Baffled
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Novice
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 19
Likes: 3
From: Wichita, KS
Baffled
A friend has a Road King that has a miss in low gear only. All of the suggestions such as; bad gas, faulty ignition coil, bad spark plugs, plugged fuel filter, bad injectors are all eliminated in second gear. Any logical suggestions?
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 38,293
Likes: 6,322
From: Honah Lee
What rpm is the miss. Miss fires tend to occur at upper rpm and load range.
Interestingly my friend brought his Sporty to me and ask me what I thought was causing it to miss in first. Years back.
It wasn't missing. His drive cog belt and pulleys were so worn, it was slipping. Old Sporty with the AMF logo on the tank. Had over 100,000 on it then. Had it since new.
Still his favorite bike.
If it's a FI, and really missing, there should be codes.
Interestingly my friend brought his Sporty to me and ask me what I thought was causing it to miss in first. Years back.
It wasn't missing. His drive cog belt and pulleys were so worn, it was slipping. Old Sporty with the AMF logo on the tank. Had over 100,000 on it then. Had it since new.
Still his favorite bike.
If it's a FI, and really missing, there should be codes.
Last edited by Jackie Paper; Jan 31, 2024 at 07:35 PM.
Tourer
Joined: Dec 2022
Posts: 262
Likes: 112
From: Queens NY
Certain touring models of certain years had an issue of broken forward cylinder injector wire harness due to repeated flexing of the harness. Could it be the engine flexes just enough on take off to pull on the harness causing a misfire? It's easy and inexpensive to check. Push and pull on the forward injector's wire harness with the bike idling. If this induces the misfire you may have found the problem. Just a thought...
Last edited by dynoking; Feb 1, 2024 at 08:56 AM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 5,075
Likes: 3,293
From: Plover, WI
What rpm is the miss. Miss fires tend to occur at upper rpm and load range.
Interestingly my friend brought his Sporty to me and ask me what I thought was causing it to miss in first. Years back.
It wasn't missing. His drive cog belt and pulleys were so worn, it was slipping. Old Sporty with the AMF logo on the tank. Had over 100,000 on it then. Had it since new.
Still his favorite bike.
If it's a FI, and really missing, there should be codes.
Interestingly my friend brought his Sporty to me and ask me what I thought was causing it to miss in first. Years back.
It wasn't missing. His drive cog belt and pulleys were so worn, it was slipping. Old Sporty with the AMF logo on the tank. Had over 100,000 on it then. Had it since new.
Still his favorite bike.
If it's a FI, and really missing, there should be codes.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 2,681
Likes: 851
From: Puyallup, wa
That is a good guess! I am going with a 2008 RK that they just put bars on and Wrapped it in Hot Pink and Green!
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,061
Likes: 11,080
From: San Diego, CA
But that doesn't necessarily explain only missing in first gear... except... The engine tends to shake the most in the lower gear, so it could be a miss issue due to an intermittent electrical cause, that is exacerbated by the engine shaking, and disappears when it smooths out at higher rpm and higher gears...
Here is what to look for on the front spark plug wiring chafing issue...
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Road Master
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 908
Likes: 96
From: Red Deer, AB
Probably an FXB Sturgis. 1980 First Year belt drive. Still under AMF. I've seen others mistake them for a sportster. Actually a very cool ride.
To the OP. As others have said check front coil wire. Common issue especially if the mounts are getting weak allowing for movement.
To the OP. As others have said check front coil wire. Common issue especially if the mounts are getting weak allowing for movement.