Cold engine sputtering (with and EFI)

[Coolbreezin]

Hello all,

I have tried for over a month now to get an intelligent response on a HD site. So, since BDM's have EFI's and some owners here also have HD's, I thought maybe I'd ask here also.

My Lady and I bought her a 2009 1200 Low with about 3,500 miles on it from the local HD dealer. The whole bike is still in stock condition. I trusted HD would have done a thorough inspection upon thier taking the bike in on trade, so I didnt test ride it. Hence, I didnt know of this odd sputtering the bike does until completely warm and HD refuses to even look at it. It has an EFI and fires right up and goes straight to a smooth idle. But when we go to ride away, the first 20 miles is sputtering (at low rpm) and feathering of the clutch until completely warm. Im not familiar with HD's and thier design, so Im asking for some guidance here on what may be wrong. Some locals here mention a sensor regarding engine temp, but it fires right up smoothly.
Any advice? Thank you.

Coolbreezin :flag:

 

[Coolbreeze]

Does the bike have stock pipes? If the previous owner threw on some aftermarket pipes and didn't remap the fuel injection.... It may act that way. Or it could have a bad intake leak. Sucking more air than feul.

 

[Little-Boo]

Try to find out if the previous owner has an after market exhaust and air cleaner. If he did and changed them out before he traded he may have just done the swap and did not re-flesh the computer. That means your map senor is off. It doesn't take 20 miles for the bike to warm up. I have a 2009 1200 XL low which was a 883 before I converted it to a 1200. I tried to run it without re fleshing the computer and it started has a slight pop at idle but would not run worth a crap. I ordered the Master Tuner and tuned it for 1200 with V&H short pipes and cone air cleaner. No more pop and runs great. My Fat boy ran rough at first until I installed the V&H fuel pack. I was told by the HD dealer I could change the pipes and air cleaner and the bilke would adjust in time. It never did so I got the fuel Pak and I am good to go.

Take it to a different HD it should still have some kind of warranty and get a tune up . Good Luck

Carlos

 

[Coolbreezin]

Thank you for the reply. It gives me something to work with now. I know it doesnt take 20 minutes to warm up, but thats about how long it takes before it settles down to a smooth ride. The HD shop we got it from offered no warranty, but the parent company (dealership) is in the same town so Ill take yr advise and start there. The pipes look factory, so ill have My Lady pull the air cover off and have a look-see.
On a side note...how sad is it that I have to come to a BDM site to get a HD answer?

Coolbreezin :flag:
Member of The Patriot Guard Riders.
Associated with The POW/MIA Foundation of Jacksonville.
Volunteer at City Mission Center – Jacksonville, FL

 

[08mastiff]

For what it's worth my Mastiff is EFI and it has something similar. I always let it idle for a few minutes on the initial start up. Then I ride one or two miles before I even consider getting on it. If I get on it after start up, the engine sputters like it has fouled plugs. This never bothered me because even though I ride it hard at times, I never beat on it. Your situation is different though. Shouldn't take twenty miles for it to act right. Good Luck.

 

[Coolbreezin]

Thank you all for your input.
I took Sportster to the HD shop where we bought it from. Even though it was 6 month after the fact, they still jumped in and fixed the problem (most of it anyway). The say that bike with an EFI will continue to dump extra fuel in the pots just like a choke until the bike is warm. They also mentioned that starting the bike and riding it 100 feet to the show lot for a period of time will cause carbon build up on the spray jets in the pot, and they say that was the major problem.
They also added that because its running a factory air intake, but using aftermarket slip-ons (unbeknownst to us at the time) it is causing the puter to struggle to make a good mix. So it still has an extremely brief flat spot at 15mph. But nohting a new rider would feel. They suggested a Stage 1 Screaming Eagle download to possibly rectify the situation.
Very much a big surprise to me that the local HD shop did all the work and within a few days all for free. That was excellent customer service, and I wish more people wre so honest and courteous.
Thank you Ademac HD (Jacksonville, FL)

Coolbreezin :flag: