Results
Got the bike (2008 Road King Classic with 43600 miles on it) on a Wednesday afternoon. About 80 degrees and clear; nice afternoon for a ride. Had the TMAX with autotune for TWB, D & D Fat Cats 2 into 1 (black, louvered), the S & S 106 big bore kit with EZ start 551 cams, and a VPC installed. Here are my impressions after a first ride:
Took it for a 80 mile shakedown ride. First of all, the bike sounds great and pulls with significantly more power, which is very pleasing. No need to change gearing; it seems like a shift from 5th to 6th at about 55 mph is what the bike wants now where before it felt wrong in either of those gears from 55 to 65 or so. The lower gears also don't feel as high as they did before, for some reason -- all good. In addition, I feel a lot of power in 6th at 55 and up, where previously, it felt weak there. Generally, the increased power right where I ride is super; the bike just feels like a much lighter bike as it seems to accelerate and sprint where before it kind of loped along. So that is good - and just the gain I was hoping for. I stopped, turned it off, and let it sit for a minute or two and restarted it several times at various points along this 80 mile jaunt, and got good starts each time. There was some "rrrr, rrrr, rrrr" a couple of times, so I felt there was more strain on the starter and battery than I thought there would be with the EZ start cam, but it turned over pretty easily each time.....The clutch feels great. If anything, it seems to take less effort to pull it in, and I had no problems shifting at any level, so another positive.
Two discrepancies in need of correction, perhaps at the 500 mile oil change (which will be Monday or Tuesday). First, the "Miles to Empty" function on the odometer has disappeared. I have read that this is not uncommon with the TMAX install and that TMAX has a software correction for this. I hope so, because I like that function and would be sad to lose it. Second, the tune (I think, and hope it is the tune) needs a lot of correction. I know that this may correct itself as the autotune teaches itself, so this may be less of an issue -- or a non-issue -- in 500 miles. During this first 80 miles, however, there was a fair amount of popping on decleration, and, much more troubling, a very rough ride - at times - in 1st, 2nd and 3rd at low to moderate rpms and speeds. The bike felt like it was missing, or had a timing problem, as it would stumble, lurch and surge...Especially going slow in 1st, in traffic, the engine was just making the bike lurch, and I had to pull the clutch in and re-engage. Never felt anything like that before.
As I ride and it tunes itself, I'll see if this problem corrects itself.
Next:
On the tuning issue, the builder tells me:
"On the driveability issue, I chose a 110" base map and it seemed pretty close. More riding and automapping prior to giving the bike back probably would have benefitted the state of tune but I am confident that the Thundermax will continue to tune in. Depending on how far it needs to tune from the base map, it may need a couple more automapping sessions."
So I will ride some more, automap again, and let you all know.
On the "Miles to Empty function," he says this is an east fix. Lots of rain here in the Virginia and Maryland coast tonight and tomorrow, but weather looks fair through the weekend, so expect to have another 500 miles logged by Monday, and will report further.
Next:
As I reported previously the bike did not run well on the initial shakedown ride. When I started it the next morning, it backfired badly, and barely turned over. After a very hard start, it ran very ragged. Stumbling, hesitating, seeming to miss. Limped straight in to the shop - about 3 miles.
After some diagnosis the builder observed that the autotune was richening the front cylinder but not doing the same thing to the back. This led him to deduce that the intake seal was compromised. He figured the front cylinder was getting too much air, and the autotune was in response, richening the mix to that cylinder. In other words, the autotune was faithfully de tuning the bike as it reacted to an input from a compromised component.
He took it out, and the seal was indeed torn. He replaced that and, at first, the bike's problems appeared solved. Wish it were so.
The bike was running well when the technician finished with it. It ran pretty well for about an hour as I rode south from the shop to La Plata, Maryland, via 301 (Crane Highway) -- 30 or 40 miles at various speeds. I stopped there for lunch, and it started OK (I am not satisfied with the so called easy start cams, by the way, the starts seem very hard)...but as I pulled out of the parking lot, the engine hesitated at slow speed. But once I got going again it seemed to smooth out (I figured the autotune was doing its job). It ran well for the next few hours as I traveled south on 301 to 17 and took 17 toward Yorktown, Virginia. Again, not faster than 65 or 70, and rarely running at the same speed for more than 20 or 30 minutes, if that long. Stopped near Yorktown for gas; this was about 120 miles from the first stop in La Plata. Bike started OK (not instantly, but with a little turnover -- again, this is not making me a fan of the EZ start - they haven't been working as S & S claims), and ran fine until I got into some traffic after about 40 miles. Started to run ragged in slow traffic; but intermittent. Got home, turned the bike off. About 40 minutes later, went out to run an errand. Lot of trouble starting it, and back to the way it was when I brought it in that morning. Just awful. Rode about 2 miles, came home. An hour later started it again and rode about 5 miles (not faster than 45). No improvement. Stopped it and let it sit for 3 hours and went to start it again, and it barely started. Lots of rrr rrr rrr and no ignition. Finally turned over after I gave it some throttle and limped home the 5 mile return trip with the same sniffing, hiccupping, missing, hesitation, stumbling, etc I have been reporting.
Conclusions:
The auto tune is detuning the bike, probably as before reacting to an input that is from an improperly functioning component. Perhaps the intake seal is again compromised.
The EZ start cams are not easy starting. (Could their malfunction be causing the high compression to be blowing the seal after a few starts?)
Here are my thoughts at this point:
I am very concerned, in addition to the serious tune issues, with the starting. The strain is not what S & S claims will happen with the EZ start, or shows in their video on their web site. I really don't think they are working right, and it's killing the battery and starter. I wouldn't want to run it this way for any length of time; and if it doesn't correct with the tune fix (assuming the cams aren't some how causing the problems that the autotune is reacting to), I would hope for some other solution. Maybe change them out and/or put in manual compression releases. Again, I do not think the EZ start cams are functioning as S & S claims and warrants so am not at all satisfied with that aspect of the build, in addition to the tune problems discussed. I doubt that they are linked, but have an open mind and will see what further tune diagnosis reveals.
I will remap the TMAX today and wipeout the tuning that is causing the stumbling, and hope to get it running well enough to ride it for the return trip. I have communicated all to the builder (a local indie shop); and he seems committed to getting it right.
Very frustrating. Seems to me a relatively simple bolt in build shouldn't develop like this.
More to follow
r common wire.This is also the ground wire for Engine temp.sensor;Intake air sensor;Throttle position sensor and Map sensor.The above Sensors are powered via the new ECU.