I purchased a 2013 model Fat Bob in late December 2012. After carefully running it in, I noticed the bike pings around 2500-3000 rpm especially when it gets hot. Also you must be using at least 1/2 throttle or more. Once above about  3000 to 35000 rpm the pinging clears and you are in high revving V twin heaven. At the moment the pinging is all but non existent because of winter (unless you get caught in some bad traffic) but come summer and a few stops at lights or traffic jams and it will be prominent again. You can also bypass the pinging by being very gentle on the throttle. Although this is not my first bike it is my first Harley and I am desperate for some advice on this problem.

Regards

              Welkon

Sorry, should have mentioned that bike is bog standard and I always buy the 98 octane fuel usually from Caltex but sometimes from BP (wont touch Shell).

to lean in that area or to much timing, what tuner do you run????

my bet is none and if you don't want to buy a tuner and it is all stock consider the xieds
however a set of pipes and A/C with a good tuner will make a world of difference

All of the above as well as what grade of fuel do you use?

Sorry, should have mentioned that bike is bog standard and I always but the 98 octane fuel usually from Caltex but sometimes from BP (wont touch Shell).

Sorry, should have mentioned that bike is bog standard and I always buy the 98 octane fuel usually from Caltex but sometimes from BP (wont touch Shell).

Fuel was my first thought, but if you're already using 95 or 98 it's got to be tuning

what's a tuner??

http://www.dynojet.com/powervision/

Best money I've spent so far

Agreed with all the advise above. Let the bike breath, it needs to suck air and get the exhaust out. The most important bit to the equation is the tuner. Factory bikes run to lean, I even went to the trouble of making my own baffles to prevent exhaust pulses and fine tune the bike for low and mid range tthrottle. Enjoy your ride, but try to get it sorted before summer.

 Welkon, why don't you use Shell 98? I use it and haven't had any problems. 

Interested in case there's something I'm missing. 

Cheers

Admittedly I haven't had any problems with shell BUT a couple of years ago before I started using the high octane regularly on my car I decided too do a couple of rough tests on Caltex, Shell and BP high octane 1. Did idle rev change? both BP and Caltex by about 100-200 rpm. Shell nothing. 2. How much more km's would I get out of a tank. About 150 with BP and Caltex and again Shell was negligible. Because of results I tested Shell another 2 times from different petrol stations but still got same result. So I decided not to use shell. I probably should retest again but I can't be bothered.......I have a Harley to ride.

 You've got me interested!

gonna run a couple of comparisons between brands now using my Powervision to monitor fuel consumption.

I work for Shell...........but won't change me looking for the best fuel for the bike!

For those of you interested I'm telling you the complete sorry saga of my "Pinging Fat Bob" so far. Unbeknownst to me the running in process was masking the pinging so it wasn't until 20/06 that I took it back to Frasers who couldn't find anything wrong with the bike. To give Frasers their due I didn't know anything about the bike having to be hot for the pinging to occur (on the other hand a bit of initiative from the mechanic wouldn't have gone astray). On the way home I couldn't get it to ping and basically the pinging disappeared until some warmer days and got stuck at lights in traffic. So I now worked out the bike had to be over a certain temperature for the pinging to occur. I actually contacted HD-AUS and asked could I take bike somewhere else but they insisted I give Frasers another chance.  So on the 2/9 I went back to Frasers and gave them a full picture of the pinging ie more accurate rev and temperature information but I don't think they took much notice because they reconnected the exhaust valve which they had disconnected at first service (800k). Bottom line, pinging still there. Contacted Frasers service manager and he already knew of this problem and said he would get his best mechanic onto it. So on 12/9 back to Frasers as well as speaking to the people on the front desk I collared the mechanic working on my bike and made sure he knew exactly what's going on. Finally they admitted that my bike was pinging  between 2200 and 3000 rpm. Everybody I have spoken to about this says its unusual (not so much the pinging but the revs its pinging at), imagine my surprise when the mechanic told me this was fairly normal. Then he asked what revs do I ride the bike at ?  I cruise around 2000 which is somewhat governed by the pinging problem. Thats your problem you need to ride it at higher revs preferably above 3000!!! You know, even though I felt like an absolute idiot I tried to do that and in traffic it got pretty exciting at times. I thought Harley were supposed to be crooooosers. There was one more communication between me and Frasers which I will leave unsaid. Contacted HD-AUS and spoke to someone who seemed to know his stuff. So I'm taking it to Sy's on Thursday (19/9). I just want my bike sorted. Any thoughts, comments, questions or suggestions.

I think that multiple people have answered your question. A std harley is very restricted from the factory so you need to do some mods and that will include a tuner. Re read the answers.

The bike sold as new and unmodified should not ping. The factory tune on aust delivered bikes is supposed to be suited to aust conditions and fuel. A hd rep saying that pinging is normal, not taking any responsibility on behalf of hd for the problem, not doing anything to fix the problem and then suggesting you ride outside of the rev range where it's pinging is disgraceful. Shame on that dealer if the facts as you put it are accurate. I hope hd aust is aware of this poor product support and service.

paulybronco

If you took any Harley for a test ride and it pinged between 2000 and 3000 you wouldn't in a million years buy the bike unless your an absolute idiot, in fact if all Harleys did this I can't believe that Harley would ever sell another bike!!!  

Hi Welkon

interested in how HD fix your issue. Have 2013 fatbob and would be unhappy wih your treatment if I had to go back for fixes. 

Excuse my ignorance but is the pinging something even a dope like me Would know is wrong. ( first harley so nothing to compare it with) 

hope you get some proper service

cheers

bb