I have a 05, 1200 custom sportster. I had the baffles drilled and the carb rejetted, added a screaming eagle air cleaner kit and had the thunderslide kit put in(all work done at a Harley shop). The bike runs real good on hot days, but on cold mornings or days that is cool out it runs like crap. And even during a long ride it spits and farts like I just started it. I am worried I am going to do some damage to the engine when it does this. Do you think its a carb adjustment that needs to be made or is this typical of these engines? thanks

Ed

I recommend a 2005 Fuel injected Ultraclassic.

did you change the ign. module? all the work you did, is definately an improvement, but if you didn't change the module, your only getting about 60% out of the work you did. also make sure the choke is closing all the way. check plug gap. did you have all the work done at the same time? if not you may need to rejet again. with a harley, finding the exact balance isn't always easy. my elctroglide pops threw the exhaust on hard decelleration. it's been on the dyno several times, and the #'s come up correct for whats been done to the bike. my bike runs great, with over 25,000 miles on an 03, but have never been able top get rid of the pop. it's not loud, like a back fire, just kinda rumbles under decelleration. my guess is, if you didn't change the module (a screamin eagle works just fine) that the ing. doesn't know what to do with the mods you've made......we have a sportster guru here somewhere, i bet he knows exactly what to do....

All the work was done at the same time except the air cleaner I installed that the day after the other work was done. I never touched the ignition module I will look into that tonight. Would I have to change the plug gap or type of plug to get it to run a little better. My brothers FLH fires up and runs great from the start with out touching the choke. I want mine to be like that Since now I have to let it run in the drive way for 10 minutes before I go to work

Ed, try Sportster.org (http://www.sportster.org) for some answers. Those guys are very knowledgeable on this kind of stuff. If you can't find answers right on the site, set yourself up on the newsgroup there. You'll find it under the "XL List" link. Just be ready for about 100 emails a day. ;)

Ed, try Sportster.org (http://www.sportster.org) for some answers. Those guys are very knowledgeable on this kind of stuff. If you can't find answers right on the site, set yourself up on the newsgroup there. You'll find it under the "XL List" link. Just be ready for about 100 emails a day. ;)


good call, along with jpcycles.com ,they will find your problem.

sportsers and big twins are fairly different animals, and the issue your having isn't unique. sportsters from the go, are a little cold blooded. i remeber my last sporster, the salespeople telling me, to warm it up enough, to not be able to put a bare hand on the rocker cover, then to ride the hell out of it all day. they definately, like heat.

the trick to remember is, a twin is just basically an air pump, and you have to have a balance of air going in, and exhaust going out. a lot of guys throw a set of pipes on, then bitch, it won't run right. with twins, it's crucial, everything balances out.

your losing about 500-700 r.p.m. of your power range with the stock ign. check the plugs to see if it's running lean or rich, and work from there. the webs above will be a great help....

uh... if you changed the air cleaner don't you have to rejet?

uh... if you changed the air cleaner don't you have to rejet?


usually, but sometimes the shop will anticipate the change and rejet. i always tell anybody who gets a f.i. bike, to get the stage two download, first off, i've heard the stage one is basically useless,and sooner or later, harley people will mod the bike, and it just saves time and $, to go straight to the stage two. i didn't just make this up, i've had several harley techs tell me this. at $150 a pop for down loads, it makes sense.....

so hopefully, checking the plugs will tell him if he's running lean, and in need of another rejet......

did you change the ign. module?

Ed and 1Black,
The XB/MerlinII/Evo sporty powertrain isn't like the '03 and earlier EVO's with the timing module in the cam cover.

Since '04 the cam cover "volcano" is just cosmetic. Don't you just love the styling tricks up Willie G's sleeve :D

I'm not as familiar with the aftermarket when it comes to ECU's (located under your seat) with the XB/MerlinII/EVO powertrains, but I'm willing to bet someone has come up with a way to program a new timing map off the MAP sensor.

Thanks to the EPA these new sporty powertrains run very lean and yes Ed, they like to sputter up until they are warmed up. You can thank the EPA and SAE for the way emissions are calculated.

Just be glad you didn't get a california model with one muffler that serves as a catalyst and the other as one very stopped up muffler (I don't see how they are able to make any hp/tq). You can blame the tree huggers out there for that too!

You might also want to check your choke cable. The rear cylinder is the one that gets the hottest (due to airflow) and the cable has a chance of touching the rear cylinder head. We've seen some of the cable's plastic melt and cause the cable to bind. I think there is a TSB out on it now.

Good luke with the XL.

Joe

i'm aware the ign. hasn't been in the cone for several years, it's under the right side plastic cover. it's a small (2"X3") control box. approx. $109.00 at harley, and about five minutes to replace it. if he did all the work stated above, he might not have enough ign. the screaming eagle will recurve the timing and hopefully solve the problem. it will either be this or jetting that will cure the problem. i'm betting jetting, because the guys at the shop use past expierience, but some times you need to dyno them in.....

we've had a few of these come into our shop with the same problem. it is somewhat inherent of sportsters. in some cases though, installing performance mufflers and getting rid of the drilled out stock ones helped a lot. if your dealer has a dyno they should be able to tune it correctly for you. they are cold blooded. some people leave the choke out too long and foul plugs. this happens often with xl's. i can ask one of our techs tomorrow and let you know what they think. Scott

by the way joe, have you heard anything on a recall of the new six speeds? it's rumor out here, but sometimes, it just harley haters spreading rumors.....

i have and it is the neutral safety switch. it shows neutral on the dash with the light on but it is not really in neutral. there are only about 13,000 bikes affected. it doesn't affect the operation of th bike. Scott

I recommend a 2005 Fuel injected Ultraclassic.

Or a resonable facsimile, as long as it's not a Sportster!!!:D

going a bit fatter on the jets will help the problem you discribed,my old 88 1200 sporty(converted) did this alot,with the stock vacumm slide carb,but then with the screamin eagle carb,just a bit fat on jets,open pipes,never ever sputtered,coughed,poped,spit,misfired in any weather condition-nor fouled plugs----that condition is fuel mixture related---it should not run that way-dont let guys tell you its a sportster thing--it is not--its a fuel mixture thing--cold air is denser,causing a lean condition,the rear cylinder may be causing this being it runs cooler than the front--believe it or not--one note-my 88 sporty ran no cooler than my 95 lowrider!!!

If you go with the screamin eagle ign mod,the 8000 rpm one,remember theres two types,one with rev limiter and adjustable advance curve,and one is not rev limited--keep the rpms under 6500 with the later

Or a resonable facsimile, as long as it's not a Sportster!!!:D

here we go with the sportster thing again,do you remember when sportsters were the ticket and big twins were geezer glides to the sportster guys?harley turned the sporster into a beginner bike ,not sportster riders,they are by no means not,I sold my modified sportster of 18 years,after buying a low rider,but I still respect sportsters because not to many big twins were faster----now I have a gezzer glide--BUT LOVE IT,ITS GREAT--guess Im growin old!!!both have their place--and Im just ribbin ya a little james--bob h--

going a bit fatter on the jets will help the problem you discribed,


That was my thinking also..sounds lean to me. I've had similar mods to my 03 1200 which does somewhat the same but not nearly as severe as you seem to indicate. Our bike just needs alittle warmup time is all..

I guess I will call around to some Harley shops and see if they can dyno tune it and I am going to look into the ignition module too. Thanks for all the input. I have no complaints about the bike otherwise, I would love to have a touring bike but for now this is in the budget. I took it for a 9 hour ride to Tx over the summer and I was comfortable (not as much as I would be on a cruiser) but I enjoyed the ride. Maybe in a year or two I will upgrade.

by the way joe, have you heard anything on a recall of the new six speeds? it's rumor out here, but sometimes, it just harley haters spreading rumors.....

Yes there is a recall, and I'm a part of the group that is in charge of the rework process for the bikes in our possesion.

There is a possibility of a "false neutral" condition on the '06 Dynaglides. The shifter drum detent was designed to ease finding neutral, but in some occurrances the neutral light is on when in fact you aren't fully in neutral when you raise up on the shift lever.

The recall parts include some hardware (bolts), new neutral switch and a revised shifter drum. Should be a piece of cake for a dealer to do.

Don't let this recall scare you away from this 6 speed tranny. It's a great transmission that will improve highway cruising and make the ride just that much more entertaining. We have logged more than 1.2 million miles on this transmission in testing. That's the most miles H-D has ever put on a transmission design before launch.

Most people don't realize that this year H-D launched two all new transmissions. One is in the dynaglide and gets all the publicity due to its a six speed and the new sporty 5 speed with revised helical cut gears and seperated dogs. It makes for a smoother shifting transmission and a much quieter gear mesh. Most guys/gals that try out a new sporty are amazed at the ease of shifting and how much quieter it is. The clutch ramp is also revised and reduces clutch handle effort.

If I was a woman, I would be all over this new sportster. Its just that much easier to ride.

Buell also benefits from this revised tranny and if you read the mag articles they comment on it being on par with the foreign offerings.

I was in Milwaukee a month ago riding the #4 '06 dyna around town and just love this new transmission. What a pleasure to ride. I'm seriously thinking about buying a wideglide because of it. Maybe this spring I'll buy, but it has to be after I finish up my Cafe Racer (norton frame with my Buell 984 thrown in between the featherbed frame).

This six speed is a great transmission...don't let the recall scare you away or you will miss out on one hell of a ride.

Joe

What octane are you using? The H-D owner's manual recommended 87 octane but my 01 sportster 1200 custom seemed to like higher octane after the bike got screamin eagle pipes, air cleaner and jetted. New plugs and wires probably helped too. I didn't upgrade the ignition module but that sounds like a good idea. Still, I think with a carb you just have to let it warm up a bit longer unlike the fuel injected big twins, but that never really bothered me.

Joe, what about the Twin Cam 5 speeds? They seem to be way noisier on the shift than the older Evo 5 speeds. Even synthetic oil won't quiet it down.

Darren, I haven't heard a significant difference between the two.

Production did shift to a different facility with the launch of Twin Cam though.

Joe

Is this a GREAT site or what, fix your Chevelle, any other make you might have and your Harley too. :thumbsup:

I had a 2000 1200 custom before my 99 wide glide i have now and it was cold blooded too. I always had to run 93 oct in it or it didnt run as well. I would have to always leave on the choke for 10 miles or so till it got good and hot.

Andy

First, I would reccomend getting rid of the drilled out stock pipes and go to some free breathing performance pipes, since you already did the free flowing air cleaner (good) then all that is left is to appropriately jet the carb and make sure the timing is correct. An additional performance gain you can do is install a performance ignition as someone has already said.

:beers: Gaz

joe, i was kind of surprised that harley brought out the six speed in the dyna first, are the going to put the six in the touring bikes any time soon? if any bike can benefit the extra gear it would be the touring bikes.

by the way, i'm with you, i think the new wide glide rocks! more leg room, beefier forks, six speed, just a, all around, neat bike...

joe, one last question, the dyna's used to basically have the sporster front end on it, but the new bikes look a little beefier up front, i know some of this is attributed to the new forks, but are the clamps wider as well?

i think this is one of the best model years, harley has had in a while. it seems almost every bike has been improved and refined, all threw the line up. i think it's mistake, not putting out more promo. wish i had $ for a new bike, but the problem would be, which one, the nostaligic red, white and blue dyna? the bitchin new wide glide? the new sportster 1200 low? electro glide custom? springer nostalgia? i can't remember the last time harley actually made it hard to choose. maybe time to look at those stocks again....

for those of you that like bikes, head into a dealer. even if you aren't there to buy, you'd be surprised, how far harley has come. the new bikes are vastly superior to even a few years ago. quality has been raised emensely. and for those of you that bang on sporsters, the new ones have rubber mounted engines, better tranny, fatter tires, great brakes, bigger tanks, etc...just a great bike to ride....

what gazzer said..put on a set of Vance&Hines!! drilled out stockers dont hold a candle to them in looks, sound, or performance. can you tell I love them? I have a set of straightshots on my '00 Softail Springer..my buddy had longshots on his Heritage, and I thought they sounded even better, but I didnt care for the look. Fatten up the jetting a bit, should cure what ails ya.

1Black,
Yes the front end is different than the sporty. I'd have to look at the prints and add up the differences between the two, but it isn't like the old days where you could litterly take an XL front end & put it on an FXR.

If you look back at H-D's powertrain history you'll see the twin cam first appeared in the FXD before it spread to the other platforms. I can't comment on future products :)

What I can say is that I want to get my hands on a Destroyer V-Rod and go drag racing with it. Very very very low nine second (knocking on an 8 sec pass) capabilities is my kind of bike. I do believe its the quickest 1/4 mile production bike out of all the big motorcycle manufacturers.

The 35th anniversary Superglide is a very nice addition to the FXD family. I really want to park one in my garage right now, but I'll have to suffice with taking out a company vehicle for rides on one. Maybe sooner rather than later I'll have one.

Ed,
Good luck with the sporty. I've been meaning to send you a care package as I haven't forgotten. If you could PM me your address again I'll try to drop it in the mail next week.

Joe

If you look back at H-D's powertrain history you'll see the twin cam first appeared in the FXD before it spread to the other platforms. I can't comment on future products :)


nice;)

i bet you will find the problem is lack of back pressure. if you took the baffles out it will suffer from reversion. i fought that battle before. found that a 2 into 1 header worked the best. and harleys are cold blooded. good luck nice bike btw.

here we go with the sportster thing again,do you remember when sportsters were the ticket and big twins were geezer glides to the sportster guys?harley turned the sporster into a beginner bike ,not sportster riders,they are by no means not,I sold my modified sportster of 18 years,after buying a low rider,but I still respect sportsters because not to many big twins were faster----now I have a gezzer glide--BUT LOVE IT,ITS GREAT--guess Im growin old!!!both have their place--and Im just ribbin ya a little james--bob h--

I hear ya pal!

I'm not up on tuning the newer model HDs so all I could do was razz the Sporter guys a little. My last Harley was an 84 FXSTC, a really good bike for the time.

My first Harley was a 73 XL 1000 basket case. Built it up with added compression, Andrews PB+ cams, and a 44 Mikuni carb. That thing beat me to death till I got smart enough to move up to an old FLH police bike.

The thing I loved about the Sportster was it was a Harley!!!

The things I hated about it were, slinging alternator armatures appart almost every time I wound it up and got it "on the cams", a sore butt before running out a tank of gas, and gas stops every 80 or 90 miles(thinking back, maybe that was a good thing).