I'm about to give up on my 12scg.

[Blastamon]

I have a 07 xb12scg. It is starting to show its age.

I am no mechanic, and the Orange County Harley near me has very much moved on from Buells.

The bike runs and idles like junk. It sputters and pulls at speed, and I have to keep the throttle down at stop lights to keep it going.
I have purchased a buelltooth to reset the tps, and from what I can tell, I have made things worse.

I am setting the idle adjustment screw, but I don't think I am doing it right or something. What data channel tells me when the idle adjustment screw is cranked back enough to start a tps reset?

Also could I just have a bad tps sensor and a bad 02 sensor?

 

[njloco]

Aren't you picking up any codes from the Buelltooth ? Also what mods and how many miles on the bike ?

 

[Blastamon]

Aren't you picking up any codes from the Buelltooth ? Also what mods and how many miles on the bike ?

I've emailed for codes. Still waiting.

It has 27k miles on it, with the only mod being a jardine pipe. It has been a champ for the vast majority of those miles, but without any reliable local mechanic, my options are becoming limited.

After doing a couple tps resets, it bounces around idling at 1k to about 3k, never really settling.

 

[rb70383]

You don't email for codes. Use whatever program you have to reset the TPS. That is also when you will see what the tps is at.

 

[d_adams]

27k on the clock, it's probably due for a little bit of maintenance. 1st thing I'd look at and probably just change out on GP is the intake seals.

 

[Isham.padron]

Don't give up on that beautiful machine. This is where you you have to buy some tools and learn how to work on it. I have a Jardine pipe on mine and it WAS running like crap. What you need to do is replace the intake seals. I have used james gaskets. Every factory Buell XB by this time will most likely has an intake leak and that's typically where it will be. Next is you need to get your bike tuned. Putting on a pipe changes a lot of things. I would look into getting. Tunabuell wideband with the remote service. https://www.buelltooth.com/tunabuell.html

To do TPS resets with Buelltooth and ECM Droid follow these steps

Turn key to on and allow bike to power on. Do not start motor.
Load up ECMdoid and connect to buelltooth
In the app, go to the Data channels screen. Toggle live data off and make sure TPS is selected in one of your channels. Toggle live data on.
Back out idle adjustment screen a few turns and then snap the throttle. You should see the TPS value decrease. Keep backing it out more and more until you reach 0. Snap the throttle every so often during the process.
Once you get to 0. Back out out at least 2 full turns. Snap throttle one last time.
Go into the app, Active Tests and tap on TPS RESET.
Go back into data channels and toggle live data off and on. You should see active data now.
Turn idle adjustment screw forward until you get to 5.5-5.8
Turn on bike and let it warm up. Once warm set idle to 1050-1150.
Here is a video using ECMSpy for more context. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i33__Qkvhn4

 

[njloco]

" You've e-mailed for codes ", you know what, make sure it gets a good home !

 

[ocgreenmachine]

Where are you in orange county? I am in Irvine and have a Buelltooth.

There are a lot of possibilities of what is going on with your bike. If it can be diagnosed, most of those problems are easy to fix.

As for the codes on Buelltooth, you should be able to read the error codes via ECMDroid on your android device when connected to the Buelltooth dongle.

 

[pdksh]

+1 intake seals...
Get your self a top end gasket set, I've used James gaskets with good experience, some people prefer HD or Comitec. My air cooled engines all needed rocker box gaskets and base gaskets because of oil weeping. The intake seals also made a difference, smoother idle, if that's possible :-O. While you have the engine rotated, change your plugs! Mine were little black nubs. I'm trying the recommended iridium plugs with success. My throttle bodies also needed a good cleaning out. I don't run a breather hose bypass, that would probably keep my plugs and throttle body a little cleaner. I have put a ton of miles on my XB, DAMN RELIABLE but it does need its regular maintenance. The absolute best thing about this motor, NO TIMING SETUP TO MESS WITH! tear the heads off, put them back on and press the starter button... I would recommend you get a copy of the service manual and follow it to the letter.

 

[34nineteen]

I have a 07 xb12scg. It is starting to show its age.

I am no mechanic, and the Orange County Harley near me has very much moved on from Buells.

The bike runs and idles like junk. It sputters and pulls at speed, and I have to keep the throttle down at stop lights to keep it going.
I have purchased a buelltooth to reset the tps, and from what I can tell, I have made things worse.

I am setting the idle adjustment screw, but I don't think I am doing it right or something. What data channel tells me when the idle adjustment screw is cranked back enough to start a tps reset?

Also could I just have a bad tps sensor and a bad 02 sensor?

My vote from what you describe is to lean towards intake seals as well, however I wouldnt rule out a bad TPS or O2.

From what you said about "not being a mechanic" tells me you should probably just sell the bike and move on. Changing out intake seals (while very inexpensive parts) , on an XB is an experience in patience, and can be pretty time consuming (especially the first time)..... especially compared to changing out the intake seals on a Sportster. My first time doing intake seals on my XB took about 3 hours (not rotating the engine), while my Sportster is about 30 minutes if I take my sweet time. You may as well replace the TPS sensor while you are in there as its the same process as replacing the intake seals anyhow.

The O2 sensor is a trick to replace as well without rotating the motor.


I fancy myself a "mechanic" and while I wouldnt shy away from any of these repairs, it would eat up the better portion of a weekend.


My $0.02

 

[midway]

I'll be looking for a potential deal like this someday again. Sometimes you just want to strip a Buell like yours down to the frame and pistons and own it. Love the simplicity of these beastly motorbikes. But i get how some folks have better things to do.

 

[34nineteen]

That came out nice!

 

[mmcn49]

All is Not Lost, however you have to learn how to wrench a bit. If it ran great most of its life somethings wearing out or failing, (probably minor). Others mentioned good starting points. Never replace parts without diagnosing the problem and doing a little troubleshooting.

Throttlebody seals are number one on the list. The shop manual covers how to test them for leaks. The HD Throttlebody seals are IMHO so bad just go ahead and replace them with Genuine James Seals. If they don't solve the problem the new seals will prevent one from happening further down the road.

TPS Sensor: Get out a magnifying glass and a bright little LED flashlight. Carefully inspect all three wires where they go into the body of the TPS. On some models they put a big strain on these wires when they were installed causing them to fatigue, break and fail, (happened on both my TT's).

 

[Blastamon]

Where are you in orange county? I am in Irvine and have a Buelltooth.

There are a lot of possibilities of what is going on with your bike. If it can be diagnosed, most of those problems are easy to fix.

As for the codes on Buelltooth, you should be able to read the error codes via ECMDroid on your android device when connected to the Buelltooth dongle.

I am in Lake Forest. If you are good with this stuff I would much appreciate the help.

 

[Blastamon]

Thanks everyone so far for the recommends. I can get a local shop to check out the intake seals, and also get a replacement tps for while they have up on the bench anyway.

I have replaced gaskets and spark plugs this year. Also just snapped the drive belt last month, it had a good life. There is an electrical connection under the botton left seat that vibrates loose and kills the engine too, but that's one of perks that only messes with me a few times a year.

 

[BuellyBagger]

also get a replacement tps for while they have up on the bench anyway

thats a huge waste of money if you don't know its bad... I'm fairly certain (at least from my own experience) that the 2007 TPS is a Harley only unit, it cannot be replaced with the 03-06 autozone/ford cross part. Unless Someone has found a cross part since then, the tangs that mate with the TB are oriented differently for that model year. At last check $95 was about as cheap as i could find it from HD. I have a spare that I don't need, but ill be damned if I'd sell it to someone who's just going to throw parts at their bike.

 

[mmcn49]

A TPS Sensor is just a variable resistor and an extremely long lived item. Wire fatigue where the wires enter the sensor body is a major fail point and easy to detect. Don't just replace the TPS without troubleshooting first.

 

[GregoXB]

Carbon build up is a frequent occurence with high mileage and will lead to poor, erratic performance. Get yourself an endoscope off amazon and take a peak at your throttle body. If it is gunked up, you can bet your cylinder heads look the same. You can confirm by removing your spark plugs and looking through there.

 

[Cooter]

OP, you have a minor running issue, are “no mechanic” and you want to get rid of you bike because of a minor running problem?

IMO, take it to a V twin shop or sell it now.
I wouldn’t recommend trying to become a mechanic on it if you’re only willing to throw parts at it yourself it will cost you much more time, money and frustration and you’ll just sell it anyway.

I’m not trying to be a downer. Just helping you.