hammer down
8th June 2006, 02:19
I noticed a slight miss at idle and progressively worse through 5k rpm. Brought it to the first dealer and they proclaimed that it needed a jet before they even listened to the bike! They installed a 45 s.j. and it did run better because it was very lean, I already new that from when I switched out the plugs trying to figure the problem out. When I got home I called the dealer and told them the miss was still there they said they couldn’t get the bike back in for two weeks for any REAL diagnostic work.
I had today off and was determined to get the bike fixed one way or another. I grabbed my timing light and stuck it on both plug wires. The front wire pulsed perfect never missing a beat. The back wire intermittently fired and came to a stop anywhere above 3k. I then removed the coil and tested the primary and secondary side. The primary showed open on the rear cylinder side, problem solved!
I called around to every dealer within eighty miles trying to find someone who could take the five minutes it requires to change out my coil with no luck other than the furthest dealer who is also my selling dealer, they said they could take a look at it if I could hang around for awhile. I get there and the wrench takes my bike for a ride and said there’s nothing wrong with it! Then two more employees including the service manager drove it and said how great it ran, no problems. I re-explain the diagnostic work I had already done and he agrees to have at least have a further look at it. He hooked it up to his computer and ran a coil test that showed nothing wrong. I asked him to test the coil with an ohm meter and he refused. He mumbled something to the effect that with these new coils that an ohm meter is not accurate. I mention to him the outlined procedure in the Harley Service Manual, and he still refused.
I went to the parts counter bought the coil and installed it in the parking lot, with all the mechanics conveniently on break watching me, with my allen wrench I brought along just in case I had a complete coil failure on the road. I could tell immediately just from the idle that the bike was fixed and asked the service manager to ride it again to confirm. He rode it and said he noticed no difference! To give you an idea how much better it ran, the throttle position that had to be held to maintain 60mph on the road would now propel the bike at over 75mph, before when fully opening the throttle in 5th gear at 60mph it took four seconds to reach 65, now the same four seconds brings on a speed of almost 80!
The good news is the bike now runs at its potential and I now have a solid baseline for my modifications. And something I have always known still holds true unfortunately, If you want it done right do it yourself even at your own expense. Dealers and warranty be damned!
I had today off and was determined to get the bike fixed one way or another. I grabbed my timing light and stuck it on both plug wires. The front wire pulsed perfect never missing a beat. The back wire intermittently fired and came to a stop anywhere above 3k. I then removed the coil and tested the primary and secondary side. The primary showed open on the rear cylinder side, problem solved!
I called around to every dealer within eighty miles trying to find someone who could take the five minutes it requires to change out my coil with no luck other than the furthest dealer who is also my selling dealer, they said they could take a look at it if I could hang around for awhile. I get there and the wrench takes my bike for a ride and said there’s nothing wrong with it! Then two more employees including the service manager drove it and said how great it ran, no problems. I re-explain the diagnostic work I had already done and he agrees to have at least have a further look at it. He hooked it up to his computer and ran a coil test that showed nothing wrong. I asked him to test the coil with an ohm meter and he refused. He mumbled something to the effect that with these new coils that an ohm meter is not accurate. I mention to him the outlined procedure in the Harley Service Manual, and he still refused.
I went to the parts counter bought the coil and installed it in the parking lot, with all the mechanics conveniently on break watching me, with my allen wrench I brought along just in case I had a complete coil failure on the road. I could tell immediately just from the idle that the bike was fixed and asked the service manager to ride it again to confirm. He rode it and said he noticed no difference! To give you an idea how much better it ran, the throttle position that had to be held to maintain 60mph on the road would now propel the bike at over 75mph, before when fully opening the throttle in 5th gear at 60mph it took four seconds to reach 65, now the same four seconds brings on a speed of almost 80!
The good news is the bike now runs at its potential and I now have a solid baseline for my modifications. And something I have always known still holds true unfortunately, If you want it done right do it yourself even at your own expense. Dealers and warranty be damned!