Wanted to know if anyone else has had these problems with their Road Glide or know what the problem may be.

I traded a 2003 Low Rider for a 2006 Road Glide. I picked it up with 25 miles on the odometer after I had the dealer install the SE II mufflers, SE air cleaner and chip download. No other engine mods have been performed by me or the dealer.

At 175 miles it started stalling out after 5 miles or so. I took it in and they said it was a loose heat sensor and the problem was corrected.

Now at 370-80 miles another problem has popped up. On Tuesday, 28 March, I went to start it up for my commute to work. It backfired through the throttle body, started and seemed fine. No loss in oil pressure, noises, or other indicators that there may be a problem. That evening I started it for the commute home and got a substantial cloud of smoke (light color, bluish) out the right muffler. Now just about every time I start it I get a cloud of smoke from the right muffler. No additional problems noted....no loss of power or oil pressure, any engine noises, etc. Weird thing is it only seems to produce the smoke when bike has been parked at work (facing in or facing out), which is on a very slight incline when compared to my level garage. Now this problem only presented itself after the backfire Tuesday morning. Everyday before that there had never been any smoke. The incline it is parked on isn't enough to worry about leaving the bike in neutral, although I leave it in 1st just in case.

Since the 1st day of ownership, I have parked it in the garage and it seems to produce a very rich smell of gas when sitting there cooling off. The other two carbureted bikes (FXD and FXDL) never produced this smell of gas. Is this normal for a fuel injected model?

Today I talked to the owner of a 2005 Road Glide with the exact same pipe and muffler upgrade and he hasn't had any of these problems. I also looked at the gap between the heat shield (near right foot board) on the right exhaust and he doesn't have any signs of bluing. My bike with 425 miles on it is showing significant bluing at that area.

Any thoughts or comments before I take it to the dealer on Tuesday? Any help or information would be greatly appreciated.

 

Wind - that's really strange. I have never experienced any of that, nor have I heard anyone else mention those symptoms.

Since ~90% of the exhaust comes out the right muffler, it does not tell you which cylinder is smoking. On the surface, it sounds like a valve seal or something of that nature. I'd probably try not to ride it between now & the time you take it in. If there is a problem, you don;t wnat to risk causing any possible damage.

Hopefully, you have a decent dealership and they will make it right ASAP. THat is a great bike and you should not be experiencing those problems.

Good luck & let us know what they find.

Phil

 

The smell of raw gasoline is a giveaway that something isn't right. I've never smelled raw gas with my EFI Road King. Get it checked before your bike turns into a Harley flambe.

 

I'm not saying that something's not wrong, but I've had 1 EFI Buell, 1 carbed Dyna, 1 EFI Dyna and now an EFI RG. After a ride, all 4 produced the smell of gas when cooling down in the garage. Other than relatively poor mileage on my Glide so far, I've not had any engine problems or excessive blueing on any of them. I've always just chalked up the post-ride smell as another one of those characteristics of a Harley engine.

Now you've got me paranoid. [sm=headbang.gif]

 

My RG smells like gas if i fill her up and then drive straight to my garage. The tilt casues some to leak. You can smell it. I try to drive my bike home close to empty and fill her up when I leave for my ride in the morning. It never smells doing this method.

Now for the smoke and other symptoms....?

 

I had a simmilar problem with it coughing through the throttle body. From what I understand it is caused from it being too lean you may want to try a TFI or a Power Commander.

What about your break in? You said you are at 370 to 380 miles, how are/have you been riding it? I took it easy for the first 500 miles for the rings to seat, then rode it normal.

Either way take it back to the dealer, it is under warranty.

 

Beings that it is new, best to have it checked ASAP. Excessive fuel in the cylinder could wash the cylinder wall with gas, and prevent the needed oil on the cylinder wall and mess up the rings seating. At times, if you have been riding hard, it could have caused more fuel situation.

 

I appreciate all of the input. This is my 3rd Harley (2001 FXD, 2003 FXDL, and 2006 RG). I have followed the break-in procedure to a "T". I did not have these issues with the 1st two bikes, even though they were carbureted. I know what I did for mile 25.8 to the current 420 miles, but I have no clue how it was treated at the dealer for the first 25.8 miles. Why there was even that amount of miles, I’m not sure. I received my firtst two bikes while in Naples, Italy. Their journey from the factory to Germany and the final destination of Naples resulted in less than 5 miles on the odometer. I'm definitely taking it back to the dealer in the morning. If they haven’t fixed it by Thursday, I won’t be able to pick it up until next Thursday, 13 April, and I’ll post whatever things they found wrong with it, if anything. My luck, it won’t smoke again until I head to work the morning after I pick it up. Again, thank you for the help, suggestions and info. Ride Safe…

Bill

 

Deathwind,

Just my .02. You may want to hold off on doing anything to your bike until after you have your 1k service done! Let's see how she does after she gets all her fluids changed and spark plugs cleaned! Regarding the coughing through the intake, sounds like you're running a bit lean. At the same time, I'm also wondering if the Stage I download the dealer did was the "Most" correct one for your set up? You probably already know that this download is a "hit-or-miss" kind of thing. To me, it's rip-off. All this download does is to allow your engine's RPM to go from 4500 max to 6200 max. And, maybe (just maybe) the mapping will work for your intake and exhaust configuration.

Nonetheless, the RG is a great bike! I have over 19k on mine and she's running like a dream! Welcome to the RG family!

Da Kahuna!

 

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