Road King 2001 - Engine Sputters ?

Question

When I first got my '01 Road Kind (used) earlier this year. The seller had it sitting in a cold garage all year in Chicago. The engine sputters occasionally while at an idle or giving it a healthly twist of the throttle. I cleaned out the old gas, and put in a full tank of 91 octane thinking that should clean it up. But it has not. Can anyone recommend my next step?

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Answer 1

first, if it is fuel injected you need to know that it is an open loop system and relies very much on preprogramed fuel input for a given throttle setting and manifold vacume. from the factory these settings are on the lean side of 14.7- 1 ratio, as a result you may get a part throttle sputter and as you wack open the throttle this will be exagerated by the addition of a lot of air faster than the fuel can be added. one solution is to have the injection remapped, the dealer offers several software upgrades for this. secondly for a carb version it may be as simple as an accelerator pump not working properly, probably not something a non tech should try to fix. as for the possibility of an ignition problem, it would seem that if the plugs were not firing it would be fairly consistent regardless of throttle position but stranger things have happened. in any case you may wish to consult one of the many hd specific forums on the web. good luck

Answer 2

Change the plugs and plug wires. Probably could use a carb cleaning.

Answer 3

it's a Harley, that is normal...

if you wanted a performance bike, you went the wrong direction...

(try changing the plugs)

Answer 4

the cold has nothing to do with it, sounds like a mis. you have to find out if its fuel or electric, id venture electric like a plug, coil or wire. plugs and wires are cheap, you probably should replace anyway on that year bike. see what happens with that, im not sure if that year had electronic brian, if so that wouldnt sputter , i'd bring it in if plugs and wires  didnt do it as we would have to have a very long deep conversation for more trouble shooting.

Answer 5

plugs, wires, maybe coil

Answer 6

like they say change the plugs , change the air filter , charge the battery , and avoid using the choke that will foul the plugs the most warm it up slowly