So, this past weekend I pulled the exhaust off of my newly purchased 07 FXDB so I could wrap the pipes. When I did so, I found that there were O2 sensor bungs on the pipes, but the holes had been plugged, and no O2 sensors were to be found.

What kind of things would the previous owner have had done to delete the O2 sensors? Would there be any long term damage to my engine that I should be concerned about?

Thanks for the help, guys.

 

Some tuners, like the Power Commander, require removal of the O2 sensors. If your bike runs fine there's probably some kind of tuner there. If it's a piggyback type it should be located under the seat.
If your bike is totally stock it would run like crap without the sensors.

 

There isn't anything under the seat, I've had it off a few times. The bikes runs good...real strong. I will take a good look around the bike and see what I find. Thanks.

 

The 02 sensors sense the heat out of the header and based on the temp it tells the ECM to give you x amount of fuel based of the temp of the engine....if she don't pop or run rich or lean in certain Rpms you got a tuner in there someplace or it was tuned with a side car device and removed. Like the Harley SE tuners.

 

I thought that 2008 was the first year HD used Oxygen Sensors ??? Maybe the head pipes have been changed?

 

I do get some pop if I'm high on the RPM band.

 

I think 2007 was the first year of the fuel injected 96, which is when they should have started using the O2 sensors.

 

Pull the plugs and see how they read. White and clean too lean black n sooty too rich. Somewhere in the middle tells a good story.....probably lots of images on google images to help compare for you and ease your mind. Most all harleys gonna pop a little in decal at some point or rpm. A little .......read them plugs.

 

Alright, i will give that a shot when I get off work Sunday morning.

 

Two questions if I may...

(1) when did O2 sensors start reading the heat? I mean the name of the things are O2 sensors - not heat sensors - right?

(2) when did the O2 sensors start telling the ECM to do anything? I mean if the O2 sensors are telling the ECM the amount of fuel to deliver, what does the ECM do?