Problem first ride

[Twilli88]

So I had an anti climatic first ride outa winter storage today. I'll try and keep this condensed. Prior to winter storage had my bike at the Harley shop to replace my rocker gaskets ( required engine drop). Cause there was snow on the ground didn't have a chance to ride it before I put her away. Everything seemed great, bike fired right up. Gas had stabilizer in it. Took it Round the block nice and easy at first letting her get nice and warm and rid of any cob webs. Then! When I wanna give her a good flick of the wrist my throttle dies, zero response. Have to change gears to get my throttle back. Have to be nice and easy on the throttle to keep her Going. Any way I'm very frustrated to say the least. I liked the buell because it was suppose to be low maintenance. I've spent a lot of time at the shop lately, and my Harley dealer is crap. Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks ( could this be TPS reset?)

2008 buell xb9sx

 

[user_deleted]

twilli: do the easy logical things first and you mentioned tps reset. it is simple to perform on your 2008 and procedure in owners manual. if you can't find procedure repost and i'll list it for you. assuming your H-D dealer put everything back together correctly during the gasket replacement work and you are not getting a CEL(check engine light) warning i would check battery condition and cable tightness....sparkplugs....and your fuel. springtime and the start of another riding season always brings a rash of "rideability problems" being posted on here and probably 90% are fuel and/or battery related.

 

[Buellysses]

[up] on the fuel issues. Sta-bil or not, mine never liked the first tank of gas of the season. A new set of spark plugs never hurt either.

 

[LBoltUK]

Was at a dealership the other day and modern fuels were mentioned.

They're told that 6 weeks is the maximum time to store fuel in a vented fuel tank. Stabilizer or not!

 

[Twilli88]

So call me a fool but can't seem to find the tps reset in the manual. If you could point me to the right page, explain it or a good link on here that you like that be appreciated. I know it's discussed a lot on here so I could search it but work is in the way today your help as middle man is awesome.

 

[LBoltUK]

Here's the info, 9th post:

http://www.buellxb.com/Buell-XB-For...Scg/Race-Kits/what-is-involved-in-a-TPS-reset

 

[raven]

Twilli I have a 08 also and just got in my 1st ride of the season this morning.If the battery was out or disconected, you will have to do a TPS reset,only takes a minute.Turn the key on - kill switch in the on position - slowly rotate the throttle full open - hold for 1 second - slowly close throttle - hold 1 second - repeat 2 more times - turn the key off and back - TPS done. I also use stabilizer and have yet to have a problem

 

[raven]

page 4.8

 

[Twilli88]

Thanks for all the help guys. Will try when I get home. Battery was left in and tendered during winter. Keep ya posted

 

[Twilli88]

Welllll to my dismay. The tps reset hasn't seemed to change anything. Also odd my manual doesn't have anything in it about tps reset. Cause it's Canadian? Harley is booking 2 weeks away see how it goes. Blarg

 

[Restlessrustler]

just a longshot, check the mass air flow sensor in the airbox to see if its connected well, and the sparkplug wires.....if you dont have a set of pliers (for plug wires) they are in a tight spot to put on if you rotated the engine. oh and check your exhaust to see if the headers are loose! Did they change your plugs too?

 

[raven]

Twilli - sorry I was talking about the shop manual not the owners manual.Where in the great north are you.Barrie HD north of Toronto is Buell friendly , some of the guys in the shop have Buells and know them well.let us know how you make out

 

[Twilli88]

I'm in calgary. Plugs weren't changed. I love the buelll community, again thanks for all the info and ill keep working away on it

 

[Twilli88]

Just an update guys....non of the tricks have worked unfortunately, although I do appreciate all the ideas. It appears the problem is beyond my comprehension. Taking it to harley tomorrow to see if they can quick fix it when they get spare time....otherwise appt for repair is 3 weeks away [down][confused]

 

[buellfighter]

Have you drained the gas tank and tried new plugs? I have had this problem with a number of bikes right out of storage, almost always bad fuel and plugs. ethanol fuel sucks for storage, Lately I try to run the tank dry before I put it away for the season.

 

[Twilli88]

Hmm I've heard the opposite, that it is best to always store with the tank full. Not to say that the gas isn't bad but I've never had a problem. Wouldn't bad gas cause the bike to run bad at all times as well. Bike runs great when I ride easy. Just quick twists of the throttle that kills it. I'm not really equipped to change my plug....in the shop tomorrow hopefully they can tell me more and get me in the right direction.

 

[buellfighter]

A steel tank with no inner coating can corrode without fuel in it, Buells have an aluminum tank though so I don't think that would be a problem. I have never had trouble storing my bikes dry, I have had trouble storing them with gas that goes bad though. As far as i know stabil is used to keep water from separating out of your fuel I don't think it keeps ethanol from causing problems, not sure though. draining your tank might not fix your problem but worth a try to save some money/shop time.

 

[Twilli88]

Shop had her on the dyno.... New ECM ordered...waiting

 

[Twilli88]

Wellllll. The bike is back!! Everything seems wonderful, however. The cooling fan is a whole new animal this time around. Pretty much completely opposite of what it used to be. It used to rarely come on during a ride and now it's always on when I ride unless I shift down to first gear. The biggest thing I notice is it doesn't turn on when I shut off The bike, it used to always. Any explanations for this?

 

[go cytocis]

Everything seems wonderful, however. The cooling fan is a whole new animal this time around.

What did the repair consist of? A new ECM? If so it could have different parameters for fan on/off than your previous ECM. Did they replace temp sensors? If so, perhaps the faulty previous sensor(s) were also causing the fan to come on at different temps.

I'm in calgary.

Did you go to Kanes or Southern? Neither are particularly Buell-friendly, but Kanes seems especially hostile.