Ping when accelerating
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 3,902
Likes: 1,033
From: Southern Virginia
One thing I'll add is I never had any ping on any Harley until I upgraded the cam in my 114. Before the cam upgrade I had no ping at all on 93 even in 100 degree heat. Not even if I lugged the engine. My adventures with pinging started when installing the SE 447 cam and using the canned tune from Harley's tuner to maintain warranty. Fortunately the tuner does have the ability to correct the problem, you just have to learn how to do it.
Also I'll add the less restrictive mufflers made the pinging worse. When I switch to a more restrictuve muffler (Fuel Moto Jackpot) I was able to run the canned Harley tune with very little pinging. Boosting the VE tables got rid of most of that and gave it a good bit more power. One tick off of the timing advance took care of the rest of it.
Also I'll add the less restrictive mufflers made the pinging worse. When I switch to a more restrictuve muffler (Fuel Moto Jackpot) I was able to run the canned Harley tune with very little pinging. Boosting the VE tables got rid of most of that and gave it a good bit more power. One tick off of the timing advance took care of the rest of it.
Tourer
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 406
Likes: 343
From: Coastal Carolina
I have a local non-ethanol pure gas close to the house but its only 90 octane... It runs fine in the bike except on a very hot day as I get a tiny bit of ping under heavy load. A tiny bit of octane boost fixed the issue.
I have recently found one station in my area with 93 ethanol free gas and I get no pinging with the 93.
I prefer to use non-ethanol and that 90 octane is one block from my house but my SE Stage 2 setup likes what the book calls for, 91 or better octane.
I have recently found one station in my area with 93 ethanol free gas and I get no pinging with the 93.
I prefer to use non-ethanol and that 90 octane is one block from my house but my SE Stage 2 setup likes what the book calls for, 91 or better octane.
6th Gear
Joined: Mar 2025
Posts: 10
Likes: 1
From: Northern CA.
Watch out for octane boosters on your Catalytic Converter bike. They have lead additives to boost octane but can and will kill your cat. It would be nice to know what the fuel system and O2 parameters are during the condition. These bikes run narrow band O2 sensors, there's not a lot of room for fuel management like with wide band sensors, especially if something is wrong upstream.
As to your suspicion of "ping"... Be sure your using at least 91-92 octane and even try a different brand. Check the crankcase breather system, for overwhelming the intake with crankcase vapors, that can dilute the A/F charge causing a lean scenario. It also causes excessive carbon build-up on the pistons and valves. Carbon build-up increases your compression ratio, thus causing detonation/ping. Other possibilities: wrong map, timing curve, restricted/dirty injectors, air leaks behind the throttle plate (the crack they said you have in the intake), wrong heat range spark plugs (which would be very remote on a Harley but it could happen if someone was goofin around) carbon build-up on pistons/combustion chambers due to the wonderful crankcase breathing system Harley's have.
I've cleaned my injectors with Chevron Techron, using measured amounts with fill-ups with great results. Because of the smaller fuel tank, you must do it several times when filling the tank to empty the bottle with measured amounts. I've also cleaned combustion chambers removing the horrible carbon build-up. The intake and valves get really covered with carbon from the crankcase vent system. I've re-routed my vent system to atmosphere and that was an big improvement. My pistons now have minimal carbon build-up. I use a bore scope to inspect the combustion chambers. You can get an inexpensive one on Amazon.
Stu
As to your suspicion of "ping"... Be sure your using at least 91-92 octane and even try a different brand. Check the crankcase breather system, for overwhelming the intake with crankcase vapors, that can dilute the A/F charge causing a lean scenario. It also causes excessive carbon build-up on the pistons and valves. Carbon build-up increases your compression ratio, thus causing detonation/ping. Other possibilities: wrong map, timing curve, restricted/dirty injectors, air leaks behind the throttle plate (the crack they said you have in the intake), wrong heat range spark plugs (which would be very remote on a Harley but it could happen if someone was goofin around) carbon build-up on pistons/combustion chambers due to the wonderful crankcase breathing system Harley's have.
I've cleaned my injectors with Chevron Techron, using measured amounts with fill-ups with great results. Because of the smaller fuel tank, you must do it several times when filling the tank to empty the bottle with measured amounts. I've also cleaned combustion chambers removing the horrible carbon build-up. The intake and valves get really covered with carbon from the crankcase vent system. I've re-routed my vent system to atmosphere and that was an big improvement. My pistons now have minimal carbon build-up. I use a bore scope to inspect the combustion chambers. You can get an inexpensive one on Amazon.
Stu
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 3,902
Likes: 1,033
From: Southern Virginia
As far as octane and ethanol shenanigans go I did an experiment one time. I tried 90 octane ethanol free and never heard such a racket from a motorcycle engine. Pinging so bad I thought the heads would fly off. I immediately put some octane booster in it to get through that tank of gas. That 90 octane ethanol free with octane booster didn't run any better than 93 octane ethanol gas did. Working with my tuner was what helped my get things straight, but as I mentioned before I swapped the cam I had no pinging at all evern after going with the Stage 1 upgrade and the Harley approved tune for it.
Good luck.
Good luck.
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Grand HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2007
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From: Chesterfield, VA
Most of my mileage is high speed interstate.
6th Gear
Joined: Mar 2025
Posts: 10
Likes: 1
From: Northern CA.
One other thought on this problem of carbon... The characterizes of Synthetic oil adds to the condition.
Last edited by sturtyboy; Mar 7, 2025 at 07:08 PM.