New Buell owner and my bike just quit on me

[oxygen151]

I have a 2005 Buell Lightning XB12Scg with 4100 miles on it. I have only put 800 miles on the bike and it just began running horribly. I thought it could be bad gas but it seems worse then that. My bike revs up fine but when I go to drive it its slow as can be from about 3000 rpms on up. It doesnt seem like the clutch is slipping because my shifts are still firm but the bike is just slow as can be all of the sudden. The bikes RPMs jump around alittle bit at idle (from about 1000 to 1200 then down to 800 and so on). The bike also smokes a little when I go to start it. I know this is somewhat vague but I really cant explain it any other way. I thought maybe my airfilter was clogged so I checked it and it was fine but I did see alittle oil on the bottom of the air box, im not sure if alittle is normal though. Please help in any way possible. Thanks.

 

[FIDOSOL]

What color was the oil in the airbox? If it was like a snot color then it is nothing to worry about. Did you check your oil? Is there a power surge at all or just a complete loss of power? Do you have contact information for the previous owner? If so get ahole of em' and ask about any mods they may have performed. Also find out if they are the original owner or not, if not ask them for contact info for the original owner and repeat questions. Post up any information you have, also, post up some pics of your bike, somebody on here might see something wrong with the bike that you don't even know to look for. I'm certain a few more people will chime in after me with better information so just hang in there.

 

[oxygen151]

thanks for the quick reply. The oil in the airbox was like a darkish greenish color id say. I have the contact information for the previous owner, but the bike has no mods to it at all and has ran perfect up until now. I would say its more of a power surge because the lower rpms seem fine, its when i hit about 3000 and up, the bike just slowly pulls through. It almost seems like it kind of bogs down. This happened after I let my bike sit for about 4 days or no riding and then today I got on it, and it was like this. I dont understand whats wrong.

 

[FIDOSOL]

Honestly I'm not sure, I guess it could be a spark plug related issue, I would say wait for LeFox/BPG to chime in, they really know their stuff. Sorry I couldn't be of more help. BTW that greenish snot liquid/oil is supposed to be there, search for the breather re-route mod on this site and you will understand.

 

[oxygen151]

Thank you, its hard to be descriptive about whats really happening. I know I will most likely have to take my bike in, I was just wondering if anyone has run into something similar or possibly get alittle relief on the problem. I just want to ride my buell, not worry about whats wrong with it. Thanks for the tip though, I will check it out.

 

[dave_xb12r]

91 or higher octane right?

 

[rah7777777]

Lets take it back to your first guess....the gas.

Bad gas can REALLY make an engine run bad. and with anything the worse the gas is the worse the engine will run. My buddy just got through spending 5 weeks trying to figure out why his ZX9 would not run.
after draining his tank to get the carbs off and pouring that gas into his lawn mower, he found his lawn mower wouldnt even run! and they will run on just about anything! he realized it was bad gas. new filter, and a flush later, well and a new tank full of gas she was running like a champ!

So think about the gas real hard. How long did it take to start acting up after your last fill up? is your gas station old? or just a cheaper brand?

little oil is normal for our bikes. if its a large amount, there might be an issue though....

good luck!

 

[oxygen151]

Yes, 93 octane. I put premium gas in it from BP and after 70 miles it started acting like this.

 

[FIDOSOL]

I think it's safe to say it's not the gas...

 

[dave_xb12r]

Hmmm.. sound like a air/fuel ratio problem. But it's odd that it just started doing that. Are you sure its stock? Maybe there is a race ecm on it. The ECMs are constantly tuning themselves, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Another thing that I can think of is if its smoking a bit, maybe there is a bad seal somewhere. Maybe it's a bad piston ring and you're getting blow by. That would explain oil in the intake. Any oil in the exhaust?

 

[FIDOSOL]

hey dave, i'm pretty sure the oil in the intake is from not having the breather re-route, because I had it too before I re-routed the hoses, now I don't. Could be onto something with that bad seal thing though. Sounds like when he gets up to speed the bike's air/fuel ratio isn't keeping up, too lean? Does he have to go to the dealer to get that checked out?

NOTE : Adding dave to my list of people that know their $h!t...

 

[dave_xb12r]

Thanks Fido! Good call on the re-route. I wouldn't know, I did it the day after I bought my bike.

As far as the mix goes, it depend on what it does before it bogs. If it has great performance until one point when it just dies, then yeah its too lean, but thats WAY too lean and should be parked immediately. But if it gradually get bogs, then its too rich. Let's hope thats the case. You should be able to check the spark plugs, if they're nasty, then yeah, too rich.

This is all based on carburated stuff though. Electronic fuel injection is different in a lot of ways. All that computer crap is confusing.

Whatever the problem is, I think its gonna be a dealership fix. Good luck, let us know how it turns out!

 

[FIDOSOL]

Hey dave, you're right on the money with the lean/rich thing, but at the same time, carb/efi doesn't matter, rich/lean will have the same effect and the same causes, just harder to fix on efi is all. Check your spark plugs man, post a pic of them if you aren't sure, maybe somebody else will chime in with something helpful.

 

[oxygen151]

The bike is 100 percent stock. I agree with it being a mixture problem of some sort. I just dont get how it happened over night. The bike seems to run fine through low revs and when I get to 3 and up its sluggish. The exhaust isnt popping or anything so i dont think its running lean. Too rich is a definite possibility. I will pull the plugs after work if i have time and see. Either way it looks like im making a trip to the dealer.

 

[Thaloc]

Sounds like your running on one cylinder to me. Prolly burned up a plug. My dealer says the newer Xb's fry'em all the time. Iv burned one set out but been fine since.

 

[oxygen151]

Thats an interesting thought. I will pull the plugs after work. I would think it would run alot rougher than it is if only one cylinder is running but i realy dont know. Does anyone else have any thoughts about this possible fix? Also to get the plugs out i have to take the airbox off correct?

 

[LeFox]

you can easily hear when the bike runs on 1 cylinder.
you'll also have slow/bad throttle response and almost no power.

nevermind the little bit of oil in the airbox...is more or less normal.

i would say it's an ignition thing.
how's your battery?
check plug condition and even replace to better than stock.

 

[oxygen151]

I would imagine my bike would run like death if it only had one cylinder firing. My battery seems fine it starts my bike up no problem but i will put it on a charger and see what its putting out. What plugs do you guys recommend?

 

[LeFox]

irridium ones, either the buell pro-series or ngk.

 

[oxygen151]

Thanks LeFox. I am taking my bike in tomorrow morning to get looked at. One other thing I noticed was my front headlight (low beam only) sometimes will not light up until the bike is in gear. I am not sure if this has anything at all to do with my bike running the way it is, but i am thinking maybe I have a short somewhere or something along those lines.