Hello everyone,

I have an issue with my 2010 Sportster 1200, where the idle jumped between 700rpm and 3000rpm. I took it to a fancy garage in November in London, and only two weeks ago, the owner told me that the ECM was faulty. For 6 months, my bike was at the bottom of the priority

The garage owner told me it would take another 6 months to get a new ECM from HD for £1250. He proposed a “cheaper solution”: to convert from EFI to carb. It will be a great donor bike, the owner told me. However, his estimated cost was between £800-£1500, likely even more. This is nearly 40% of my bike's price!

Is there another solution to replacing the ECM?
Ex: would it be possible to purchase a Thundermax engine control system for £1100 to replace the ECM so I can plug it in myself?

If anyone has any suggestions, please share. I'm eager to get my bike running again before this summer ends. However, I don’t trust the garage owner, as I've been pursuing him for six months, and I fear the costs and delays will only continue to rise past 2k.

Thank you!

 

Get a second opinion and do your own research. I believe a used ECM can be installed and reprogrammed by a Harley dealer. That's a ridiculous amount of money.

Here's an older thread about putting on a used ECM:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/sport...ron-883-a.html

Here's some information on the "learn" procedure:
https://sportsterpedia.com/doku.php/...earn_procedure

Converting to a carb will likely open up another can of worms. You may end up with check engine lights up the wazoo, or other functions disabled.

Have you contacted a real Harley dealer and asked about testing your existing ECM?

John

 

What John suggested. Take it to an actual Harley dealer for their opinion and see what they’ll charge.

In fact, if you’re in London, take it to Warr’s. They should absolutely be able to tell you and I’ve heard nothing but good things about them over the years.

 

There is a used ECM for sale on the UK eBay website.

The H-D part number is 41000326A, the asking price is £145.00. Item number 225950510378.

See the image the actual ECM below.

The seller is in Egham.

 

There ya go^^^^.

 

Started the same thread on another forum. Hasn't replied to anything in that one either.

It's possibly not even an ECM fault.

 

Hey, pardon the double threading. I wasn't sure that I would get so many responses.
It's amazing when people can give you advice and save the bike.
I asked the garage to bring my bike back; I'll buy the ECM and go to HD - no more cool-looking fancy garages!

"Have you contacted a real Harley dealer and asked about testing your existing ECM?"
The garage told me that they tested it. Now, I'm not sure if they did it.
I feel like I'm a grandpa who wanted to get windows installed and was bamboozled for 7 months by an IT guy

Thanks again for your message! That's a great community)​​​​​​

 

Good luck!

John

 

What if the ECM isn't faulty?

 

I agree with Andy, get a second diagnosis before you spend any money on parts.

John