Hello to one and all out there in HD Forum land. Name here is Chris Walden. Been riding dirt bikes and four wheelers all my life. Started riding big boy bikes a little over a year ago. Bought my first bike off a guy a Florida, an 88 Kawasaki Ninja ZX250R, that was not running. A little side note about me, I have been spinning wrenches since childhood and have worked a little bit of everything, from lawn mowers all the way up to aircraft, which is what I currently do for a living. So after a little tender loving care and some time later, I was able to breath life into that old Ninja. I was immediately hooked to street riding. Those of you out there that are/were dirt trackers know what I mean when I say, it's almost a completely different experience riding on the road than riding on a dirt bike. The bike is heavier and the road doesn't have as much give as dirt does.
Anyway, I have had the privilege to spin wrenches on several different bikes in my life, including a few Harleys. I have always been very fond of Harley Davidson, the attention to detail and engineering capabilities that is prevalent in most of their designs is bar none. I am finally a Harley owner after all these years, and I'm not going back. A beautiful 2003 Fatboy Anniversary edition (FLSTFI) with 39,800 miles on it practically fell into my lap just about two months ago. Just like any other used bike, car or equipment I have purchased in my life, I immediately took it home and torn into it, gave her a good once over. Changed the engine, tranny and primary oil, checked primary chain tension, belt tension, tires, lights, brakes and the like. All seemed to be in great condition with the exception that there was a historic code for "missing password", a speedo code D08 and a security code which I cannot remember now. Cleared the security code, which did not come back, and started recording my "trip count" to see if the ECM would reset itself after the 50 or so trips. The bike was really running top notch until just recently. It all started one morning on my way to work. The headlight got real bright, the speedo dropped out the the check engine light came on. The bike never skipped a beat just kept right on rolling. It didn't take but a moment and the headlight went back to normal, the check engine light went out and my speedo came back up. As soon as it happened I knew exactly what it was. OVERVOLTAGE!!! Pulled the regulator off when i got home that day to see if it was burnt up and it looked fine. Put it back on and fired the bike up, checked my running voltage - 14.3VDC. Ok, maybe it was just a fluk. Well I should have paid more attention to it because not but a week later it left me on the side of the road, but I'm not mad. It's certainly not the first time a bike has left me on the side of the road. So I got it home and started working on it. Loss of idle speed control code, security code came back, historic "missing password" code was still present, but no hard set code, even when I start the bike and it runs like crap, no power whatsoever. So then I thought, 14 year old bike, 39,800 miles, I bet no one has changed the fuel filter in the tank and it has the original junk plastic harley fuel lines in it. So this week coming, I'm going to pull the pump assy out of the tank and check it out, and I'm sure I will find holes in the lines. I will be replacing the lines with good quality neoprene submersible fuel lines and the filter while I am in there. I'm sure that's my problem. I had just filled the tank up before this happened so I cannot here any hissing in my tank when I kick the key on. I love tinkering with things so I'm excited to get into my harley a little deeper, I learn something new every time I work on something and I thrive on that. Maybe I will post back to this post and let you all know what I find. If y'all are interested.
Looking forward to being a part of this forum, some of the stuff I have read seems like y'all are a good group and a wealth of knowledge.

 

Welcome to the Forum....


For a new owner you seem to have knowledge above most members level.. That's good.


I had the famous pin hole in the fuel lines at 33k when our bike was in its 4th yr of age..


That issue made the bike start missing out after about 90-100 miles of riding after filling it up and when filled up again it ran fine till another 90-100 miles. I was almost 500 miles away from home when it started doing that and I had Charlies HD in W Virginia do the fix..


but It did not effect any Electrical of the bike..


One other thing you need to find out is -- Has the Cam Tensioners pads been changed? or at least Checked..
The 88's Need that done or at least Checked anywhere from 20k up.. some have lasted longer but also some have been worn out with fairly low mileage (around 25-30K) and THAT issue can cause a Catastrophic engine failure.


If they are ready to be replaced,, Lots of HD owner go ahead and replace them with a set of new Gear cams to eliminate that problem


As for the other issue your having go to the Touring section and Ask for help and or you can always do a Google search for answers..


Good luck in finding your prob and I wish you safe riding..

 

Thanks oct1949. Yeah it diffidently seems I have two separate issues going on, although if I don't find pin holes in the fuel lines when I pull that pump out they may be tied together at the Speed Sensor failure I suspect I have or will have soon. The D08 speedo code, from what I understand is an overvoltage on the speed sensor itself. So I already ordered a new speed sensor and will replace after inspecting/repairing the fuel lines.

Thanks for the info on the cam chain tensioners. I will look into that while the bike is down for maintenance.

 

Your bike looks great. Congrats and welcome to the forum.

Keep us posted on your outcome.

 

Welcome!

Sounds like youre on the right track to me, and I appreciate your attitude and instinct to look for the horses instead of the zebras when diagnosing problems. I would probably go ahead and replace that VR if you havent already, even though it seems to be currently doing its job.

 

Much appreciated Otter.

Yeah, I felt the same way about that speed sensor. I've got one on order, it should be here next week some time.

 

So I finally got the time to pull the guts out of the tank today, and suspicions were confirmed. Although it was not the lines themselves leaking, the pressure regulator housing had cracked at one of the ears and was blowing fuel out around the housing. Not the first time I have seen that. So cool, got it figured out. I am still replacing the cheap plastic Harley fuel lines with neoprene submersible fuel lines and the fuel filter while I am in there. Also will be replacing the speed sensor and voltage regulator before I ride again just to be on the safe side.

Also... Oct1949...
Thanks to your advice about the cam chain tensioners I called the guy I got the bike from and asked about it. Pointed me to the dealership in FL that he said did the upgrade under warranty. So I called them up and got a repair order emailed to me confirming that they did in fact upgrade the bike with the Screamin' Eagle Hydraulic tensioner kit PN 25284-08 (the original kit with the slightly better oil pump, but not the higher output pump like the 25284-11 kit) so I will not be tearing into the cam chest, thank goodness. The repair order says the upgrade was done at 24,819 miles so I figure I've got at least another 44,000 miles or so before I will need to reinspect the tensioner guides. That was great news. All in all, yet another easy Harley repair under the belt. I only wish Harley would get smart and replace the fuel pressure regulator housing with a metal one. Did a quick search to see if maybe there was an aftermarket company out there making them out of some type of metal, but yielded nothing. Oh well.

I still LOVE my Harley!!