I rode from Louisville from Nashville this past weekend. When I got to Nashville the traffic was so bad and it was about 85degreed. My bike started to run really rough.... and then stalled. It would not stay running at idle and when I got it going it ran terrible. We stopped at a bar for an hour... and when I started it again it would idle but still ran rough. The next day I filled the tank up and it ran a little rough but all was well.

Here are the key points....for my 2006 ROAD KING CUSTOM FLHRSI

THE BIKE

1. 95" Stage 2
2. SERT Tuner
3. 10.1 Compression
4. Rinehart True Duals
5. 34k miles on the bike (9k since Stage 2 installed)

THE TRIP

1. I got gas in Clarksville that had no ethanol in it before it started running bad
2. It has never done this before even on hot days.
3. The motor was throwing some heat
4. I had just changed all the oils 200 miles earlier with all HD syn-3
5. I rode 2 up with a 50 lb ag strapped to the back

MY QUESTIONS

1. Is there something wrong with the engine management system that the bike would no longer idle?
2. Was the bike ready to have an engine failure and that's why it was shutting itself down?
3. Could the gas have caused the bike to run hotter than it normally has? (not having ethanol)
4. Is my oil all shot now because the motor got so hot?
5. How do I know if damage was done to my motor?

Thank you so much for the help. I searched the forums and never could get enough detail in any thread to answer these questions.

 

someone will chime in and gve you some answers.....

 

I would start with the easy things first. Change plugs and drain the gas.

 

need to scan for codes first, no I doubt the motor got damaged by any heat, unless things are melted and temps were outrageous. it is shutting itself off due to a malfunction of some part of engine controls, again scan for faults. no on running hotter due to no ethanol, ( most likely not), and only if oil got diluted with gas, because of missfire/ stuck injector kind of issue. take the bike in to a shop that can scan for codes and go from there you really need more than codes though, you need live data on what the bike is doing running, codes can really trick you into thinking one thing is bad and it can be something else that makes that code show up, fuel pressure can be an issue here, maybe the regulator or holder has failed

 

fresh gas has helped a lot but since i have not been in heat again I dont know if it is fixed.

I will check the plugs and change the oil and filter again.

 

I agree. I doubt it was really heat related as I ride in 100+ degree weather every summer and have some of the worse traffic in the nation (Dallas) and have never had a problem. Sounds as if you got some bad gas but check the codes as others have said.

 

I think bad gas too. I got bad gas one time and in half a mile it was running like crap. Would not idle, spit and sputtered. Drained tank and put fresh gas in and problem free since. Never bought gas there again.

 

My bike did that a few months ago. too her out for supper and on the way home she wouldn't idle. The next morning, everything was fine. I never figured out hwy it did it, but thankful it hasn't happened since.

2005 FLHTCUI

 

Sorry you had a bad trip to Nashville. This was a bad weekend to be here, unless you came specifically for the music events that were in the area.

I run non-ethonol gas all the time with no problems. I find quite the contrary. The bikes run cooler and more fuel efficient with that gas. Of course you can always get some bad gas anywhere. That is not high miles for a Harley engine. So, it wasn't due to just being time for an engine failure. My Sporty has 80,000 miles, and my Ultra has over 40,000 miles.

I would check the plugs, or just replace. And run some Seaform treated gas in the bike. See how that works out.

 

Possible dirty idle air control thingy inside the throttle.

How long since the fuel filter was changed?