Ran out of gas

(4/11/2014) If you've read my recent blog posts, you'll know that I recently had my fuel pump assembly replaced. You'll also know that the fuel gauge float is attached to the fuel pump assembly inside the gas tank. Well, last week, I ran out of gas for the first time in my life and I blame the float.

Apparently, the fuel gauge now behaves differently when I'm low on gas: the reading I used to think meant I had 30 or so miles to go now means I've got about 3 miles or less. Last Thursday on my way to a networking meeting, I ran out of gas at the top of the Harrison Avenue ramp off I40.

The good news is that I immediately recognized what happened and called my friend Mike Russo, who once again came to my rescue. Fortunately, he lives about a mile and half down the road and was there with a gas can in 15 minutes.

In the meantime, a Gold Wing rider, named Jack, saw me stuck by the side of the road and when I signaled for help, pulled over and helped me push my bike about 50 yards up a slight incline into a parking lot and away from morning rush hour traffic.

I was back on the road in about 25 minutes, skipped the networking meeting, and arrived at work a little early. I will be sure to pay this help forward.

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Next up: I'm dealing with a leaking rear brake line and a cold idle problem. Solutions to both problems are in the works and I will write about them soon.

Keep the shiny side up!

-The Long Rider

Adding insult to injury: a busted clutch cable

[3/20/2014] Well, Kevin and Jim got my bike running on Tuesday. However, as if my bike needed any more problems to convince us it's cursed, the clutch cable broke while Kevin was test riding it. And while he was standing by the side of the rode waiting to get picked up, it began snowing. (Winter sucks!)

Kevin had to call his brother Matt to come and get him with a trailer. Fortunately, my friend Mike Russo now parks his covered trailer at Jockeys' and lets them use it for just such circumstances.

The really funny part is that Mr. Russo was joking with Kevin, Matt, Jim, and me last week that he needs to keep the trailer (rather than sell it) because of my bike. As you may know from reading some of my earlier blog posts, Mike had to come and get me and my dead machine along I540 last summer and he and I have spent many hours in his garage over the last couple of years fixing all kinds of problems. Little did he know how soon another rescue of my bike would be needed! (He laughed mightily when he heard the story from Kevin.)

I got the bike back today and it runs great. The problem turned out to be in the fuel system (details are a trade secret :-) and Kevin now believes my old fuel pump was near death and it was, in hindsight, excellent timing that I decided to replace it.

About that clutch cable (photo above right; click for a closeup)...it broke at the lever, with the ring at the end snapping off. When I had Jimmy put new, longer handelbars on the bike a few years ago, it caused problems with my cruise control/cancel switch (throttle cables weren't long enough, as we figured out later) and he told me that is was a real bitch getting the stock clutch cable on with the longer bars. Well, that extra tension finally took its toll this week. I told Kevin about the longer bars and he put a "plus 2" cable on there, a cable two inches longer than stock.

The bike now runs great and I am ready for Spring to arrive tomorrow. The weather here is supposed to be 70 and sunny in the afternoon. Bring it on! (My sympathies to those of you in colder climates.)

Keep the shiny side up.

The Long Rider

HD fuel system, engine control module (ECM), and idle air control (IAC)

[3/10/2014; updated 3/16/2014] Well, the fine gentlemen at Jockeys Cycle are still sleuthing for the cause of my engine's problem(s). I took the bike for a test ride early last week and it was actually running worse than before: very low power and a great deal of misfiring. I don't blame the guys at Jockeys; it's like I told them, if it was a simple problem, I wouldn't need them. (They're quickly developing a fondness for carburetors, by the way.)

When I returned from my test ride, Kevin pulled the rear plug and it was clear that the rear cylinder was running very lean. This was in spite of the computer connected to the ThunderMax module indicating a relatively rich fuel-air mixture. I'm thinking that the ThunderMax ECM is basically saying that on the assumption that the fuel system is delivering as it's supposed to, then we have a good fuel-air mixture. Unfortunately, the computer is like me at work: I can tell someone to do something, but if they're incapacitated, then I can holler at them all day long and it won't make much difference.

In addition to poor engine performance, I’ve been getting unacceptable fuel mileage on my bike for a year or more: 28 mpg city and 32 mpg highway, on a good day. Also, the bike would not idle smoothly when started cold. Thus I’ve been on a quest to diagnose and repair the problem(s).

I decided to start by having Kevin replace the fuel pump and fuel filter (HD 62897-01B). This followed my experience last fall with a dead fuel pressure regulator, where I took my two-wheeler to the Harley-Davidson dealership in Durham to have them replace it--which took them three weeks! (That whole experience turned out to be a real adventure. Please refer to my blog post about that for details.)

It happened that there was another 2006 Electra Glide Classic with similar mileage (~90K) at the dealership with a failed fuel pump at the same time my bike was there. The whole experience made me curious about the entire fuel system.

Given that I plan on riding more than 15,000 miles in 2014, including an 8,000+ mile ride to Banff, Alberta and Portland, Oregon in July, I want to be sure I do everything I can (afford) to avoid any catastrophic failures while on the road. In addition to the fuel pump, I asked Kevin to replace my fuel filter, but it turns out that the fuel filter is part of the Fuel Pump Assembly, and one cannot change the pump and filter independently of one another. (Refer to the illustration above/right. Click on it to display a larger image.)

Until now, I had never seen the fuel pump assembly for my bike. It’s a real Rube Goldberg-looking thing; like something Dr. Seuss dreamt up. I couldn’t resist taking a picture and posting it here. It’s the craziest looking part on the bike—and it’s all hidden inside the gas tank!

[In the photo at left, you can see HD Fuel Pump Assembly, which includes the pump itself, a mounting bracket, and the fuel filter--the pad protruding out at the base.]

So, Kevin and Jim put everything back together and tuned the new ThunderMax engine control module (ECM) but could not get the cold idle to work. When you started the bike cold, for example, first thing in the morning, it wouldn't idle without lots of help manually working the throttle for 2-3 minutes. These guys were about to rip their hair out until they isolated the problem to the Idle Air Control (IAC) [HD 27658-06]. (Refer to the photo below, right.)

With the old ECM and Power Commander module, the IAC—with its worn spring—didn't appear as a problem. But anyone who has experience working on complex systems knows that when you replace one part of the system, it can reveal problems in other parts. Replacing the IAC did the trick. It's likely that the "stepper motor" was failing on the old unit.

Combining the fuel pump replacement with additional tuning of a newly-installed ECM has turned out to be quite a learning experience. I'll post an update when the guys at Jockeys have figure it all out.

As always, keep the shiny side up.

-The Long Rider

Tip: Record your mileage and fuel consumption when filling up so you can calculate your fuel mileage. If you’re getting low mileage, you’ve got reason to begin an investigation into an engine problem.

Don't be a lemming...

(2/22/2014) I had a major stupid moment today while riding...the kind that can lead to serious bodily harm. Fortunately, I managed to avoid any damage, this time. I was in a group of four, in the number two position. The lead rider is relatively inexperienced and his riding skills are average at best. I was in the number two position because neither of our other two mutual friends wanted that spot for fear of danger and stress...a well-founded fear as it turns out.

We were out on a North Carolina country road in Halifax County when we came to a T-stop in the road. We needed to turn left to continue in the desired direction. The lead rider was on my left and we were signaling for a left turn and in position. Our friends were right behind us, also stopped. The lead rider started to go, so I began to pull out slightly behind him and to his left. I was watching him rather than traffic. Bad idea.

The lead rider pulled out in front of an oncoming car from our left. He had obscured my line of sight down the road just long enough for me to not see the car. But my key mistake was following him and not looking out for myself. Why this struck as me as really stupid is that I just took a safety class with the Cary Police Department last fall in which we discussed this very subject. We had even watched videos in which we laughed at the foolish riders who followed their leads into ditches, off cliffs, etc. And there I was, doing it myself!

Fortunately, the driver of the oncoming car was paying attention and saw us pull out in time to skid to a stop. As you can imagine, he was very unhappy with us, but clearly relieved that all that was lost was some rubber from his tires.

The lead rider pulled into a gravel parking lot a couple of miles down the road for a break. In the parking lot, my friend Mike gestured with his hand toward him, in the manner of a priest giving Last Rites. The lead rider looked at us and asked me what he was doing, and I told him, "He's giving you Last Rites." The entire idea was lost on him. Mike knew how close we had come to real disaster.

I have no idea why my lead rider pulled out.* I do know that I was thoughtless at that critical moment. I let my mind wander and depended on a rider who I knew had a habit of getting into dangerous situations. I got lucky today; but that's the kind of luck that can run out in a heartbeat.

Here's what I learned from this experience:

1. When you go on a group ride, consider who is leading. Consider who is riding in front of you or next to you. Ask yourself how safe, experienced, and skilled they are, and then adjust your personal ride plan accordingly. Rather than enhancing your safety, sometimes riding in a group increases your risk when the riders around you introduce dangerous behaviors.**
2. Remember that you are responsible for yourself and that even in a group, you need to take responsibility for your own safety. It's also helpful if these same actions protect the other riders in your group. In other words, try to be safe but also consider the needs of the group.

Coincidentally, a tractor trailer separated me from the other three on a ramp onto I95 south on our return trip; and though I rode just at the speed limit for several miles, there was no sign of them. I suspected they were just going slowly, which I wanted no part of, especially on I95! After several miles, I bumped up my cruise control to 75 mph (in a 70 mph speed zone) and enjoyed a smooth ride all the way to US64 west and home solo. I was very relaxed and had no problems the entire way.

Last fall I enjoyed a ride out to Little Switzerland, North Carolina with members of the Raleigh HOG Chapter. These were all experienced riders, most with many training courses under their belt. It was the best group ride I've ever been on. We all could cruise down Interstate 40 and other roads at a steady speed in formation for hours with great fluidity and safety. Group riding can work when done right.

As always...keep the shiny side up.

-The Long Rider

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*Our lead rider said nothing about this incident. I discussed it in detail with my friend Mike, who took the class with me last fall. He agreed I had a stupid moment and was extremely relieved that it ended OK.

**The rider in the third position had a bad habit of leaving large gaps between himself and the rider ahead of him. More than once on today's ride, other motor vehicles took this as an invitation to move in there.

Brain-damaged engine

(2/1/2014) In many ways, the Engine Control Module (ECM) is the brain of a modern Harley V-Twin motor. Unfortunately, it's a black box both conceptually and physically: you don't get to peak inside.  When it starts to fail, you have to replace it; there's no repairing it.

(The back side of my damaged ECM is shown in the photo at left.)

For the last year or so, I have had a problem with ignition dropouts. At first, the problem was only apparent during warmup at idle RPMs. However, in December, the engine would miss badly at random times and RPM levels. Then, a few weeks ago, the engine would jump all over the RPM range when warming up. It was weird watching the techometer needle jump around (and hearing the engine revving) from 800 RPM to 3200 RPM to 2000 RPM and so on, for no apparent reason. It looked like my bike had lost its mind.

And in a way, it did. About three weeks ago, I managed to ride it to Jockeys Cycles in Morrisville--located in Jimmy Winter's old place--where Kevin and Jim diagnosed the problem as a faulty ECM, and possibly a bad temperature sensor. After some investigation, we decided to replace both the stock Harley-Davidson (HD) ECM (part number 32852-06) and Power Commander III with a single Thunder Max Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) control module (part number 309-340). This was the least expensive option ($485 in this case) yet offers a flexible solution. Thunder Max offers an "Auto-Tune" module that I can later attach to this EFI module to add more precision tuning features.

Quick aside: Let me tell you a little story about HD ECMs and Power Commanders. Nearly everyone who buys a Harley changes out the air kit, exhaust, cams, or pistons, or some combination of these within the first 1-5 years of purchasing the bike. In fact, I'd say a majority of new Harley owners change out the exhaust within the first few months of ownership. (Yes, this offers a great opportunity for the anti-Harley people out there to bash the product or the owners. That's a topic for another day.)

Anyway, when you make significant changes to air intake, ingition timing, or exhaust volume/pressure, you usually need to add a progammable device, such as the Power Commander, to make the needed adjustments to ignition timing and fuel-air mixtures. What I learned the hard way is that HD dealerships will not touch the Power Commander, even if you pay them to do performance work on your bike and the Power Commander affects that performance.

I purchased the Stage 2 Kit from HD for my Road King a bunch of years ago. The dealer tech replaced the stock ECM with an ECM designed for the new setup, especially for the new cams. However, what he did not do, was remove the Power Commander I had installed a few years earlier. Consequently, at certain RPMs, the engine would fail to smoothly ignite across both cylinders.

One day, I was sitting outside the dealership near Knoxville, Tennessee when an older fella came out and joined me. We got to chatting and he asked me where I was from. I mentioned I was from the Raleigh area and he mentioned Ray Price Harley-Davidson. I told him that's where I bought my bike and recently had spent $2500 on a Stage 2 upgrade.

He told me Ray Price's reputation for performance work was excellent. I told him that in general, the bike was running great. However, at some RPMs, it hesitated. We speculated on the cause and I suggested that maybe my Power Commander needed adjusting. He quickly responded, "You got a Power Commander on there with a Stage 2 Kit, and they included a new ECM? Take that damn thing off! It's the problem." He was quite right. After I took the Power Commander off, the bike ran great. The lesson here is that a Power Commander module can offer a convenient way to tweak your engine settings as needed for relatively minor changes. Know however, that the Power Commander can confuse the ECM if they're not compatible or programmed for each other.

Going back to the brain analogy, you could think of my Power Commander on the Road King as a second voice in the engine's head whispering to not send a spark now and then.     

Kevin (at Jockeys Cycles) also changed out the engine temperature sensor just to be on the safe side. I did manage a little riding today, which is great considering it's February 1, but not enough miles to be certain we've worked out all of the problems this engine has been having. From what I could tell, we're off to a good start.

As always, keep the shiny side up!

-The Long Rider