Just Pu my New 08 SG.Its all stock,but getting torn apart this week for wheels,fenders,pipes,etc.So sometimes the bike Idles really high?I was told that if ya shut the bike off idling hi-it will idle at the ;ast knowRPM,when you restart it??I also noticed that when its idling hi,you can turn the idle down by closing the throttle back?Then the Cruise Control Light Flashes??I finally got it to idle down after shutting it on & off 4 times,with the throttle back to lower the idle.Sooo does any of this seem right???

 

Just talked to the dealer this morning about the idle problem. He advised me to not use the kill switch but use the ignition switch until such time as they have a fix for the ECM, hope this helps

 

WoW!For real?So kill the bike with the ignition switch eh?Ill try that.Figure there will be a recall on it??

 

Hello.
First you have to get Harley to admit there is a problem befor they will recall it.

 

08's arent he only ones:
https://www.hdforums.com/m_1881965/m...tm.htm#3421557

 

Richy,

Nope, it ain't but 'they all do it' I'm afraid. I had the same story with mine last month, so pin back your eyelids & let me explain what happened to me..

Picked up the StreetGlide about four weeks ago & had to rush about to get a thousand miles up to get my free service before my holiday, from which I've just returned. Part of the plan to put some miles on included a trip up to the Lake District & back via the Yorkshire Dales, but the day before I went the bike went beserk & ran at 2000rpm in tickover. It wouldn't slow the bike down & generally scared the poo out of me.

Ran over to the dealers who simply suggested bringing the bike in, but nothing more positive than that. Struggled up to the lakes & back by pushing the throttle forward before switching off.

Service was the next week & it came back the 12 miles home very well. Big sighs all round.

However, The next week I caught a ferry down to Spain & started a ten week holiday with friends by running Northern Spain, Andorra and the Pyrannees, before the French Riviera & the HOG rally at St Tropez. By the third day, it was getting hard to get the bike to tickover & slow. I ended up freewheeling around some of the tighter hairpins!!

There was a technical tent at the HOG rally, made up from techs from several local dealerships & I went to book the bike in. The charismatic French foreman at the desk came out and explained..

He sat on the bike and asked me what I did when I stopped the engine. I showed him that I used my right thumb to flick the killswitch to off & then turned the ignition off.

He tutted & explained that ( and I'll quote here) "Ze bike is like a beautiful woman. If you switch ze engine off by using ze ignition, she thinks 'I'm falling asleep happy' - use ze kill switch and she thinks she has been hit on ze head. When she wakes she thinks she is still doing what she did before"

He went on to say that the kill switch is for emergency only, and that you should always use your right hand to turn the ignition off. Why? Read on..

He put the kill switch to ON, turned the radio off & turned the ignition switch to ON, waited for engine light to go out, counted out aloud One Second, Two Seconds etc for five seconds and turned the ignition switch to off, counted out five seconds and repeated the whole process five times.

He looked at me, kissed his forefinger & stared at me whilst he simply pushed his forefinger on the starter & bugger me, the bike started and idled like a pussycat tamed!!!

I'd run it to him not five minutes ago at 2200rpm and here it was sitting at a steady 1000rpm. I could have kissed him!!

The process simply resets the ECU to factory settings & is caused by using the kill switch to stop the engine whilst holding the throttle. Apparently, the throttle is very electronically sensitive and the reason he suggested using the right hand to switch the ignition off was to alleviate the hand affecting the throttle at the point of switchoff.

Had he not done it in front of me, I wouldn't have believed it. I've just done a thousand miles home & by doing this, the bike has never misbehaved once.

Strange but true.

Is it a 'fault' with 08's? Up for debate, but all I know is, it works.

Ihope it works for you.

Steve

 

There have been alot of posts about this and its gets to be a pretty heated discussion! You shouldn't be shutting the bike off when it is idling high anyway! First off shut the bike off with the kill switch like it was made to do when the bike idles down. Second when you roll the throttle back to the stop and the idle goes downand the cruise light turns green you are turning on the Engine Idle Temperature Management when it turns orange or red you are turning it off. Read your manual before you go anyfurther thats why they provide it. I didn't know about this either. I am sure you will find some interesting stuff in there these bikes arent the old carb harleys we are used to. They have a lot of good technology put into building them. If you do a search you will find threads about this very same issue and how to correct it. if you turn the kill switch on and then cyce the ignition switch 4 times leaving the yellow engine light go out each time with about 10 seconds in between the cycles yo will reset the idle. This isn't a problem with the bike it is a poblm with the operator shutting it down at high idle there is no reason to shut yur bike down at high idle. Because technically if you do shut it down at high idle the injectors are injecting more fuel into the cylinder to burn off. You don't do it with your car or truck why do i with your bike?

 

Ya know,I cant believe I Even shut the bike off,above idle?Im not even really sure that I do?But I guess I must be if thats whats causing this mess.Ok,Ill use the old ignition switch when shutting her down.Nice Bike other than that!

 

Well they all don't do it! Mine hasn't done it since I've owned it and I kill it every time with the kill switch. I still think it's because some don't let it idle down. Maybe the fact the kill switch is so close that some might have there finger on the button before they even stop. Reaching down to the ignition switch might be enough time to let it idle down. Just a thought.

 

That is the cause of it. I you watch the RPMs idle down to idle I bet you will never have a problem. When you stop you will notie it takes a second for them to bottom out.