I’ve been having a problem with my 05 Road King and I’m not sure what to do next from a troubleshooting standpoint. About a month ago I started getting pops from the exhaust. The bike started to idle a little rough but it still ran fine. The problem has progressively gotten worse to the extent that I can smell gas when the bike is idling and it backfires every time I shift gears. I haven’t done any mods to the bike. I’ve changed the plugs, wires and coil. A friend said he thought it was the crank position sensor. I didn’t think that was the problem but I changed it anyway. It didn’t help. Does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem might be? Could it be a bad injector? The bike isn’t fun to ride in its current state. I will only take it to the dealer as a last resort so I’m hoping someone could give me some ideas as to what to look at next. I don’t want to continue replacing parts until I have a good idea as to what the problem is.

Thanks in advance for any comments / advice.

 

How's your air cleaner look? A friend had the exact same symptoms on an 05. Turned out he had never, ever washed his air cleaner. It was so clogged, that he had to replace it. It was black, and had enough bugs to keep a frog alive for years.

 

Air leak some where maybe? Check for leaks at intake and exhaust manifolds

 

The air cleaner is good. Its a K&N which I cleaned a few months ago


Is there an easy way to check for intake leaks? Would spraying soapy water on the exhaust manifold be a good way to check for a leak or is there a better method?

 

Have not had to check for intake leaks in a while, but I use to use a mapp gas torch (not lit) and aim it around the intake when the bike is at idle. I have used carb cleaner as well, but found the gas a little easier.

 

Yeah, as posted. Something flamable like brake cleaner. let the bike idle. Whe you spray around the intake manifold at its joints and the bike revs up on its own, then there is a leak. Exhaust you can check their tightness (torqued to spec, 120 inch pounds on the nuts to the heads) as an easy start.

Adam

 

+1 on the torch not lit and just cracked open. You don't want to saturate the area with propane, so that it gets sucked into the air cleaner.

And do it outside..... not in the garage.

 

You might disconnect your battery leads and give them and the terminals a wire brushing and reconnect them. Sometimes it is something stupid like that. Good maintenance to do anyhow.

Adam

 

As the others have said it sounds like a intake or exhaust leak. I would lean more towards an exhaust leak at the exhaust manifold or at the muffler joint.