I ride a 2005 Road King Classic EFI and I am having a problem that is very hard to duplicate therefore very hard for the shop to fix. The bike is sputtering and missing in the low gears, not to the point that the bike shuts down but it is very annoying. Once I am up to speed and in 5th gear it seems to diminish and on the interstate at 70 mph pretty much not a factor. The bike has 40,000 miles on it and I had Departure Bike works put it on there Dyno when it was in to change the cam chain tension shoes and they added a little fuel but the miss in the motor didn't occur on the Dyno or the test ride. The motor has a 95" kit and that's what it is mapped for. I know the fuel filter has never been changed and was thinking this may be the problem but wanted to get some advice from you guys. People at the shop act like it is no big deal that the filter has not been changed. It just seems to be a fuel delivery problem to me but I could be totally off. Any help would be appreciated.

 

When was the last time you looked at or changed the spark plugs? Sounds like you might have a plug fouling.

 

I just changes them in December and they look great, have never fouled a plug but this problem has been occuring off and on for well over 6 months.

 

Pinhole in the fuel line inside the tank possibly. Happened to a lot of them. The corrugated tubing rubs inside and eventually a pinhole develops. If it were my bike I would change out the fuel filter and check/change the hose.

 

Good call Dawg...I forgot about that.

 

I went to check my plugs just to be sure and they both look good however I pull the plug wire on the front cylinder out as far as I could and found that it has been rubbing against the metal hose clip on the bottom front of my gas tank. The plug wire has some damge in that area and I think it may have been intermittently grounding out on that metal clip. Does that sound reasonable?

 

Put a spark tester on it .good luck.

 

if your plug wire has some damage in it, replace the plug wire and see if that's what it was doing. it's sounding like the current was acting like it's supposed to. that being following the path of least resistance. sounds to me like your plug wire was arcing to the easiest ground to get to. change out the plug wire, and route your new one properly and it'll most likely cure the poor running you've been experiencing.

 

Best of luck--But change the filter as Dawg said--you are on borrowed time

 

How fresh is the fuel ?

Old fuel with ethenol can be a real problem