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Who has 50,000 plus miles on their bike without changing the fuel filter?
I just turned 53,000 and about a month ago decided it was past due so I bought the filter kit along with a new gasket and the (10) special sealing screws. They've been sitting on my workbench for about 2 weeks.
Sunday morning I went out for an early ride to beat the heat. Left at 6:00 AM and headed out for a three hour ride. About 30 miles into it I'm running on CC at about 70 MPH and started feeling a bit of a pulse, then some light sputtering and coughing. I immediately gassed the throttle and it accelerated very strong. Back into CC and another 1/4 mile or so same thing. I got off at the next exit, went directly home and changed out the filter.
Went for a short ride and bike runs strong. I hope that's all it was but I find it ironic that it was only after I had the parts sitting on my workbench that the filter realizes it's clogged. Of course since the MOCO recommends a change out every 25,000 miles I guess I was already on borrowed time.
It's really easy to do. I did mine on the FLHTK at 10,000 and the filter was nearly perfect. I don't know that I'd worry about it until 40-50,000 miles.
Edit - I just saw you have a 2007....That's a PITA.
Last edited by '05Train; Jun 29, 2016 at 05:00 AM.
If you have the original fuel hose, from the tank quick release to the throttle body, on your '07 you probably will need to replace that also. The original hard plastic fitting that goes into the quick release can go bad causing the check valve in the quick release to shut off the fuel flow. The replacement hose from H-D looks much different and is similar in design to the later fuel hoses.
Mine shut off while accelerating in a pack of bikes and I was lucky I did not cause a mass bike crash. Took me a while to find the cause too. Also check the o-ring in the quick release when you remove the hose and verify it is not torn up. Supposedly you can replace the o-ring, probably using a small pick to remove it and push in the replacement.
Here is a photo of what goes wrong. The red circle is where the fitting has worn from the 3 retaining ***** that hold the fitting in. The depressions caused the fuel fitting to move out just far enough the check valve shut off the fuel.
Here is what the new hose looks like. It appears H-D changed the design, probably because of this problem.
If you have the original fuel hose, from the tank quick release to the throttle body, on your '07 you probably will need to replace that also. The original hard plastic fitting that goes into the quick release can go bad causing the check valve in the quick release to shut off the fuel flow. The replacement hose from H-D looks much different and is similar in design to the later fuel hoses.
Here is what the new hose looks like. It appears H-D changed the design, probably because of this problem.
Thanks for this very useful information. I have had the fuel shut off twice on my 07 Road King, but not while moving. In both cases, the bike wouldn't start. First time it went home on a flatbed, since I didn't know what was causing the problem. I replaced the fuel filter and in the process, had the quick-disconnect apart from the tank, so probably "fixed" the problem by reconnecting it. Second time, I simply disconnected and reconnected it. Didn't know that the fuel hose fitting was bad itself.
I changed the the filter at 25k and 50k on my 2005, not that hard to do at all. They also provide a new in tank fuel line, but you need an extra hose clamp that is not included. Go get yourself another clamp before you start the job. Get it done, cheap insurance.
As far the fuel line goes, mine is original but I did need to replace the o-ring, get the "green" one. With a dental type pick, my wife was able to change it in about 2 minutes, she sees the little things better then me.
I always dreaded the ordeal to remove the filter/pump assembly on my 07 while trying not to scratch the tank. Has anyone changed the new style filter on the 09 and up? It has a bigger hole to in the top of the tank, and takes a special wrench to remove, and it looks a lot easier to do.
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Change your fuel filter?
