Hello, I purchased a 2011 Road king last year and noticed that the bike has a pinging noise under a load. It almost sounds like a marble in a tin can. it mainly happens under a load in a higher gear. If I am cruising at 2500 RPM and in 3rd gear and get on it I hear it loudly until I get into higher RPM. The bike has a screamin eagle tuner, Thunderheader exhaust, and S&S intake. Not sure on internals. I have had plenty of bikes, 88", 96" and have never heard this sound before.

 

How long have you had the bike? Any way to contact the PO? That noise is detonation; hard on the motor and can cause bad juju; you need to address it. While you are trying to sort it out, stop "getting on it" at 2500rpms in 3d gear; downshift. Just be mindful and be more judicious in using the shifter until you find out what is causing the detonation. If a high mileage bike, carbon could have built up on top of the pistons increasing compression. Are you running proper octane fuel? The fact that the bike is equipped with the SE tuner, performance exhaust and intake would also indicate cams and maybe a higher than stock compression; the motor might just need a proper tune.

I think the first thing to do would be to find a tuner and have him do a couple of pulls to check the state of tune.

 

in the spirit of "what changed" troubleshooting process please provide more details..you purchased the bike last year and it is just now exhibiting this new behavior? or it has always done it since you owned it and just getting around to reaching out for help on this forum? or it started after you made the mods you state it has on it? that kind of stuff..pinging under load at higher RPMs could be bad gas, tune, anti knock sensors, old spark plugs/wires, as well as other possibilities..start by asking yourself exactly when it started this and what change/s may have occurred around the same timeframe, check the obvious stuff like plugs, etc.

 

I bought the bike last August and brought it back to the dealer immediately after I heard it. They told me there is nothing wrong with the bike and they did not hear the noise... "shocker" The bike has 17k miles, and I run 91 octane fuel. I think I am going to take your advice and get it dyno tuned for peace of mind.

 

My bike (2012) ultra. Stage 2 / started doing the same thing last year on a day trip ride just after filling up at a station in a small town. Suspected poor quality fuel which has just become more common now days. Once I burned through that tank i topped off with 91 premium from another large volume station and problem disappeared. First ride out this year the same issue was back, guessing the fuel has degraded from sitting over the winter. Plan to siphon as much as I can out and top off with fresh premium before next ride.

 

I purchased the bike in Aug, I live up north so I didn't get to put much miles on it. The bike started doing it immediatly after i picked it up from the dealer. I returned with the bike to have them tell me "nothing wrong with it" I also brought it to a Indy shop who did a complete service for my peace of mind and they stated they did not notice the noise. At first I thought it was bad gas but I have been able to put a few tanks in now with no change. I run 91 octane always. I Have not done any modifications to the bike since I have had it. The bike has done this since i purchased it. Some days are better than others and it does not do it as bad. I am starting to think its a tuning issue and maybe I should just have it dyno tuned. Just looking to see if anyone else has ever had this issue.

 

I also thought bad gas. But I have run several tanks through it with no change.

 

My Street Glide did it with the "dyno tune" the previous owner had put in it, where they'd added timing and leaned the fuel mixture to get it to show more power on a dyno. It was also really bad in hot weather. Putting the commanded AFR back to stock and putting the factory timing table back into my bike eliminated the detonation.

 

I just talked to my Indy mechanic and he told me the Screaming eagle tuner is now obsolete and a paperweight. I have my PV3 that was on the street glide I traded in, I will call Fuel moto tomorrow for a new license and see if they can send me a new tune. I believe its a tuning issue now and a new tune may help this issue. Either way I need a new license for the PV3 regardless so we will see how that goes.

 

Try running 93 in it. Mine is sensitive to octane, to be expected tho.