G'day to you all. New to forums, October 2011. Proud new owner of 12/07 build VRSCAW, 7200km on clock, had it for a day then had to put it in storage for a month, havent got back to it yet. Last road bike a Sporty 10 yrs ago. Loved the V-ROD, but know nothing much about their quirks and flaws, just had to have one and finally I do. Bike in perfect condition to the eye, but ran like crap, burbling and backfiring like a victa lawnmower as I engine braked, and frequently stalled at lights, but under power all good. Has a Power Commander and am told its a matter of a tune up... but hearing too it will always be a backfirer, from some forum topics... whats with that? Secondly, my fuel gauge was having random spaz attacks and the distance remaining display was running up and down at random, when tank seemed below half full. Anybody else had that and know of a direction for me to pursue with it? Grateful for any tips, and happy to be walking the walk after too long away. Though not planning on too much walking, in fact. Cheers all. \m/<O>\m/
Hey mate,welcome to the forum, mines a 08 also, the fuel guage was the same on mine, they all seem to do it, they say you can replace the sender but it will just do the same after a while so i didnt use it,i have replaced the whole speedo with a dakota digital one now. i also have power commander and after market pipes and air filter, after numerous tunes and 3 different exhausts it still barks and farts when i back off,im just used to it now
Mick and Rab, thanks for the welcome. Well, I must say Im surprised to learn from you that it appears the gauge issue was wide spread in at least that model. Thats a bit rough, lol, but as someone who is used to driving a ute with padbolts closing the bonnet and doors, its not the greatest of tragedies Ive encountered in life, so I can live with it I suppose. Though you would wish at the money we pay for these joys it would be a better outlook. Im wondering if it relates to changes made to the bike for it to be an Australian model ( I dont mean compliance changes as per a private import) back at factory where I presume a bike designated as destined for Australia is set up accordingly... The route of the electronic dash sounds interesting, and I wouldnt mind an altogether less intrusive risers/bars mount set up anyway, that was a bit more clean lined than the big lump of a standard set up.... I saw a pic of a guy with big apes on a Muscle once that looked fabulous.... a fuel gauge would be handy however, with the tank placed as it is. I only had a day with my bike so far, am drawing comfort till re-united with the fact that at least I own it and its tucked away safe til then, lol, but Im not entirely sure of its custom spec. Apart from bling gear like pegs and grips and wheels etc it has Vance and Hines pipes and I dont know which version of Power Commander, but I learnt later that I didnt receive the link cable that should perhaps have been supplied with it for connecting to laptop. Not, I will say now, that Im confident at all that I could successfully tinker with and improve its ignition adjustment. Im not a mechanically minded fella. Grew up on the farm having to hold the other spanner on every kind of machinery and all I wanted to do was go riding, so my ears were shut at that valuable time of learning. I saw myself as a pilot, even then, ha ha. I have a reasonable grasp of stuff though, but get nervy with hands on, especially after my first rebuild bike died shortly after, lol. So it does sound as though, then, that the breakdown on deceleration is here to stay.... thats quite remarkable in a modern motor. I guess theres the point of view that it gives a legitimate sound, lol, but its surely a surprise to hear it said again by someone else. I wonder if this is the sacrifice made to give good performance under acceleration... I guess the best I might hope for is to remove the stalling from its resume'. I dont have a lot of dough to throw at seeking remedies, so will have to settle for a fairly simple resolution and whatever that results in. But I plan to keep the bike a long time, and so do have some ideas of customization. One major intent is to convert to a single pipe each side of the bike a la the Muscle, if it is possible which Im sure wont be too difficult, but will require more tuning again....
