1st, hope this is in the right place..... if not, please relocate. OK, I mentioned a few nights ago that I had just bought my dream Sporty after more than 50 years of wanting it. It's a 2009 XL1200L with about 5600 miles. It does have aftermarket intake and exhaust and seems to run fine, but I have no way of knowing how it performs now to before the aftermarket stuff. I know the bike is fuel injected and since this is my 1st FI bike I'm assuming the ECM takes care of these kind of mods. I've not had an opportunity to look a the plugs which I assume will at least give me a clue as to what it's doing, but should I be concerned any further? I'm pretty sure it's a V&H 'VO2 90' air intake and V&H 'Big Radius 2 into 2' pipes. I do see some bluing of the pipes right off the cylinders but nothing real serious I don't think. OK, how would I know what I've got as far as performance and should I worry about causing any damage to this engine? Thanks and regards, Joe.

 

Did you try talking to the previous owner by chance?

 

Yes, but it was quickly obvious she only knew that her boyfriend had handled all the aftermarket stuff for her. She knew it was Sporty and she loved it, but that was about the extent of her knowledge. That's basically why I was asking here......... hoping one of you guys could make some suggestions. Like I mentioned earlier, this is my 1st FI'ed bike so I'm trying to learn how to take care of it. At my age, it'll probably be my last. Regards, Joe.

 

With pipes and AC it probably has either a tuner or a download. I don't know where the ECM is on your bike but you could check to see if you have a piggyback tuner installed, otherwise you probably have Stage 1 download.

I doubt very much you are running without some kind of tune. Do you know where the bike was originally purchased when new? If so you can ask the dealer what was done, provided of course, it was done at the dealer.

You mentioned you checked the plugs, how did they look?

Jim

 

My impression was that her boyfriend had done the aftermarket stuff rather than any dealer. And I haven't looked at the plugs yet .............. you see I did a 'face plant' while running across a parking lot a day or two after bringing the bike home and broke my right arm, hyper-extended the right elbow, and sprained both wrists.


I won't go into the reason I was running, but it didn't have anything to do with LEO nor the wife chasing me .......... LOL. The 70 year old legs just couldn't keep up with the 20 year old 'want to'. It did however ruin any chance or riding that beautiful Sporty for at least several weeks which is a big part of the reason I'm here on this damned computer instead of out riding. Oh well, I waited about 50 years, I guess I can wait a few more weeks.


Kinda like that special gal back in high school ........... the longer the wait, the sweeter the ride! At least that's the way I remember it .......... but it's been a long, long time ago since high school for me ........ LOL.


In the meantime I was hoping to get some guidance from some of you familiar with the FI'ed bikes. Whaday'all say? Anybody got any more suggestions/recommendations? Maybe somebody can tell me where the ECM might be and where I might find a 'piggy back' tuner if there is one. Thanks and regards, Joe.

 

You should have someone drive you down to the Dealer so you can purchase a shop manual for your bike.

 

Thanks OldEnuf2NoBtr, I have every intention of doing just that at some time in the near future. Would've probably already done it 'cept for the 'face plant' thing kinda slowing me down.


I'm a better than average wrench on most things mechanical and will be doing most of my own work eventually, but while I'm 'laid-up' it was just killing me thinking about all these things and not knowing about a FI bike. My last was a 1994 VS Intruder..... obviously 'old school' carb'd and pretty easy to diagnose when it seemed to be running a little poorly. And in that case, she was bone stock when I got her so anything added or subtracted while I had her I could judge the difference.


I just hoped to get a little helpful info on this FI and how the electronics affected things while I'm getting better and can't hold a wrench. But thanks anyway. Regards, Joe.

 

Joe, if a previous boyfriend did the changes to that bike there is no knowing how well that was done, unfortunately. There is a lot of ignorance in the Harley market when it comes to changing to aftermarket performance parts, so your bike may either be competently set up and done well - or have no proper tuning mods whatever.

In addition to buying a factory service manual, you can download a users manual from the H-D website, just go to the Owners tab. That will give you a little to go on, as well as basic info about your bike.

We have a dedicated Sportster section, which I recommend you visit, where you can see what other members are getting up to, which includes giving advice to newcomers.

 

Thanks gr, I'll see about that download. Unfortunately my 'puter skills leave a lot to desired, but I'll give it try. I actually have a hard time even spellin' 'IBM'.... LOL.


I was lucky enough to have gotten the original 'Owner's' manual, but I'm sure you know there's not a lot of technical info there. And as for the 'Sportster' section here on the forum, I've really enjoyed reading up on some of the stuff there, just haven't found some of the detail that's driving me nuts while I'm all 'bunged' up. As soon as I can get a look at the plugs I'll know a little more about how the engine is running and whether or not it's too lean (which is my 1st concern) or too fat.


It didn't seem to be running exceptionally hot on the one good ride I had, and no popping on decel, the blue on the head pipes is a little concerning, but I can't do anything about it for a few weeks anyway.


But many thanks to all who have chimed in. I'm sure most know how it can lay on one's mind when you've got something new and want to ensure you're not hurting it, or rather will be hurting it when you get better and able to ride. Just the 'not knowing' is the worst part and I already admitted this is my 1st FI'ed bike and I'm anxious to learn it. "Tuner", "stage 1", "map" are all terms I'm not really familiar with yet.


Regards, Joe.

 

Here's a link to a online parts manual that may be helpful

http://partsfinder.onlinemicrofiche.....asp?make=hdmc