Ok, now I am starting to get pissed. I posted here a few weeks ago about my 2011 Fatboy Lo dying. Well, the symptoms at the time were that the bike started sputtering and stalling at a stop and the oil light came on. Pulled over, checked the oil, it was fine. Bike would start back up. Called the dealership and told them what was going on and they said it sounded like it needed to be "reflashed" and I should drive it the 5 miles home and they would pick it up in the morning. With my lack of experience, I said ok and headed home. As I got close, the engine would stall while driving. After a minute or two it would start back up, but die again after a minute or so. When I got it home and they picked it up, they said they couldn't find what was wrong with it, but that it appeared that oil was not getting to the top of the engine. They ordered me a brand new engine and it finally arrived and was installed.

I finally got it back yesterday. Last night I rode around town for a few hours with several stops, everything seemed fine. Parked it in the garage last night, got up this morning and started up just fine for a ride into work.

Less than 10 miles into the ride, I am at a stoplight and notice that the engine sounds like it is going to stall. And the oil light is on again! It also sounds rough and is backfiring a bit, more so than the decel pop I noticed the night before. I go through the light and pull over in a parking lot and shut it off. I checked the oil and it looked fine.

Does anyone have any idea what might be going on? This is really getting to be frustrating and I am starting to wonder if I made a bad purchase.

 

Hmmm... seems to be a lot of things going wrong with Harley's newest bike.

 

Did they check or replace the ECM?

 

I have no idea. I trust the dealership's service department because I know next to nothing about fixing or adjusting these things. Could the symptoms I described be related to this?

I had them install a Performance Machines SuperGas air cleaner and V&H Big Shots staggered pipes.

 

The ECM is the computer...... It controls everything.

Yes a bad ECM could give you those symptoms, but so could a lot of other things.

 

I have found a little info on a recall:
http://motorsportsnewswire.wordpress...idson-0202119/

It says that the BCM on the security system may not be sealed well and that water getting into it can cause heat problems and stalling. The stalling part sounds like my problem...

 

This recall is an incredibly well known issue, it would be wildly beyond incompetent if they didn't check for this. If this in fact turns out to be the issue, the people involved in this at the dealer should seriously consider different careers.

 

i agree it sounds like an ecm problem. do you have some kind of fuel management for your air intake and pipes?

 

I'm on the phone with HD corporate right now and they initially said that my VIN doesn't match to the recall VIN's, but the symptoms seem to match.

But if this is the problem, why would they have told me that on the first engine, it appeared that oil was not reaching the "top" of the engine?

No on the fuel management thing. They told me it really wasn't necessary for my particular changes.

 

I can't even begin to speculate on your problem. Sounded like the dealership did or rather tried to do the right thing the first time around when they swapped your motor. Kinda makes me wonder about the oil tank, lines or whatever else that is external oil system components that may not have been changed with a fresh motor. I can imagine them coming in like a vehicle crate motor--fresh motor but without all the external components like alternator, power steering etc. Regardless this shouldn't be happening and I can understand the doubt about your purchase. They are not all like that, but I guess there has to be one bad sometime. Sucks you got it. Hang in there.