Ping?
Banned
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 2,323
Likes: 1
From: Arizona
I have a question for you. Do you usually fuel at the same station?
If so I would suggest fueling at a different station for awhile and seeing if your detonation problem goes away. Harley says 91 octane . 93 octane should be more than sufficient. The station might be using the 93 octane tank as the "junk" tank, dumping excess regular and midgrade into the premium tank. If the station did this enough it could lower the octane rating in the tank. The chance of this being noticed is practically nill since the majority of peoples cars who use premium dont require it. They only do it because they think it will be better for there car.
Another interesting thought. A stock 96 engine has 9.5 to 1 compression. 87 octane fuel should be more than adequate for that compression ratio. 89 at the most. Yet the motor runs so lean that 91 octane is required to battle detonation.
Banned
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 2,323
Likes: 1
From: Arizona
Couldn't agree more, displacement will only get you so far, then you need to start employing some technology and engineering. The air cooled motor isn't necessarily a problem, but the lack of further developing a better air cooled design is just irresponsible. Show me one automaker that uses the same engine for 20 years but just keep bumping up the displacement. They don't, they redesign and build new motors. It's doable, but it takes money. Just adding more cooling fin surface area would help with overheating and pinging, but that requires retooling, why bother when they are going to sell them anyway. Hell, if I had the resources, facilities, and eqiupment, I could build a better Harley mousetrap. Eventually HD will run out of new suckers, then they will have to do something different, but so long as they are reeling in new customers with the same ole, they would be foolish to put any more money into their product and take less profit. The good news is the Twin Cam has pretty much run its course, it won't be long before we see a new powerplant.
Thread Starter
|
Advanced
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 94
Likes: 0
From: Houston, Texas
Tried this. I normally would fill up at a Shell station by the shop. I now fill up at a Chevron a little bit down the road. It did help quite a bit. I wont be filling up at Shell anymore.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,916
Likes: 31
From: earth
Oh brother, here we go with the semantics again, I hate having to break it down to the molecular level, that really detracts from the discussion. My intent was the next engine design to replace the powerplant in the current Twin Cam platforms. While Harley does produce the water-cooled Revolution mill exclusively for the VRod, it is not the staple motor in all big twins and to my knowledge a replacement motor for the Twin Cam has not yet been unveiled. For a few hundred bucks per bike, they could simply add a ceramic coating to the piston domes, combustion chambers, exhaust port, and exhaust headers of the current motor, and that alone would knock the hell out of the heat issue, and it would be way cheaper than actually redesigning a new motor. The air-cooled motor doesnt have to fall to the wayside, with a little redesigning and R&D, it could be quite viable for many more years to come. Achieving a new EPA compliant air-cooled motor would not necessarily be cheap or easy but it could be done. My issue with HD is they only do what they have to, to correct major problems, they havent made any significant improvements in the Twin Cam, they have only made it cheaper and sloppier since it inception, and still sell it for the same price. A car has many more elements and is far more expensive to produce, automakers design and build a new powerplant and driveline for almost every new model they produce, yet you can buy several different makes and models of new cars today for less than a new touring Harley, that has been built using the same production tooling for 13 years, and some common components longer than that. Just sayin.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,115
Likes: 5
From: SoCal
Mine pings if I goof when taking off or goose it at too-low RPM. The best tuned car in the world will ping at too-low Rs, too.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
