Here's the story....
Since returning from my trip to Tennessee... (about 1700kms of riding) my bike has been acting funny... while riding at a steady RPM I would notice a hesitation that would be repeatable within 5 seconds of each other. I checked plugs,wires,all connectors and found no problems. I didn't really think much of it and thought maybe it was something I just never noticed. Well I continued riding the bike for the next 5 weeks with no problems other than the very slight hesitation.
Well yesterday was a different story, I went for a ride and maybe 5 mins down the road the check engine light came on and the gauges started acting funny, Tachometer dropping to 0 then back up again, check engine light coming on and off in fact the bike barely kept running. It felt like I had to keep on the throttle at stop light to keep it going.
I finally get it home, break out the repair manual and start inspecting various areas again... Ignition system,wiring,charging system,battery..etc. And again nothing... couldn't find one thing wrong with it. Well I decide to try and restart the bike, jiggle some wires and see if the check engine light comes on or if anything happens to change. I start it and runs no problem... while its running I jiggle a bunch of wires... no problems whatsoever. I then decide to take it for a ride down my street and back. I turn it off... throw my gear on... go to restart it.. and nothin.. My Buell is now dead to the world. No power, no lights.. nothing. Hmmm... well maybe the battery is pooched.. but I checked it with a volt meter and it showed good... Well I decided to have it actually load tested thinking I could be missing something...and so I proceed to remove the battery terminal screws by hand.. I removed the positive side and start to remove (by hand) the negative terminal..I then think to myself.. wait a second.. I shouldn't be able to do this by hand... DING DING DING! battery terminals were loose! and so I tightened both terminals... turned the key started it up with no problems.. took it for a ride, and no more hesitation nothing..it ran like a champ.
Well what did I learn in all this ...don't ignore the obvious. when the repair manual says check battery terminals... actually check them don't assume because the bike started that they aren't at all loose.
So to everyone.... check your battery terminals.
Since returning from my trip to Tennessee... (about 1700kms of riding) my bike has been acting funny... while riding at a steady RPM I would notice a hesitation that would be repeatable within 5 seconds of each other. I checked plugs,wires,all connectors and found no problems. I didn't really think much of it and thought maybe it was something I just never noticed. Well I continued riding the bike for the next 5 weeks with no problems other than the very slight hesitation.
Well yesterday was a different story, I went for a ride and maybe 5 mins down the road the check engine light came on and the gauges started acting funny, Tachometer dropping to 0 then back up again, check engine light coming on and off in fact the bike barely kept running. It felt like I had to keep on the throttle at stop light to keep it going.
I finally get it home, break out the repair manual and start inspecting various areas again... Ignition system,wiring,charging system,battery..etc. And again nothing... couldn't find one thing wrong with it. Well I decide to try and restart the bike, jiggle some wires and see if the check engine light comes on or if anything happens to change. I start it and runs no problem... while its running I jiggle a bunch of wires... no problems whatsoever. I then decide to take it for a ride down my street and back. I turn it off... throw my gear on... go to restart it.. and nothin.. My Buell is now dead to the world. No power, no lights.. nothing. Hmmm... well maybe the battery is pooched.. but I checked it with a volt meter and it showed good... Well I decided to have it actually load tested thinking I could be missing something...and so I proceed to remove the battery terminal screws by hand.. I removed the positive side and start to remove (by hand) the negative terminal..I then think to myself.. wait a second.. I shouldn't be able to do this by hand... DING DING DING! battery terminals were loose! and so I tightened both terminals... turned the key started it up with no problems.. took it for a ride, and no more hesitation nothing..it ran like a champ.
Well what did I learn in all this ...don't ignore the obvious. when the repair manual says check battery terminals... actually check them don't assume because the bike started that they aren't at all loose.
So to everyone.... check your battery terminals.
