I purchased this bike from the local Biggs Harley Dealer and plan to drop it off today. I have had it for a little under two weeks and have been having some issues.

The bike had 7,000 miles on it when I purchased.

Main Problem:

The bike is powering off when I decelerate. Some times I will be going 20-25 for a few miles in traffic (using clutch control in lower rpm's) and as soon as I come to a stop say at a light or stop sign it will sputter anywhere from 1-10 times while idling and then shut off. It will do this in first with the clutch in or in neutral. This also happens when driving 40-60 and then coming to a stop, or even going 100-120 on the freeway and it will shut off on the off ramp.

After it turns off I only have to wait a second or two and restart without issue. After going steady for a few lights it will repeat and do the same. Sometimes every light on the way home so it gets very frustrating. It drives very well over 40mph with no problems. It seems to try to die when driving slower then 30 and jumps often 25-40 to the point where I cant ride with my lady as its jerking around too much around town in low mph zones.

What I did wrong:

First off, I had no idea about the suggestions of higher octane gas and rode 500 miles(3.5 tanks of gas) in the first week with 87 octane.

As soon as I talked to a friend with a sportster he informed me that I indeed needed 91 octane and that was most of my problems.

How I tried to fix:

I then put a bottle of lucas octane booster in my just filled tank of 87 octane to try and help. (I had just topped off my tank with 87 before realizing I needed 91)

I rode past a friend on my way home from work and he called telling me how it sounded like **** and something must be wrong. He came over that night and we changed the transmission oil, oil and oil filter.

We used Maxima Extra4 oil for both 15w/50 - http://www.maximausa.com/shopping/in...byYvW3ilg6ZKA1

As I rode it after the oil change I noticed it shifting better and faster right off the bat although the sputtering and mysterious shut off was still there. I started topping off my tank with 91 octane after the oil change and have since rode 220 miles.

In those 220 miles it has not worked any better other then how the shifting feels a bit better after the tranny oil change.

I now have 720 miles on this bike and I don't feel very comfortable riding since I expect to have to walk it home at any time.

I assume the obvious answer is to take it back to the dealer, which is happening within the hour. I figured it didn't hurt to have a backup thread incase this has came up before.

I will post any news I hear on this ASAP!

 

So I took my bike to the dealer today and had the mechanic ride it around a bit. He noticed bad misfiring right away and did something to my o2 sensor and replaced the spark plugs.

Out of everything I personally did to try and help he mentioned putting in the octane booster was my biggest mistake. He sent me home with my bike running great and I have an appointment one week from my visit to check on it then. I was told to ride it normal and try to go through as much gas to clear out the octane booster since it can damage the inside of the tank (as he stated).

So far I rode to work this morning and it rode like it was new. I probably should have brought it in earlier and checked the plugs myself although I didn't have a deep socket at the time and was worried about the shop charging me bunches of money.

Biggs did no charge me for the plugs or install and they are all pretty much good people.

I hope this is the end of this thread.

 

Good to hear that you are back on the road. Do you have aftermarket exhaust or a different air cleaner? Changes to the air/fuel mixture can foul the plugs possibly causing the issues you describe. This is the reason that most use an aftermarket fuel tuner to dial it in just right.

 

So it was not a problem with fuel then. Instead it was a bad O2 sensor that caused the ECU to run in closed loop dumping a bunch of fuel and fouling the plug to the point of misfiring.

I wouldnt be worried about the booster damaging the inside of the metal tank. If it can damage metal then wtf is it doing to your fuel lines? Maybe they should stop selling the octane booster you will find over by the parts counter. I dont use it but I doubt it destroys the inside of a tank, otherwise there would be so many bikes with tqnks destroyed from the inside out that they would be left on the side of the road to rot.

 

I do have vance n hines pipes on the bike although I believe they are slip ons.

Correct. So far everything has been good, I rode a bit on lunch and it was working great!

I agree on the booster, I wasn't about to talk back but the fact that they sell the exact bottle I used ticked me off a bit. I think the tank will be ok.