Well guy's after a pain staking 7 WEEKS since the original problem I have finally got my bike back!!!
In my opinion the original stator just gave up the ghost, then when installing the new one which "apparently burnt out after 5 minutes" the mechanic installed it wrong and left the washer inside as "Ich" had mentioned: However either they were not aware of this or they wanted to hide/cover it up by blameing the ECM and voiding my warrenty!!
The real issue was that rather than continuing the trouble shoot process and looking into it further they blamed the ECM and would not continue till new parts were recieved and the original ECM was given back, it wasn't till about 5 weeks down the road that the stator cover was taken off and the internal damage was found which I was not informed of and only found out as a friend happened to be there picking up his bike and had a look at mine,informed me so I went to have a look, even with this they still blamed the original burn out on the ECM.
Well after a few emails and a couple of calls to EBR, they contacted H-D/Buell customer service in the States and got them to contact my dealer which in turn agreed to fix my bike as a "good will warrenty"
This process took a while as my original issue happened a few weeks before xmas, then when the new one "burnt out" it was the 23rd Dec, so with the holidays etc etc, it took a little longer which did'nt really affect me as the parts only arrived on 23rd Jan.
During this time I had read alot on the forums about Stators and ECM's etc and there does seem to be a few misconceptions out there regarding the EBR ECM, obviously I had indepth emails with EBR and a couple of LOOOONG distance phone calls, so I thought I'd share the info which you guys for future referance.
1.Although its called or marketed as a "Race ECM" this is just a name or done for legallity reasons in the states. It is the original part number with an "remap" for fueling, timeing etc is not adjusted. Although they offer diffent maps for stock or different pipes basically they wrote a map for the different pipes rode them for a while and adjusted it accordinly to what they found suited that perticular pipe/slip on, as mentioned the "for race use only" is engraved on the ECM for legality reasons. I was also told by EBR that these ECM's or Map's on them were being developed before H-D pulled the plug and were going to be sold as a original H-D part as an option for those wanting to beef the sound up on their bikes as the original pipes had to sound the way they do to pass emission and sound regulations etc.
2.The ECM does NOT in any way alter the way the bike charges, its the SAME although you may notice slight variations on your cluster its minmal, you do NOT need to try to ride eveywhere above 5k etc.
3.Some stuff such as the COLD fashing at start up and NOID being deactivated have been overwritten as if you are using it for track days/raceing you dont want the NOID kicking in or see stuff flashing up on your display.
There were a few other things that I have probaly missed but am trying to do this quickly as about to go to work, my opinion is if you guy's had concerns about the EBR ECM then DON'T as your bike will run alot better resulting in a larger grin under that helmet, if your bike's warrenty is out than don't think twice, however if you do still have a warrenty make sure you remove before getting any work done as bottom line with the dealer its seen as a aftermarket modification which they have the right to void warrenty because of it.
After getting the bike back I thought I would give EBR a call to say a BIG THANK YOU and how much their help had been appreciated, I asked to speak to the TECH department and wound up chatting to Michael who I thought had been replying to my emails and dealing with my case all along, he told me the above info and more regarding the ECM, he also said that they are still trying to develop a long term fix for the stator problem but in the mean time had purchased 60 of the 08 stator assemblies which have proved to be alot less problematic than the 09+ stators, so if any of you are going through the same then I would recomend giving them a call and ordering an 08.
The part that surprised me the most was he said that Erik had dealt with my issue personally and had made all the call's etc to the customer support at H-D to get this done under warrenty!!!! He had also replyed to my emails but was signed off as "Tech Support"
Bearing in mind that most of this communication was done over the Christmas and New Year period it gives me even more respect for the living legend, that he would take the time to get involved when surely he had plently of other things to be getting on with, with the Holiday's and new bike development etc etc.
Customer care such as shown here is the core of successful business and I have no doubt that the team at EBR will grow from strengh to strengh, they have a true belief in what they do and genuanly give a S*&^ about those rideing their bikes, with all the contraversy about these bikes and even having my own doubts over that period of being bikeless I can honestly say that I'm proud to be a little part of the Buell family.
We have NOT seen the end of Buell and the small hiccup of Harley pulling the plug will reap rewards in the end with Erik and the team producing bikes that they envisage without restrictions.
Thanks Erik........................
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