Holes in FLHRCI Fuel Line

Howdy from Texas.

Made it back from the Brew Town Party and couldn't find any posts for
this problem.

Plenty of service problems before the trip, but I'll save that for
another post.

Belly up, brews on me.

On Saturday, my FLHRCI began to sputter badly whlie cruising Water St
and Brady St.

At first, I thought it was bad gas.

Seems there's more corn fields in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin than
people - the fuel is 10% Ethanol.

I topped off the tank and it ran a little better, but backfiring and
sputtering continued.

Made it back to the hotel, but the bike was dying while idling at stop
lights.

For the Celebration, local Dealers advertised 24 hour service.

I arrived at Milwaukee Harley at 7:30 Sunday morning - the Service
Dept was closed.

I was third in line for service and as the Service Techs dragged
themselves in at 8'ish, I asked the Service Manager, Skip, about the
prospects of examining my scoot.

He was obviously tired and ragged.

He said wreckers were continuously dropping off bikes and I would be
way down the list.

There was no way he'd be able to look at it today and it may be 3 to
5 days for service.

Hearing the bad news, I asked for other dealers - he had none to
suggest - thanks for nothin'.

I finally found a use for my Hog Book - I limped back to the hotel and
began to call every dealer in the state.

Now, it's Sunday morning and as y'all know, most dealers don't keep
those kind of hours.

I called a dealer in Janesville and he said he'd be open till 9pm.

He was 60+ miles away and wouldn't make any promises, but said I'd be
in line depending on how many bikes showed up in the meantime.

After trying 10+ dealers, many with no answer, I reached Hartford
Harley.

They're just 15 miles west of Club Hog, 30 miles north of Milwaukee.

They said they'd be open till 2pm and there was no wait.

I putted down the road and made it there by 10am.

When I arrived, there was only one person ahead of me - broken clutch
cable.

The Service Tech, Dan, was first class.

He pressure tested the fuel tank and explained I needed 57 lbs - the
reading was 31 pounds.

He said there was be a hole in the fuel line - my fears of electronic
ignition module problems were over.

Sure enough, he popped the fuel pump and the corregated plastic fuel
line had two small holes on the ridges of the line.

Also, there were flat areas around the small pin holes.

He explained they'd fixed an '03 the day before with the same problem
- the fuel line rubbed against the inside of the tank and wore the
holes in the line.

The part was out of stock, but one of the guys went to their "sister"
store 15 miles away and picked up the fuel line.

The new line is suppose to be an "improved" design made of "better"
material.

An hour later, my problems were solved.

I spoke with Service Manager, Chad Rettler, and offered lunch for the
service crew.

He was very gracious and very helpful, as well.

Dan got a few bucks for a 6-pack later and I was on the road.

No problems from Milwaukee to Texas - it was a good trip for an ark.

Maybe it would have been better had I put some pontoons on the bike.

The moral of the story - there are "good" dealers and "bad" stealers -
unfortunately, it takes some luck to discover the difference.

Shirley, another round for gang.

LoneStarMatt.
'02 FLHRCI - The Brown Leather Project

On 15 Sep 2003 07:22:17 -0700, lonestarmatt.DeleteThis@hotmail.com (lonestarmatt)
writ:

 >Belly up, brews on me.

Excellent eye opener. Thanks.

 >On Saturday, my FLHRCI began to sputter badly whlie cruising Water St
 >and Brady St.

All bike problems (on the road) occur between Sat afternoon and when
nearby shops open again the next week.

 >Seems there's more corn fields in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin than
 >people - the fuel is 10% Ethanol.

I've worried a bit about that, but only just a bit. (Howja like where
stations are actually pricing the midgrade (with Ethanol) cheaper than
the regular? Notice any of that?)

 >The Service Tech, Dan, was first class.
 >
 >He pressure tested the fuel tank and explained I needed 57 lbs - the
 >reading was 31 pounds.
 >
 >He said there was be a hole in the fuel line - my fears of electronic
 >ignition module problems were over.
 >
 >Sure enough, he popped the fuel pump and the corregated plastic fuel
 >line had two small holes on the ridges of the line.
 >
 >Also, there were flat areas around the small pin holes.
 >
 >He explained they'd fixed an '03 the day before with the same problem
 >- the fuel line rubbed against the inside of the tank and wore the
 >holes in the line.
 >
 >The part was out of stock, but one of the guys went to their "sister"
 >store 15 miles away and picked up the fuel line.
 >
 >The new line is suppose to be an "improved" design made of "better"
 >material.
 >
 >An hour later, my problems were solved.

Well, that's damn kewl. No real implication that the ethanol was a
contributing factor? I wonder if mine's at risk.

 >No problems from Milwaukee to Texas - it was a good trip for an ark.
 >
 >Maybe it would have been better had I put some pontoons on the bike.

Did I mention how much rain we had on the way home? <SEG>

--
R.E. #92 DOF#1 BC#1
'96 FLHTC-I "Mae A" R.I.P. "Mae-A...bilene, why caintcha be true?"
'02 FLHTC-I "Mae B" (th' last)
'46 Chief "Sweet Thunder Woman" aka Hypatia<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->