2008 Buell xb9sx, hawk exhaust, k&n filter with airbox delete, crank breather re-route, re-mapped via tunerpro, bike had previously been running fine as far as I can tell.
Okay to start with, one reason I was thinking I might have an issue with the stator is that I'm a great big moron and put redline in the primary. I read after purchasing the redline(which was one of the more recommended lubricants to smooth out a blast's shifting) that it was not good for xb's because the stator is down in the oil. I for some reason decided that since i already bought it, i was just going to go ahead and use it. I think in my mind I had rationalized that it wasn't likely to cause an issue right away, and I'd swap it out with mobile1 after a while. It did make the bike shift more smoothly, which was nice. I think that was about middle of last summer. I've only put probably 1000 miles on the bike since then.
I need to look up some diagnosing steps, but this is what is happening. I started the bike saturday, and it was running absolutely terrible. The bike had been sitting for a couple of months since the last time i rode it, when it was totally fine. I reckoned gas had gone bad so I went straight to a gas station to see how much room i had for fresh gas. On the way there i couldn't let it go down to idle or it seemed like it was about to die. I added some lucas oil injector cleaner(about 1/4 of the bottle) and 0.55 gallons of gas. I was headed to a party but since i was having issues I went out a country road instead and tried to burn up some gas to get more fresh gas in there and see if it improved. I couldn't even get over 55mph and it feels like it has about 10hp. There was also some backfiring going on, not just poping on decel. The exhaust note is decidedly different, it doesn't seem rough like it's misfiring or anything but it just sounds odd. So i burned off enough gas to make space for another 0.73 gallons. After that it would get up to 60mph, so I felt more sure of the gas having gone bad/stale. After getting most of the way to the party I filled it back up with another 1.2 gallons. I thought that would about do it, but no, it was still running terrible. I got to the party and told some people about it and so we ended up using a hose to drain as much as we possibly could from the tank. When i went to leave the party it died on me once in the driveway, and i was still having to keep the throttle up to prevent it from dieing. It seemed like the lights were dimming too when the rpms got low enough. I got to the next gas station and filled it up the amount we had drained which was about 2.2 gallons. So any bad gas should be pretty diluted at this point, and on the way from the party to a friend's house it wouldn't go over 70 or so still. I parked at my friend's place and locked the steering so hopefully nobody would steal it(i hate apartment complexes). In the morning when i came out it didn't have enough juice to turn over and was just clicking. An older guy passed by me and mentioned last night he saw my brake light on. I forgot there is some parking light setting past the locked position. My dad brought a battery jumper box and we got it started but i could barely keep it running, i had to put my helmet on ahead of time and have my dad disconnect the battery box after i started it, while i held onto the throttle to keep the rpms up, and then put the seat back in place, so i could get on the bike and take off, and i managed to ride it home without letting it drop below 1000rpm and die. Still barely any power. My dad mentioned something about the stator and it dawned on me that I had left the redline in it for a rather long time, and the stator not putting out enough current could make the bike run bad(a combination of stale gas and the stator maybe) and is something that could go wrong with the bike while it's sitting(like i said last time i rode it, it worked fine. It sat for a bit, now it's not fine.)
So unless anyone has a better idea, I have to test the stator, which I know i can do with a multimeter, but i'm not sure of the exact process.
If it's running at a higher rpm I would start elsewhere. Easy check for the stator or vr is to put a meter on it see what your voltage is, There is a link at the top of the page for service manuals. You can also try buellmods.com for the manual if you don;e see what you need. If I remember there is a connector that has issues and have heard of them melting,
IF indeed you do have a charging issue, this is a good place to start. It is what is known as the #77 connector. It is behind the front pulley for the drive belt. On mine, I noticed at night, that the lights would go bright, then a bit dimmer, then bright again. I took this connector apart to find it very dirty with some corrosion. I cleaned it all up, packed it full of dielectric grease, and put it back together, and all OK since.If I remember there is a connector that has issues and have heard of them melting,
neither the time or desire to read your novel but try this:
battery must be fully charged and in known good condition. if in doubt have it load tested
check across battery terminals with quality accurate volt meter. you want approx. 13.2-14.8 volts DC @ approx. 2500rpm. get the reg and alternator to settle in by gently revving to 3000 rpm 2X then hold at 2500 and check
if fails above do what rick said and remove front pulley cover, look at large bundle of wires and follow the 2 plugs that affix to large black sheathed harness going along right bottom of motor towards front. those are the 2 plugs you want to check.
pull both apart, examine, clean, lube and/or di-lectric grease, check alternator (stator) output while plugs apart.
you want approx. 47-51 volts AC...again that is AC at same motor speed as above procedure. post back with results.
Also check the wires in the stator connector plug. Do this by Disconnecting the connector and removing the Orange piece with a pair of pliers. There still be three barrels (which the pins from the other side of the connector slide into) check if any of those are loose or if the wires come out of the connector easily. If they do you have to push them back in all the way and reach in with a flat head screw driver or something narrow and push on the plastic clips toward the barrels. These plastics clips hold the barrels in place and prevent them from being pulled out. I had this problem on my bike and thought I would share if it ends up helping you. Also get a voltage gauge installed, it will help you understand what is happening with your electrical system and could save your butt in the future.
Okay so I put a multimeter on the battery and got 12.89v. I started it up and tried to keep the probes for the multimeter on the terminals. When revving the bike up, the voltage was dipping more and more as the rpms went up, but I noticed one of the terminals on the battery was a little loose. I tightened that down and then put the multimeter back on it, and the fluctuation and dipping went away. That gave me 12.89 off, 12.30 with key turned on, 13.3 at around idle, and over 14 at 2500rpm. I kind of hoped the loose battery terminal was the culprit, threw the seat on and went to ride around the neighborhood. Bike still running like crap as far as I can tell. I didn't have time to do anything else for this evening.
Do a TPS reset since you tightened the battery down
I tried a tps reset, did it twice in a row to try and make sure, didn't seem to make a difference. Still not idling very strong, still running like crap. I'm not a seasoned mechanic so I don't know what i'm hearing, I just know the exhaust doesn't sound right to me. Like it's only running on one cylinder.
I recorded a video if this helps indicate anything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44KOoh1qUz8
it sounds like a buell blast. in all likelihood you have a fouled plug. replace them with NGK DCPR9EIX if you're going to be in a warm fall and winter climate..............DCPR8EIX if colder climate. you do NOT need to lower the motor to do it. if you don't know how post back up and i'll be happy to walk you thru it.
sorry , dont mean to hi jack thread, but where can you buy the NGK plugs other than online?
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