.....

Christ, why do I read these damn forums? Now I'll be hanging down by t engine trying to work out if my nightie has a ping or not! :icon_fryingpan:

You ain't kidding. No offense to anyones concerns but I need to stay away from these threads and go back to riding it like I stole it

My 48 does it too. The first time it happened I looked down and back real quick because I thought something had fallen off.

What gear are you in and what speed are you going when you lay on the throttle?

It's not so much the gear and speed as much as it is RPM. No tach, so no idea where it is happening at. I've been rolling on the throttle a little easier in the lower RPM's, problem solved. I think it may have been bogging it a little.

So I just bought a 2012 48 and noticed the pinging immediately. I called the dealership to ask if it was normal and this is what I was told. Due to EPA regulations HD is forced to make the bikes run super lean and therefore hotter causing the ping. This is especially true for bikes in higher elevations since all of the bikes and mapped for sea level. According to HD the prolonged pinging you hear will not effect your engine negatively. The guy I was talking to then went on to tell me to fix the ping I should get new pipes, a new air intake, a super tuner (or whatever he called it), and then bring it in for a Dyno tuning. As a result of all of this you get more air in and more air out. More fuel thrown at the engine thereby decreasing the running temp and reducing if not eliminating the ping. As a side benifit from what I can tell you will almost double your HP ending up at around 92HP versus the 54 stock. The grand total for this......just under $2K granted your could save a bunch buying the parts online and bolting them on yourself then find a good shop instead of a dealer to Dyno.

OK so now a question for people who really know the engines versus my hearsay above. If the heat and running lean is the issue is there a way I can get the bike to run a smidge richer for now until I have the money to get pipes, intakes, tuner, and dyno? being that I just bought the bike I am broke!

i think they are notoriously noisy engines ;) shorter pipes will help haha.

I was looking at those Short shots how do you like em? I hear they will lose some torque on the low end.... Since you have em what do you think? I was told to get the 2-1 competative Vance and Hines but honestly I love the look of the short shots....And I like me bike LOUD!

Not a Sportster rider, but doesn't the ECM accomidate for ping/knock. I wouldn't think it would be able to be reproduced every time as the ECM, if Knock Control is turned on, will retard the spark.

Just wondering.