I went for only my third ride on my 2009 Ultra Classic. I have several questions as this is my first Harley. 1. What should be the correct idle rpms? 2. I rode today on the highway for about 15 miles and then found a parking lot to practice my slow handling drills. I practiced off and on for about 1 1/2 hours. I noticed that my throttle grip began to not go back to its original position when I let go of it when coming to a stop. So I had to twist the grip forward a little to get the rpms down. As soon as I quit twisting it forward it would not stay there but go back to the position where the rpms were high again. So, if I twist the throttle back to speed up and then let go of the throttle grip, it won't go back to original position. I am worried about high rpms at slow speeds. I was able to deal with it with clutch control and twisting the grip forward but I know this can't be good. I hope I have explained this well. By the way, I have cruise control so there is no throttle adjustment screw on the bottom of the grip. Thanks guys for all your expert advice. I need it.

 

on the throttle by wire bikes, shutting down the bike with the throttle part open can confuse the computer as to "where is zero"?

many of us use the kill switch out of habit, as the motor stops we may have the throttle part open.

try to get in the habit of switching off the ignition with the ign switch with the RIGHT hand- that leaves the throttle zero'd as it shuts down.

to reset the throttle- kill switch in run position...with right hand turn ignition switch on. wait for the fuel pump prime to stop....turn off.

repeat 4 times.

this should reset the throttle.

from the zero position, it is possible to roll the throttle forward- this is used to manually engage the EITMS when the bike is stopped, like at a light ( eitms shuts down the rear cylinder to help cool the motor)- the cruise light will go green on the tach when this happens.
you should feel a spring resistance against the forward rotation


normal idle rpms should be about 900-1000 with a fully warmed motor. when cool mine might surge to 1600, the settle near 1300 until fully warmed.


one thing though- some riders with aftermarket grips ( starts with a "K"...ends with a "kin") have reported that the internal teeth in the grips have come loose --- causing the throttle sensor to not accurately track the grips rotation.
similar bug a boos can occur when an owner has attempted to change the handlebars- and screwed up the wiring to the sensor




Mike

 

You can also double check the control housing. It's very easy to have the handgrip not seated at exactly the right position and when you tighten the control housing torx bolts you have a bind. Happened to me when I swapped out my apes. I just loosened the control torx bolts rotated the control housing and grip a little and it seated. Re-tightened the control housing and have no issues. Your bike should be TBW so I would say you could rule out a bind in the throttle cables.

 

Disregard. advice doesn't apply to TBW

 

What is TBW? I have cruise control. I thought when you were going to shutdown your bike you first put in neutral, then totally let go of the throttle grip, and then turn the run button to off. I didn't think you shut it down by turning the ignition key off before the run button. Am I correct?

 

Figured it out. Throttle by wire. Had to Google it since it was not in the owner's manual. Actually whoever designed the manual did a **** poor job with indexing it. Just my opinion.

 

The problem for me is that the throttle grip worked well the first two times and now it doesn't. Can these grips get bound over time or should this have been a problem from the start? It has heated grips (HD chrome and rubber) installed by the dealership which serviced this bike before I got it.

 

TBW is Throttle by Wire. You do not have to have a bike in neutral to shut it down, but I suggest putting it into neutral before a cold start. Alot of guys shut off by using the key switch without any problems. The important part of the shut off procedure for TBW is having your hand off the grip.

 

Thanks. I am pretty sure I didn't have my hand on the grip when I turned off the run button. If I did and this screwed up the "sensor or however it works"; now that the bike has sat all night will it "re-set" (idle speed and throttle grip) on its own? I do have a little forward play of the throttle grip which apparently there should be.

 

how to reset---as posted #2

mike