2013 TG-New to me
 

I just picked up a 2013 Tri Glide today with only 7000 miles from the original owner, and it included an American Legend trailer. I rode it the 400 miles home today and it seems so underpowered and thirsty for fuel. I was mostly unloaded otherwise (besides the empty trailer), but in 6th gear it would only hold about 70mph and that was about it with a 20-30 mph crosswind. I really don't think it could have gone any faster than that. I was also stopping for fuel every 100-110 miles. Does this seem right??

I'm coming from an 03 Heritage Softail Classic and that bike has a lot more get up and go than this tri glide. Does the weight and trailer make that much difference, or do I have engine problems on this new bike?

Edit: The fill-ups were around 4 gallons, so I was getting about 25mpg roughly

Sounds like a plugged up air cleaner or just needs run to get old fuel out of it get it tuned up it will run much better than that. It sat longer than usual I would think it needs a good tune up. Change all three holes and a set of plugs new air cleaner etc. The trailer doesn't help either try it without the trailer. :icon_twocents: Keep us posted. travel safe Fred

You have to keep in mind you are driving a big wind board down the road, and with a 20-30mph crosswind against you and the trailer both, that wasn't too bad. Especially for a stock bike.
You have at least twice the wind resistance as a two wheeler just with the trike. Plus having the throttle wide open most of the time , there goes any mileage.
You would most likely do much better in 5th gear and let the engine run free and not lug it down in 6th.

I also ran 5th gear for awhile but it wasn't much better. I'll try it tomorrow without the trailer.

We had a '13 Trike. Power was acceptable and I think it averaged something like 33-35mpg. I'm guessing the trailer & crosswinds had an affect on the performance and fuel mileage you experienced. Like someone else mentioned, you are pushing a lot of air out of the way with the trike. We now have a '17 and it does have considerably more power. Not enough that it was the only reason we moved up, but it is noticeable. Fuel mileage is a bit better too.

I have a '13 Tri-Glide....lugging engine in 6th gear @ 70 mph with cross wind pulling an empty trailer doesn't help. I'm able to run 6th gear at 60 mph...but that's on flat roads. Keep each gear no lower than 2000 rpm's. Like others have mentioned, good tune-up would help. The Tri-Glides are heavier than your Heritage....don't compare apples to oranges! Enjoy the ride.

Well, I've been riding it for a couple weeks now without the trailer. It's better without the trailer, but it's still way slower than my completely stock 03 Heritage Softail with 90,000 miles. I replaced the spark plugs, and checked the air filter. It burns zero oil. Anything else I should check, or is it normal to be way slower than an 03 Heritage? I can't imagine riding in the mountains, 2-up, towing a trailer. I don't think I could keep up to 18-wheelers...

Take a half sheet of plywood cross-way behind you & put another 300#+on the seat with you then compare the two. LOL !

Congrats on your "new to you" Tri-Glide.

The power is between 2800-4500 RPM, if you are riding in that range and don't have good power, then something is wrong. You should be able to ride at 70 mph and hit the throttle and have no problem passing a semi...I do that regularly, bumping up to 85-95 mph while passing.

You should be able to set the cruise at 80 mph and have zero issues with it holding there, with more to draw on, if needed.

You should have much more power than your describing. There are a variety of reasons why you may not-

Could be as simple as not having a proper Stage I. Here's a LINK to some info.

Could be as simple as not having a good tune. Here's a LINK to some info on that.

Could be that there has been some heat damage. Yes, it can happen in less than 10k miles. A leak-down test will show if that is the case. It happened to me with my 2011 TG at less than 10K miles. HD replaced the entire top end of the engine under warranty.

After I got it back with the new engine I took steps to cool it down and prevent any further problems.

Since then we've ridden over 100k miles on Tri-Glides with plenty of power.

Below are a couple of links regarding Heat, power & longevity.

Link #1

Link #2

I had stage one done and then couple years later had dyno tune done. It was like night & day. You may want to have it tuned

Not sure how much you weigh, but your trike is about 300# heavier than your 2 wheeler plus your empty trailer is about another 500#. Your trike is geared higher than your 2 wheeler. When I "triked" I was pretty sure it would be slower than my Ultra was, and yes it was. BUT I was riding a completely different animal and expected it. When I want to go really fast I take the Ducate for a spin...... well, used to, it went away a couple of years later

I think there's something wrong there, no way should it feel limited to 70mph and be getting that low of mileage, especially if the trailer was empty and not going directly into the wind. And at only 7,000 miles. But four years or so is a lot of time sitting in a garage. I'd suggest someone go over it; might be corrosion on one of the sensors or their connectors or something degrading, plugged air filter, varnish in the fuel lines. Air flow or exhaust sensors, could those make it run really rich? Something isn't right.

7,000 miles in four years is less than 2,000 per year. More sitting than moving. If you haven't already, check everything! Sounds like you have done the "normal" things, fluids & filters. Check the brakes that they are releasing completely and that no calipers are sticking. If you can, check wheels bearings too. Make sure tire pressures are correct. Lots of little things can add up to poor performance. Finally, some of the best answers were contained in DK Custom's post. Good Luck!

Thanks for the replies guys. I ordered a leak down tester and should be able to check it out next week. Sure hoping I don't need engine work...

I replaced my spark plugs and the originals were very light, even white. I should get a tune to enrichen things up. @DK Custom, which one do you recommend? Stock pipes and stock air filter but I plan on cutting the cats out of my pipes and re-welding them back together. I don't see myself doing any other mods.

The Power Vision will give you the best possible tune, even in stock form, & the FP3 is a close 2nd. However, both of those may be overkill, depending on how important having the best tune is to you. If you are interested, they do both give you an additional gauge cluster while riding.

You can see more info on the Power Vision at this LINK.

What many have done that leave the air cleaner and exhaust stock (and I have done it myself with good results) is use the FL-ViED-10, which you can see at this LINK. It will enrichen the mixture up a bit, resulting in getting rid of that low speed hesitation, and will run the engine a tad cooler.

Here is a LINK to an overview of all the popular options in tuning, along with the pros and cons of each. You may find it useful/interesting.

I performed a leakdown test today and it took quite a bit of trial and error to get TDC, but eventually I got both cyclinders to read 10%. I should be very satisfied with that, no? That's with a brand new Motion Pro tester. So now I'll run a few tanks of BG44K fuel system cleaner thru it and hopefully find more power after that stuff cleans the injectors.

Per HD specifications in FSM for a TC 103- "Leakage greater than 10% indicates internal engine problems."

New engines are usually at 1-3%.

If you're at 10%, you are 1/10th of a % away from where HD would do a top end rebuild under warranty.

While 10% will definitely reduce power, I am not sure it will make it so poor that you can't accelerate from 70 to 80 quickly, or easily maintain 80 on relatively flat road.

I would start with inexpensive process of elimination, seeing what will bring your power up.

With having only 7000 miles on the trike, and already being at 10%, I would do what is necessary to prevent it from going beyond 10%...ie. don't let the temps exceed 250*, preferably keeping them down around 230* max.

Kevin

Wow, I didn't realize that Kevin. Thanks for pointing that out. The 10% leak is definitely coming out from the intake on each cylinder. I removed the air filter, and on each cylinder I can feel air blowing on my face from the throttle body. Now here is some performance numbers that I'd like opinions on from all you Tri Glide fellas...

50° outside, and all highways here are flat. My weight is 160lbs and no cargo on the bike this morning. Slight south breeze, so I rode highways in a square to offset the wind. Here are the results...

Northbound- 93mph top speed. Achieved in both 5th and 6th gear.

East/West- 88mph top speed. Achieved in both 5th and 6th gear.

Southbound- 85mph top speed. Achieved in 5th gear.

Is this inline with how others perform?

The air coming out thru the intake valves is almost assuredly a result of too much heat ruining the valve seats. Did you check to see if there was air coming out the exhaust? Usually exhaust valve seats will go before intake.

Not to feel too bad, a huge % 2007-up Twin Cams have this same issue, and the owners don't even know it, because the power degradation occurred gradually.


Re: your speed tests- That is a little bit on the low side...but probably in line with your 10%, and that it is choked down with the stock intake and exhaust.

What is more important than top speed is if you are going 65 or 70 and need to accelerate out of a situation, will it do it...or does it take a long time. Also, does it have power to get up hills or into a crosswind at a reasonable speed?

Kevin

I removed the exhaust system yesterday, cut it in half, removed the cat, and re-welded it back together. That oughta help it stay cooler. Sounds a bit better too.

Finally got to take a full trip with my 13 triglide. Left Florida on I 75 . Ran with traffic , mostly 75-83 mph. 26.3 mph.got off interstate got on to 301 back roads rest of the way to Ashville area . Speed range 45 to 70. Most of the divided parts of 301 is 65 mph speed limit. My fuel average has been 32 MPG. Will be on the Blue Ridge parkway for the next couple of days will see how that is . I will say the more I ride this bike that more I like it and I liked it from day one. I have gutted the cat put Street cannons on and a fuel Moto tuner. Helped cool the bike down. But yesterday morning I sure could have used some of that extra heat 45 degrees . Brrr

Well only got 1 day in the mountains. Average tank for that was 38.7. Weather was to be raining on Monday. And I had to de back to work on Wednesday. So I bugged out a day early. Back road riding was around 33 mpg. Hopped on the interstate anything over 70 milage drops to 25 mpg was was said else were. I can run 80 with traffic and crack the throttle and bas a semi no problem.

Glad to hear you're enjoying your new ride. Trikes are the New Cool