Dear fellow Buellers,

I'm having a very big problem and would really appreciate some help.

Background:

I bought a 2008 (reg 2010) Buell 1125r last year and the bike has covered a total of 11100 miles since new. I am obsessively looking after this bike! The bike has the EBR race ECM fitted (just had it remapped for the HMF exhaust), HMF exhaust and K&N air filter. Had a clutch weep problem initially so fitted the Oberon slave cylinder and has been fine since.

As mentioned above, EBR recently remapped my race ECM - when the previous owner bought the ECM a HMF map didn't exist. The bike has run better than ever since.

The problem(s):

Now, there has always been one little problem. Every time I start the bike I have to blip the throttle because otherwise the bike will die at approx. 2500 rpm under load. When blipping the throttle you can hear the bike cut out very briefly. This (up till now) has only ever happened once after first starting the bike. As long as I blip the throttle once then the bike is fine for the rest of the ride. I can live with this.

The worse bit:

I covered 400 miles over Christmas on the bike and it didn't put a foot wrong. Since getting back to London, however, things have taken a bad turn. I was taking a quick ride (4 miles) and at first everything was normal. Then, I was sat at a traffic light and the bike died when I tried to pull away. After that point the bike kept cutting out and back in again at anything below 3500 revs - this is incredibly frightening! I had to keep the revs very high and slip the clutch to get home.

I have been going on short rides around my local streets tom try and diagnose. The problem is very intermittent and doesn't happen on every ride. It is incredibly dangerous when it does!!!

I have tried the TPS/IAC reset and the obvious but had no luck. Had a look at the fuel pump on diag mode and it seems fine - not sure what the normal IAC steps are?

I'm thinking spark plugs, faulty connections, grounds...........? I have no idea where the grounds are!?

Please help someone!!!

And a very Happy new year to everyone

Harry

Log some data with ECMSpy, you should be able to see if an input (crank sensor etc.) is being lost.

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08 Specialized Langster

Hello mate,

Thanks for the reply. I'm sorry but I have no idea how to use ECMspy!

Does it work with the race ECM? I guess I will have to buy a lead

Do you think it's a crack position sensor problem?

I don't know what it could be to be honest, could be anything harness related, could be the idle control etc.

Would be good to find someone close to you to help out.

By the way, this is only what I would do (and I don't have an 1125), you may find someone comes along and identifies the problem.

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08 Specialized Langster

I will look into ECMspy anyway mate and thanks for the advice. I was just hoping (perhaps stupidly) that someone was say "that's easy, just clean the ........."

I love this bike but also want to throw it in a river (after setting it on fire)

Clutch switch or sidestand switch starting to play up ? check the sidestand switch hasn't come loose and is starting to fall off, I've heard they have an habit of doing that.

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2001 X1 2009 1125CR 2006 Uly X3 2010 Uly a fully Maz'd S1 and a 1991 RS1200 Westwind.

You can disconnect it, it will still run but the Check Engine Light will come on, but it will implicate or eliminate this as a cause...

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08 Specialized Langster

Wicked idea! Will have a look in the morning. Does the race ECM listen to the side stand switch?

Checked the clutch switch on the diag mode and it is working but does seem to be a bit sluggish

Thanks very much everyone for trying to help

I'm not sure if it does because I believe the American market bikes don't have the switch ( I find it hard to believe that they trust them to put their own stands up actually )

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2001 X1 2009 1125CR 2006 Uly X3 2010 Uly a fully Maz'd S1 and a 1991 RS1200 Westwind.

Hahahahahaha! Very true. This is driving me mad

Hi guys,

Right, I don't have a side stand switch. I'm not sure whether this is normal or if a previous owner has removed it. I have just sprayed a can of intake cleaner down the iac pipe and intakes. I just need it to stop raining long enough for me to try it. All earth's are tight. I'm about to empty a can of contact cleaner on all visible electrical plugs too. I'm starting to think it might be the iac however.

Will report back

This might sound silly and not a very technical response, Harry but are you warming the bike up fully before riding? When you first start up the warning light will read "Engine Cold". Always leave it ticking over until this goes out or you will find that it chokes and dies early on.

Steve

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Back on the road again!

The race ecms don't use the sidestand switch. They use the side stand input for the quick shifter.

If it was the idle air solenoid faulty then it would only start if you opened the throttle and kept it open. The throttle blades are all but completely closed at idle.

Do you have the stock ecm? If so fit that and see if the problems go away, at least that would prove a bike fault or a poor eeprom/race ecm.

I've been in touch with someone recently who had the same problem, their bike would stall if trying to pull away gently...EBR race ecm fitted because of an aftermarket exhaust. A stock 08 ecm sorted that problem, unfortunately showed their charging system and/or battery were below par.

Get EcmSpy and learn how to use it, or -quicker and easier - ride to Birmingham and I'll run through it.

I would hazard a guess that the low speed maps and the temperature corrections aren't ideal for our conditions.

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Nige...1125d 9.43@140mph

The cold engine condition is just a rev limiter to stop you riding hard while the water temp is below 65c. Set around 6k iirc.Will not and does not hinder normal riding in any way.

It was something we used to worry about while racing, but 4 years of abusing 1125s has shown that you can run straight through the limiter with a good handful of throttle. And a couple of seconds above idle will warm it up much quicker than just sitting on the sidestand idling.

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Nige...1125d 9.43@140mph

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the responses. Well, I have finished pottering around the bike but have no idea if anything has worked due to the weather. It's not supposed to be throwing it down tomorrow so I will go for a long ride and see if the problem pops up again.

Just a thought - my suspension is set ridiculously stiff as I haven't had time to soften it up since two-up with lots of luggage riding over Christmas. On diag mode the side-stand switch (I do have one after all!) value is very sensitive to me moving the stand even the tiniest amount. If the side stand was being displaced by bumps in the road could this suddenly drop the revs - not sure how speed shifter works?

Really kind of you man to offer to show me how to use ECMspy! I may well take you up on that. My parents live in Nottingham so I could do a little round trip. The only reason that I'm swaying away from it being due to a fuel mapping problem is that the bike ran flawlessly over Christmas in very, very cold weather. In honesty, though, I'm probably wrong!

Thanks again everyone and I will update once I get to go on the bike

P.S. Almost forgot. Comm error U0001 code came up after cleaning the intakes. I'm guessing this is because the battery was nearly dead from the bike idling for so long