Newbie with a 2010 XT - and an EML problem...

[Tango Nevada]

Good Evening All (well, it's evening here on the other side of the pond...). I've just bought a 2010 Ulysses XB12XT with full OE luggage and a Remus end can, with 22K miles on the clock.

Do I like it; Oooooh yes! I like lots of torque, I like a low-revving engine, I don't want chain drive, I like/need a roomy, comfortable riding position but I don't want a cruiser; the Ulysses ticks all the boxes for me.

I'd heard of Buells, obviously, and seen a couple, but I'd never heard of the Uly. When I sought advice on the Moto Guzzi website for what I should buy next, a couple of members there said they'd got them, and they were excellent. They were dead right, I should have bought one years ago!:up:

It runs very well, and I'm very pleased with it, but: the EML comes on intermittently. It ALWAYS comes on after a mile or two when I go over 70 mph on the motorway (freeway), and goes out again when I drop to 60 mph or below after one/two/three'four miles. It also comes on from time to time at lower speeds, then goes out again after one/two/three/four minutes, depending on how the bike feels; you get the picture. If I stop, switch off the engine and restart it, the light invariably goes out.

The bike runs perfectly well whether the EML light is on or off, and sits on the motorway quite happily cruising at 4000 rpm in fifth.

I'm hoping it's just a sensor playing up. One of the other owners has suggested that it might be the sensor in the airbox contaminated with oil mist; I'm pretty sure the airbox mod hasn't been done, and the bike only did 800 miles in nearly two years before I got it.

I'm pretty good with a wrench, but electronics isn't my bag. Anybody got any ideas on what the problem might be? I'd like to fix it, if only so that if the light comes on again I know there's something else wrong..

Tango Nevada

Other bikes: 2 x VX800, XJ900F, VERY orange modified Moto Guzzi Nevada 750

[user_deleted]

IAT sensor located at 4 o'clock position on your airbox base plate. the tip of it can be gently cleaned with swabs and denatured alcohol to insure cleanliness. be POSITIVE the wiring plug on bottom of it is affixed securely. to check same you will have to remove the 4 torx screws holding the base plate to the frame....then gently lift up right rear corner and feel for plug being attached. do NOT lift to high or you'll have to reaffix the base plate to the rubber TB air intake horn.
you might also have an O2 sensor that is either polluted with carbon or going bad. clean it the same way and it's screwed into a bung on top of the rear cylinder header near the exhaust port.
use link below to read your computer as i'm certain you have one or more stored trouble codes. key and red run switch to on.

http://www.buellxb.com/forum/showthread.php?26630-Trouble-Codes-08

[Cooter]

Possibly a exhaust valve actuator light because of the aftermarket exhaust.
Read the code and post back please. We're just guessing.

[Tango Nevada]

Thanks guys. I'll do the jumper (we'd call it a blink code) test and see what's stored. Cooter, it probably isn't the aftermarket exhaust; it's been on there from new.

[Cooter]

Ok. We're all guessing until you get the code(s).

[Tango Nevada]

Yes, I know; so am I, but your informed guesses are likely to be much better than mine...

I'll pull the code(s) early next week, when I'll have time. Can anyone tell me the whereabouts of the diagnostic socket on a 2010 Ulysses?

And another thing... The belt doesn't sit right up against the inner flange on the rear drive sprocket; it's about 3/32nd in. away from it. I presume this is a problem :-( ? How easy is it to sort it out?

And yet another thing... What's the best/most secure way to hold the bike upright for servicing?

[Cooter]

Diagnostic socket is a grey 4-pin plug, with a black rubber plug in it, near the ECM under the seat.

The belt will be fine there, but they do tend to run towards the outside when you back them up. Were you looking at it after you backed it out of the garage?? I know, it got me too:)

Good quality bike stands are not that much money, but priceless for maintenance and storing it over the winter.

[Tango Nevada]

Thanks Cooter. No, it was just after a run that I noticed the belt position. I'll take a look next time I back it out and see how much further out it is.

I use my bikes all year round, but I'll need stands for maintenance. I've never had a bike without a centrestand before, so have no experience of them. Cost is not an issue; any recommendations as to brand/type? Do you guys in the US find simple paddock stands front and rear best, or do you use headstock stands for the front?

[alfie1]

Helful thread :) , I'm really thinking about buying one of these cars but I'm not too sure where to go with it though, what are the common issues with the car (if any) or is there a part that needs regular maintinace? went Servicing Stop (http://servicingstopblog.co.uk) with my car the other day and spoke to them and they gave me abit more of an insight on these cars (they know me, been using them for years) but need abit more help.

[Chicknstripn]

Spam alert!

[Tango Nevada]

And the IAT sensor it is; code 15. Thanks very much, one and all. I'll give it a good squirt with aerosol contact cleaner later; that should sort it. Woo Hoo.....

It's nice; it's very nice. I'm only getting just over 50 miles to the (UK) gallon, though, and that's not thrashing it, but I'm 6 ft 1 in and mass about 270 pounds in full riding gear, with the aerodynamics to match, so maybe that's not surprising! Don't care, anyway; running costs are not a factor.

Cooter, re the belt position, mine's the opposite; it's snug against the inner flange after pushing it backwards.

Still no advice on whether a headstock (I think you call them triple tree) stand or a front paddock stand is better for maintenance? SOMEBODY must have an opinion, surely? (Or if not Shirley, somebody else...)

[Tango Nevada]

Didn't he post the same thing in another thread? SPAM!

I'm still waiting for him to tell us which car he means; perhaps he's confusing Buell with Buick? Or maybe he's just a spamming f***wit...

[Cooter]

Take a close look at your idler pulley. Is it wearing the coating off unevenly? Perhaps you need idler bearings SKF6203-2RS or even read wheel bearings or swing arm pivots? Hard to say, there really isn't much to go out of alignment in the system.

Front stand is a matter of preference, but I prefer the triple tree stand for front wheel and fork removal.