FWIW, Valero is not a top teir gasoline.

 

What does east of the sierras have to do with anything? Plenty of elevation change east or west of the sierras.

 

My 2012 FLHTK with the 103 also had some detonation / pinging from time to time if the circumstances were just right. I retuned the ecm with a Dyno Jet Power Vision using their "Improved Stock" tune and I haven't had the problem since, though I did it close to the end of the riding season here in NY so I didn't put a whole lot of miles on yet.

From my and a couple of friends experiences, plus a whole lot of reading on this forum, it seems the late model 103s are set very close to the limit of ridability to meet EPA demands. If your bike was detonating the ECM would have retarded the timing to try to get rid of it, and by doing so, it would have lowered the power output. The more the detonation, the more the ecm would try to correct it, and the worse the bike would feel.

I'd recommend some kind of tuner. The Power Vision is very easy to use and very adaptable for any mods I do as long as I own it and the bike. There's plenty of others out there, so do your research.

Over the winter, I'm doing the open air cleaner and freer flowing exhaust headpipe. I plan on re-tuning again to compensate for the improved breathing mods... I'll post how it runs after all the nasty white crap melts from the roads

Best of luck!

 

Which is my point. My '11 RKC should run well anywhere in the USA. Just because we hit 4000 foot elevation is no reason for the bike to ping and lose power. A new car would not lose power or ping. As you can tell, I am frustrated.

 

Good information.

I am just frustrated because a car would not act up like this. I expect that I could drive my Ford Excursion to the top of Pike's Peak without an issue.

And, there are Harleys all over the world that, I assume, run well at all kinds of elevations.

And, it should work well in stock configuration.

 

Do you push your engine sometimes?
You could also have poor compression due to sticky piston rings. I frequently take mine to 5,500 rpm under 1/2 throttle to avoid this.

 

Totally concur that a stock EFI should not do this. The engine's barometric sensor is constantly sampling air pressure to maintain proper fuel/air ratio regardless of altitude. Walk, don't run back to the dealer - stay stock until this problem is resolved.

 

Their have been reports of stations selling regular gas from the premium pump. Just saying.

 

I question the quality of high octane gas if it has ethanol in it. How many vehicles besides us bikers use premium anymore? How long does the gas sit in the tank at the station? AND , we all know that ethanol has a low shelf life, saying that I would try something like 105+ as an additive to see if it helps. Just thinking !!

 

One would think so but being air cooled the ECM has less control thanks to EPA rules, plus the loss of 10% power in your 300hp Ford is not much but 10% of your 74hp bike is more noticeable.