XB12s - Lumpy 'Til Warm. Typical?

[Todd]

I am new to Buells , new to American bikes and certainly new to EFI. But I recently picked up a babied '04 XB12X which ran rather poorly at first due, I suspected, to sitting for months with gasahol in it. A few tankfuls treated with Sea Foam improved things considerably, but it wasn't until I learned of (and corrected) the oil breather issues that I could say that that sweet old motor runs well - when it's up to temperature.
When cold, until it is fully warmed it still wants to slap the gear train back and forth and misfire a bit at light loads, say idling along with traffic in 3rd gear. My question is, is this just the nature of the beast, given how heavily this engine has been breathed upon, or is there for example, some other sensor that could be easily cleaned that would improve the situation.
If it's just hot cams and timing talking amongst themselves I can be very happy with that, but if it should be running better during the warm-up phase, I'd like to do what it needs.
Thanks.

[schleppy]

If you haven't adjusted the primary tension yet, do that. It's very easy to do, and made my bike a lot smoother. Change every single fluid in the bike, make sure the air filter is clean, throw in new plugs, etc. Start fresh with everything you can.

I would also undo the grounds in the tail section, clean the hell out of the connections (and sand the frame down a bit), put dialectric on it, and button it back up. Trouble with grounds can make the bikes run really oddly.

I'm also not sure if the 2004 has the ground wire bundle behind the headlight (on the steering stem), but if you do, check and see if any of those wires are frayed or broken. I've heard those can cause rough running too.

[Lesley]

Welcome Todd,
You didn't specify how long you warm the bike up. If my bike has sat for a while I let it run a few minutes at the very least. If it has sat over night I let it run approx 8-10 mns before riding. I do this in 90+degree outside temps. These bikes do require a warm up time. I've put 39,000 miles on mine since 2007 and only went through one set of plugs.
The HD vtwins are very sluggish below 30mph compared to most bikes. But if its backfiring and you do warm it up correctly then you might have a tuning problem.
Good Luck-

[Todd]

Guys, thanks. I'm getting the impression that the rider here is the issue, not the bike. All my past bikes (I'm 62) have been carbureted and jetted richly enough to require minimal choke and virtually no warm up. Hop on, hit the starter (or kick - remember those?), and go. That's what I've been doing with the Buell. I'll have to mend my ways.

Schleppy offers good advice. I've done everything but clean the system ground points. I will do that.

And it's good to see higher mileage figures like Leslies' as I want this amazing bike to last a long time.

Nice collection of photos on your profile page, Leslie. My Lightning is a black and gold one with race exhaust too. But without the extra bling!

Todd

[Lesley]

Thank you for the kind words Todd.
I've spent a lot of money on crap. Haha
It really has been a great bike. I did forget to mention I replaced the clutch cable around 20,000 miles but that's the only failure I've had.
Good luck to you and safe journeys always,Lesley

[schleppy]

Also Todd, make sure your idle is set from 1050-1150 RPM. Mine was a little cold blooded until I reset the TPS and cranked the idle up to the proper area. Now it's totally fine.