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Lurching and Stalling

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Old 06-08-2005, 1:18 PM
  #1
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Lurching and Stalling

Alright, I'm getting frustrated here with my 05. About a week ago, I was letting my son sit on the bike and he left the ignition switch on, so it drained my battery. I recharged the battery and everything was honky dorry.... until I went for a ride.

I can't for the life of me understand what is going on. My bike used to have a stall problem when idling at lights, also after a quick blip of the the throttle it would back fire, sputter, and die. I got a Power Commander and loaded a map for a stock bike with stock pipes and that seemed to fix the problem. Ever since the battery died and I recharged it my problems have returned.

I reloaded the pc map thinking it would be okay, but when I ride it hte bike seems to be lurching as it is running along. I've checked everything I know, my rear brake is not dragging, my chain and sprokets are not creating anything. The only thing I think of is the fuel management system. What else could it be? I'm getting a little upset with this bike, so far my RC experience has been less than steller.

Please advise


Last edited by Crash : 06-08-2005 at 1:19 PM.
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Old 06-08-2005, 1:33 PM
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Loose injector connection? I'm just guessing. Can you take it in under warranty?
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Old 06-08-2005, 3:16 PM
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

1. Your stalling/dieing issue at idle is because you do not have the idle speed set high enough. It should be set at about 1300-1400rpms & it will creep up to around 1500 when the bike is really hot

2. Quit blippin the throttle

3. The lurching you are feeling is probably just because you are babying the bike too much & trying to ride around at low rpms. Anything under about 4000rpms & you are going to get some lurching as the heavy flywheel required to get those massive pistons up & down makes being smooth nearly impossible. Learn to keep the rpms up & both you & the bike will be happier
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Old 06-08-2005, 3:28 PM
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Yep, mine never lurches once the engine gets up around 10K . . .
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Old 06-08-2005, 6:29 PM
  #5
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Quote:
Originally Posted by LDH
1. Your stalling/dieing issue at idle is because you do not have the idle speed set high enough. It should be set at about 1300-1400rpms & it will creep up to around 1500 when the bike is really hot

2. Quit blippin the throttle

3. The lurching you are feeling is probably just because you are babying the bike too much & trying to ride around at low rpms. Anything under about 4000rpms & you are going to get some lurching as the heavy flywheel required to get those massive pistons up & down makes being smooth nearly impossible. Learn to keep the rpms up & both you & the bike will be happier
I adjusted my rpm's and they hover around 1350 at idle. How can you have any fun without blippin' the throttle once in a while . I don't ride the bike at anything less than 5500 rpms when I'm tooling around. I have a tendency to ride a gear high because I like keeping revs up in case I need them.

I only wish I could ride it like you Abtech . I've thought of selling my 929 and replacing it with my RC as the dedicated track bike. I just gotta pull the trigger.

Last edited by Crash : 06-08-2005 at 6:29 PM.
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Old 06-16-2005, 11:32 PM
  #6
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Alright, I've talked with a couple folks including my mechanic and there are as many possibilities as people on this earth.

1- The Power Commander itself is bad?
2- Do the Flapper mod
3- Bike went into "Safe Mode" when the battery died, need to disconect the battery and plug it back in after 20 mins.
4- Bad Gas
5- I'm just Nuts, there's nothing wrong.

Any thoughts given this list?
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Old 06-17-2005, 12:08 AM
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Quote:
Originally Posted by Crash
Alright, I've talked with a couple folks including my mechanic and there are as many possibilities as people on this earth.

1- The Power Commander itself is bad?
2- Do the Flapper mod
3- Bike went into "Safe Mode" when the battery died, need to disconect the battery and plug it back in after 20 mins.
4- Bad Gas
5- I'm just Nuts, there's nothing wrong.

Any thoughts given this list?
If this is a poll, I'm voting for #5
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Old 06-17-2005, 12:14 AM
  #8
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Quote:
1- The Power Commander itself is bad?
possibly, but very unlikely as you would have other symptoms

Quote:
2- Do the Flapper mod
Total bullshit as it has no bearing on the condition you describe whatsoever

Quote:
3- Bike went into "Safe Mode" when the battery died, need to disconect the battery and plug it back in after 20 mins.
Whomever told you this needs is a ****in idiot & never listen to them ever again

Quote:
4- Bad Gas
Uh no...

Quote:
5- I'm just Nuts, there's nothing wrong.
Probably not the case either

Last edited by LDH : 06-17-2005 at 12:15 AM.
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Old 06-19-2005, 9:52 PM
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Crash, word of advice..............I'd be listening to LDH if I were you, and Not the tools that are telling you that crap.
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Old 06-19-2005, 10:39 PM
  #10
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Yeah no problem there. I personally knew 3 and 4 were BS but needed a bigger list. Thanks LDH and Sook. I just have to figure out what the problem is. It has been very intermittent the last week.
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Old 06-19-2005, 10:46 PM
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

As far as the PC being bad (which is unlikely) disconnect it and ride it to see if it gets better.
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Old 08-02-2005, 12:46 PM
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammer
As far as the PC being bad (which is unlikely) disconnect it and ride it to see if it gets better.
I've had a couple backfires (through the intake not exhaust) too, usually just coming up to a stop sign if I blip the throttle and twice it died when doing so. I haven't really worried about it too much but it is annoying (wife laughs thinking I killed it). I have done the flapper mod and do not have a PC on it so there goes a couple of those theories though right when I got it it had a low battery needing a charge.
Let me know if you figure it out.
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Old 08-07-2005, 9:46 PM
  #13
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Probably not the fix, but it's cheap and easy enough to give it a try. Check your battery connections and make sure they're tight. I've seen similar symptoms on the VTX board, and the issue was loose cables or a lose ground.
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Old 08-25-2005, 6:13 AM
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

i had the samr problem. its kinda funny , it ended up being a loose connection on the pos terminal.if that doesnt work try getting some good fuel stableizer and another tank of good gas.had the same problem on my other bike because of that.good luck man.
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Old 09-15-2005, 9:31 AM
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Buy a new battery.

I'm a mechanic, and I've seen it too many times, and it's usually misdiagnosed. One dead or nearly dead cell in the battery will make this happen. At idle, the stator isn't putting out a lot of power. Your weak battery is absorbing this power (electricity), and it it hurting your ignition power (electrical charge to the spark plug). A blip of the throttle, but not enough spark, and the bike stalls. Setting the idle higher will mask this problem because it forces the stator to create more electricity, but the problem is still there. Go have your battery load tested at a reputable shop with the proper equipment. Believe it or not, most shops don't have the proper equipment, substituting automotive battery chargers and testers instead of the more expensive specialized equipment designed for motorcycle batteries, so choose wisely.
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Old 09-15-2005, 9:33 AM
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Also, get a battery tender (designed for motorcycles, of course!). They're about $50 and come with a ten year warrantee. Best thing you can do for your battery!
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Old 09-15-2005, 11:28 AM
  #17
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarcLeonti
Buy a new battery.

I'm a mechanic, and I've seen it too many times, and it's usually misdiagnosed. One dead or nearly dead cell in the battery will make this happen. At idle, the stator isn't putting out a lot of power. Your weak battery is absorbing this power (electricity), and it it hurting your ignition power (electrical charge to the spark plug). A blip of the throttle, but not enough spark, and the bike stalls. Setting the idle higher will mask this problem because it forces the stator to create more electricity, but the problem is still there. Go have your battery load tested at a reputable shop with the proper equipment. Believe it or not, most shops don't have the proper equipment, substituting automotive battery chargers and testers instead of the more expensive specialized equipment designed for motorcycle batteries, so choose wisely.
Thanks Marc. I haven't had this problem act up in a while. Now my problem has been revolving around my radiator and a leak. I can't figure out where it's comming from, the splatter patterns point to a few locations. I've checked my hoses, and cleaned the thing up, but this morning on my ride in, I smell the fluid roasting on the engine and its leaking agian.
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Old 09-15-2005, 11:32 AM
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Have you checked all of the hose clamps for "tightness"?

RC51s are famous for coming with loose ones.
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Old 09-15-2005, 3:10 PM
  #19
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

Quote:
Originally Posted by luvtolean
Have you checked all of the hose clamps for "tightness"?

RC51s are famous for coming with loose ones.
I did and found that the ones that weren't leaking were loose. The ones that were leaking were as tight as can be so I thought that maybe the clamp cut the hose... Nope. I don't see any leaking from bad welds. Just odd. Oh well, that's why we have a warranty right?
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Old 05-19-2007, 10:12 AM
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Re: Lurching and Stalling

The 3 point response from LDH is absolutely spot on. I am having the exact same troubles that you described and the 3 points he mention are what i discovered recently and have just had confirmed. But i will add that you need to replace your NGK iridium plugs with new ones of the same, and avoid using SHELL brand of fuel, MOBIL high octane is the best. Ride in the 3500-4000 rev range at all times an no lower. dont forget that this is a purpose built race bike and going slow and at low revs was not high on the priority list of the HRC designers. And high temperature readings are normal, your thermo fans will kick in if it gets to high, so dont ever worry about that. Happy riding from Aussie-sp1.
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