought bike, have issues with it running.

[TravisXB12]

Ok here goes. I bought an 04 lighting XB12s and rode it home (3 hr ride). When I left the guys house I noticed the eng. light flashed on for a second. Didn't think much of it due to it only coming on for a quick second. The bike ran good all the way home crusing at about 80 MPH all the way back. (Kansas turnpike)

I parked the bike in the garage when I got home and didn't start it back up until i went to get it inspected about two weeks later. when i was riding to get the inspection the eng. light kept coming on and started to idle rough almost died. Got the bike back home and took the airbox off just to take a look and figure out what was wrong..........filter was clean everything looked good put it back together and started it and it ran real rich and kept dieing.

Jumped the pins to get fault code off dash and i got 16, 32, 23 check battery and is good checked voltage regulator and it charges battery to 14.37 volts when i start it and give it gas to keep it from dieing.

I then thought maybe it was clogged injectors due to the fault code........threw a can of Seafoam in the tank and took it out to try and run it trough the system. of course it ran real rough at first but after about 5 min it started getting better. Rode it for apron 15-20 minutes at all different RPMS and it came out of it, it was running and idling good again.

Shut it off and came back out ten minutes later jumped on and away I go and wouldn't you know it, it was running like crap agian........powered through it and it started to start running right again but then the eng light was back, but only if i was cruising and my RPMS drop below 3500......romp on the throttle and it goes away once i pass 4000 RPMs . If I slow down it doesn't come on and idles just fine with no light. What the heck did I get myself into.......??????????

 

[user_deleted]

your XB is coming up on 15 years old so be prepared to track down every single GROUND WIRE on the entire machine...remove each one...clean the wire terminal and attachment point and hardware....and reassemble with a protective film/coating of your choice. your injector fault codes traditionally associated with faulty grounds....your battery/charging code with either loose/corroded terminals and/or cable ends. low voltage signal and ground faults quite common on XB's and faulty grounds in particular cause all sorts of problems and throw codes. i have listed every single ground point for your year and model on here numerous times. if you can't find my posts then ask and i'll walk you thru.
i would also remove the plastic front pulley cover and check the charging system connector for any visible problems. clean and repair if required as they tend to cause problems with age. see pic.
lastly.....go to my avatar....click "latest posts" and find a few of my fuel pump info posts and pics. study up on same and prepare yourself to purchase appropriate parts and filters and familiarize yourself with the pump unit. yours is on the way out and will need servicing very soon.

 

[TravisXB12]

Thanks for that bit of info. Not sure where all the ground points are but will start looking.........guess I’m going to need to purchase some stands to start tearing into this thing

 

[34nineteen]

Good to see you are already consulting with the Oracle.

If you havent already.... go to buellmods.com and download a service book.

And like Gandalf the Grey mentioned.... you just bought a high performance motorcycle going on 15 years old. Shes not a spring chicken anymore, but shes still got it where it counts!

Welcome!

 

[John Vreede]

Sorry I'm late to this thread Travis, but you might find this useful https://www.buellxb.com/forum/showthread.php?54706-Fixing-Earthing-Problems-Why-and-How, the .pdf given is a checklist of what to do for misfires/hiccups, but if Lunatic says your problem is grounds then this will get most of them.
I tried to search his past posts too as he indicated because I'm interested in earthing faults, but the only one I could find that might be relevant to you was this: https://www.buellxb.com/forum/showthread.php?54495-2007-XB12x-ULY-just-drops-power-at-4grand He gives specific info for 05-07 XB's, but it may give you some other leads - jv