Hi everyone,

I am not exactly sure how this site works but am taking a stab at it. If you can give me any pointers, please do.

I have a 2013 Softail Slim - it was bought brand new. I had some work done on my pipes in 2014 by the dealer and have had nothing but stalling problems since.

I have written to Harley Davidson and am quite upset that they have been unable to diagnose the problem during the many trips by bike has made to their shop.

The bike stalls sporadically. It will run fine for a month and then stall three times, in one day, which it recently did in a matter of 20 minutes on my way to work.

The stalling happens while I am gearing down - anywhere from third down to first. I am usually doing anywhere from 60-10 kilometers when it just quits. The red light goes on and it dies on me. I am now afraid of being hurt on it because it does not happen while I am at a stop. It fires right back up afterwards. The last time it stalled, as I coasted down a hill, I held the clutch in and hit the start switch and kept riding.

I have set out this problem in depth to Harley Davidson, which is where it sits right now being looked at further. I have never put anything but premium fuel in the bike and to be honest am getting pretty tired of hearing that could be what it is!!!!

I have had my clutch adjusted, spark plugs changed, and have had a piece of my clutch switch replaced - all on three separate visits to HarleyDavidson, and none of which resolved the bike's problem. Seems electrical to me???? I am so frustrated and fed up.

I just want my sweet ride to ride sweet again - like it did the first year. The problems started when I asked to have my bike's pipes loudened in 2014 as I was doing lots of city riding and wanted to be heard. When I realized the bike lost power and sputtered and made loud not healthy popping noises after the work was done, I asked to have whatever they did reversed because the bike no longer ran as well. It was reversed and I have had problems since.

That's my story in a nutshell. I am pretty upset with this basically brand new bike that isn't running the greatest. It cost me way to much money to not be in awesome working order. I can provide more details. Please help!!!!

 

Welcome from Hampton Roads Virginia.
It is not the type of fuel. What did they do besides the exhaust? Sounds like the ECM can not keep up with the drop in rpm and catch it before it drops too far. 2013 is not brand new. Sad they cannot fix it however.
Could be something as simple as a little water in the bottom of the tank.

 

what pipes did they install? has your air cleaner been changed ? did they remap the bike ? do you have a tuner?

 

Any error codes from the diagnostic mode when it dies?

I have a suspicion but need more info. My first guess is a bad connection with one of the O2 sensors.

 

I had the same thing happen on my 06 Softail for a while. Every time I started slowing up from 60 miles an hour to zero somewhere it would stall. I ended up putting a power commander 5 in and never had it happened again so that's my story

 

Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS). Engine stalling while coasting to a stop is one of the issues as well as the turn signals will not auto-cancel after a turn. Look into that.

 

Thanks so much everyone for your input. DieselDoc103, to answer your questions, my
Bill of Sale shows a bunch of things in relation to the pipes/exhaust, is this what you are asking? I hate to say that I don't know....but i really don't. I just know I paid extra when I bought it to have these beauty blacked out pipes put on. Bill of Sale from April, 2013, says: 1.5" quiet baffle f/tw, 1584 st 1 efi kit, 07-13 flstn/sb tw/slash...yes, air cleaner been changed. Invoice from August, 2013, (when i asked to have louder pipes) says: Install baffles. When I returned the bike because it was sputtering and making popping noises and had lost power, the baffles were removed/put back to stock baffles. Did they remap the bike? All of my paperwork from HD says that the correct download is in the bike/labour to reflash ecm calibration. HD's paperwork to me says This is a stage 1, 103 calibration, no other calibration available for this config. Do you have a tuner? I don't know? I will show some friends who know bikes better than me these strings and maybe one of them can help me better answer the questions.

 

golfblues: thank you for mentioning how you fixed the problem with your bike. I will certainly suggest it to who is working on mine. I will check into whatever it takes to get it running smoothly again. It was awesome when i first got it, now, i ride with my heart in my throat hoping it doesn't conk out at the wrong time.

 

tearunner: i have posted more info, let me know if i can give you any more details if it will help with your suggestions. thank you!!

 

I really think if you put a tuner in there with a good map your problem will be solved. Going with Fuel Moto and giving them your specs is usually the best bet. If you don't plan on doing any cams or any more modifications I would go with a power commander 5 or V&H FP3. Connect it and ride