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Hotter than Hades

Discussion in 'Motorcycle Tech Talk' started by Lucifer, Sep 19, 2010.

  1. Lucifer

    Lucifer Well-Known Member

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    About a week ago out shooting around I stopped at my bud's place and decided to check the oil level, the dipstick was that hot I couldn't touch it with my bare hand, even with a cloth over it it was too hot to handle....fast forward to a couple of days ago....coming home from work about 55*F and raining I got stopped in a construction zone, while sitting there the bike got so hot I could barely sit on the seat, my legs were burning and the seat was even too hot to touch. the bike started to falter so I got out of the line and headed back the other way to get some air flowing to try to cool it down, it did but still dang hot.
    I checked the plugs and the front plug had black soot around the base of the threaded portion about 3 threads up and the rest of it was a gold color.The ground strap was white and powdery to the 90* point and black down to the base, the inside porcelain was clean with a slight hint of orange color.
    The rear plug had the same black sooty powder on the base of the plug and the threaded portion was the normal color(say silver) the ground strap was white all the way to the base of the plug and the center was clean.
    I didn't do a plug chop, these descriptions are from everyday riding.
    The bike is an '03 Police RK with SE breather, V&H oval slip ons with a TW21 in a SE hybrid tensioner set up and a Fuel Moto PC III with a canned map for my mods, except that I changed heads to the stock -06 ones from the stock -99's(I really don't think the increased flow of the 06 heads would warrant a map change,and neither did Jamie from Fuel Moto)

    Sorry for such a long winded post,but looking for ideas or suggestions about why it's getting so hot.
    Bike was running real strong when the mods were 1st done, overheating just started recently.:banghead:
  2. cowboy

    cowboy Moderator Staff Member

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    How long where the new heads on before the heat started ?, It sounds like just a fine tune to the tuner is needed , unless a oil passage has a clog now ,
  3. Lucifer

    Lucifer Well-Known Member

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    The heads went on as part of the build...but the PC was mapped for it with the stock 03 heads, I read or was told the newer stock heads flow about 10% more air and the exhaust port was opened more so I'm kinda leaning towards lean, with the ground strap on the plugs so white but wasn't sure if maybe a sensor went south and if so which one??
    A dyno tune is pretty much out, which is part of the reason I went with the Fuel Moto PCIII, no dyno's around here within 500 miles or so and unless I knew the guy doing the dyno tuning knew his chit I wouldn't go for it
    Maybe I should contact Fuel Moto and tell them whats up to see what they think, and get a richer map.
    Just wanted to throw this out there to see if something else could be causing the heat issue before trying another map.
    Talked to a couple of my bud's who are HD wrenches and they are thinking too lean, it is either not enough fuel or restricted oil flow and with the white plugs they think not enough fuel.
  4. chucktx

    chucktx Moderator Staff Member

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    agreed......too lean........with regular oil changes, stopped oil passage is unlikely......
  5. Lucifer

    Lucifer Well-Known Member

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    Thanks fellas...yeah chuck, I'm not very good at keeping the outside clean...but I'm kinda anal about keeping the inside clean. lol

    Here's a comparison I found on the net showing flow between the -99 castings and the -06 castings.
    Guess it could be leaning out in the midrange, and considering most of my riding is there...
    http://neverworld.net/socalnetscum/files/tech/HD_TC_IntakeFBStudyRel1.pdf
  6. JohnnyBiker

    JohnnyBiker Well-Known Member

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    What type of fuel are you using in your bike?? I had the weird bronze or gold looking plugs when I had taken them out for my performance upgrades. I am positive that this is fro running 100 octane low lead with a little bit of Lucas Octane boost. My front cylinder was what it should be, a grayish color, but then my rear was black as could be. (This is before I put the 100 LL in).

    Sounds like you have a lot going on. It sounds that your bike is running rich at one point, then running lean at another. (The black is for rich). Just wanted to ask what you are running for fuel???
  7. Lucifer

    Lucifer Well-Known Member

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    91 octane is the best we got here, no boosters...gonna get a couple of sets of plugs and do some chops, check for an intake leak...then I guess I'll have to try to figure out how to download and upload:gah: This would be soooo easy if there was a CV hanging off the side of this thing:witsend:
  8. hotroadking

    hotroadking Super Moderator Staff Member

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    EFI is easier and you won't get gas on your hands and bike...

    Call jamie at Fuel Moto and tell him the problem
    he should change the map for you, probably take some
    timing out in that range and add some fuel...
  9. chucktx

    chucktx Moderator Staff Member

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    heck, a little gas on the hands will man ya up!!!!!!!!!:)
  10. hotroadking

    hotroadking Super Moderator Staff Member

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    and light ya up if you like working with a lit cigar in your mouth lol
  11. JohnnyBiker

    JohnnyBiker Well-Known Member

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    :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:
  12. Lucifer

    Lucifer Well-Known Member

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    ...before you grab the carb you put the smoke out and crack open a beer, or Jack...or both...just don't test ride if it takes ya a while to get the carb back on. lol;)

    I'm gonna put the disc that came with the PC and see if I can learn a little about it...scared the heck outta me when I first got it and put the disc in....I couldn't even get through the tutorial :banghead:then I'll give Jamie a call.

    The last thing I did to this bike was put a Sifton breather kit and an older style SE backing plate on to keep the mist outta the intake,can't see that doing anything to heat it up.

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