Fuelpak is gone.... - Harley Forum

unfknblvbl · #1 02-11-2009, 05:37 PM

As soon as I can come up the money for a PCIII. I am almost at the point of disgust with this thing.

This past Sunday it was sunny and 75* here, so I jumped on the bike and went for a nice little ride. I had a couple of backfires that scared the crap out of me and made me wonder if I blew motor. There were numerous little backfires (and when I say numerous I consider it a number that is more than I think it should be, i.e. IMO it shouldn't happen at all, but at times I understand it does) and popping/pinging on decel. I pulled over, took the seat off and ensured the pak was still programmed. It was still programmed, so I put the seat back and rode home. A few more backfires and some popping. The further I rode, the more p!$$ed off I got.

Last time I was having this problem I contacted V&H Tech Support, great people and very helpful. They gave me some different values to enter in certain "cells". So I did that and it was worse than before so I took it back to original form.

Honestly I put the blame on the fuelpak unless someone can convince me otherwise. I'm 99.9% sure I don't an exhaust leak, and I don't think it has anything to do with the SE Stage I air cleaner. I may be wrong.

If you have any suggestions let me hear 'em, or I'm going to continue my hatred towards the fuelpak.

Thanks for listening to my rant and any help

evoKENevo · #2 02-11-2009, 06:50 PM

Hi UFB
Here we go with just another one of my long shots...but is there any chance you may have recently gotten yourself a load of bad gas,somewhere...or that what you had went bad...or that you accumulated some water in your tank via condensation,etc ???

unfknblvbl · #3 02-11-2009, 07:07 PM

I guess it's a possibility, I rode my bike about as far as I could to unload the gas and the refueled, but after the new tank I only rode two blocks back to the house. The reason I say it's a possibility is because my time to ride is few and far between. A tank will last me 3-4 weeks. As humid as it gets down here I can see possible condensation build up, as for bad gas I always see that as a possibility. Whether the gas is just bad or the manufacturer taking short cuts to cut down cost.

I'll see what happens with this new tank.

Thanks evo

frisco-rigid · #4 02-12-2009, 01:50 AM

Hey Un

Several years ago I was gonna remove all the comp stuff off my car and get carbed and regular ign.. I never did it cuz of the exspense for Porsche stuff..
Maybe one day..

BUT-- I bet it's freakin easy AND waaay cheaper to do with an HD..

All I can think of that would slow the process is if there is No TDC mark on the wheels.. If there is it would be a piece of cake I bet..
I myself will prob be long gone by the time EFI HD's are the only legal HD to own,, good thing too cuz I will NEVER build or run an EFI sickle..
Yeah Baby..!

unfknblvbl · #5 02-12-2009, 06:42 AM

Yo Frisco- Good to see and hear from ya again. That is a damn good idea and honestly never even gave it any thought of switching over to a carb. I'm not sure why, because I know damn good and well if a carb'd version was available when I bought my bike I would of bought it. Hhhhmmmmm....now you have me thinking

shovelmike · #6 02-12-2009, 09:02 AM

ALTMANN MICRO MACHINES - MOTORCYCLE IGNITIONS - WEST GERMANY
Here is a link to Altmann Micro Machines in Germany showing a conversion back to carburetor.
I don't know what other possibilities exist regarding ignition systems, but it is food for thought.

milindh · #7 02-12-2009, 11:56 AM

Unf

I'm a Mikuni fan myself but if I had a bike with a late model EFI system on it I'd stick with it for a lot of reasons. I would , however, try to find a local EFI wizard. I just know there must be one somewhere near you in SoCal. I'll bet the guys at V&H could point you in the direction of a sharp Wiz.

unfknblvbl · #8 02-12-2009, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shovelmike

ALTMANN MICRO MACHINES - MOTORCYCLE IGNITIONS - WEST GERMANY
Here is a link to Altmann Micro Machines in Germany showing a conversion back to carburetor.
I don't know what other possibilities exist regarding ignition systems, but it is food for thought.

Shovel- Thank you, sir! I appreciate the link. It looks like in the pics they were swapping out the EFI to a Carb on a Night Train...Hhhhmmm

Quote:

Originally Posted by milindh

Unf

I'm a Mikuni fan myself but if I had a bike with a late model EFI system on it I'd stick with it for a lot of reasons. I would , however, try to find a local EFI wizard. I just know there must be one somewhere near you in SoCal. I'll bet the guys at V&H could point you in the direction of a sharp Wiz.

mili- Care to share any of those reasons? I have found a guy in Oceanside who is quite confident with PCIII's and said he would work with the fuelpak, but it's a little harder due to V&H keeping their map values and "cells" under tight security, unless they'd lightened up on that.

08FatBob · #9 02-12-2009, 05:22 PM

unfknblvbl, sorry about the trouble your having with your FuelPak, but for what it's worth, I've been using a FuelPak now for a little over a year, approx7000 miles, and my bike hasn't so much as coughed. I also have the SE stage 1 a/c and I have slip on mufflers. I'm affraid I can't offer you any suggestions but I can't help to think it still needs tweaked based only on the fact that mine does run flawlessly. I went with, and can only assume you went with, the FuelPak because of its affordability and basic plug, program and play ability. I'd hate to see you go to the expense of a PCIII and dyno tune if there is a fix to your FuelPak issues. This isn't meant to add insult to injury but I wish you the best of luck in finding a solution. Take it easy and good luck!

milindh · #10 02-12-2009, 05:38 PM

Unf

One of the big reasons I'd stick with the EFI is that in California we may very well soon see a tightening up on what mods you can get away with on your bike. I saw on the TV news a couple weeks ago that California had won its Supreme Court appeal to go against the more watered down EPA standards and enforce their own tighter standards. What that means for us motorcycle modifin' devils is yet to be seen but for sure they're gonna tighten up the noose on our EPA and CARB violatin' bikes. Going to a carb would be a blatant violation for sure. If you got busted for non-stock parts (even like aftermarket pipes) you might have to go back to the OEM setup.

The other big reason is that, as great as Mikunis are, they can't quite deliver the all around power and efficiency of a well set up EFI system. Of course the problem with EFI is that it takes a tuner with a lot of specialized knowledge to really set one up properly. I can work with my Mikuni pretty well and get my FXR to run really good mainly because I've been messing around with carbs for a lot of years and carbs only deal with fuel delivery. With EFI you really need to know about more electrical stuff and in some cases computer programming and what the various sensors do. In other words EFI is more complicated than carbs. A lot of guys can tune a carb but the number of real EFI "wizards" is more limited. A well set up carb is great but I don't think you can beat a well setup EFI system. Finding a real Wizard is the hard thing. Lots of semi-wizards out there. That's why I'd ask the tech support guys at V&H to recommend a Socal tuner you could go to. Your O'side guy might be OK too. I don't know.

Good Luck