R1150RT Stalling Problems

[CliffWL]

I have an 1150RT 2002 that has been stalling for the last year whenever I hit the bottom of a long hill and put the clutch to down shift from 3-2 or 2-1. This only happens on steeper hills of a mile long or so. I happens to me every single day I ride down a long hill to the ferry dock. It occasionally happens around town when I am down shifting from 2-1 going around a corner. The local shops can not duplicate it nor can they figure it out. It is a real pain and very disconcerting when I plan on accelerating after the down shift and instead have to coast to get it started. It starts immediately when I hold the clutch in and press the start button. Any ideas?

[JimMoore]

What rpm is your idle? I like to keep mine at about 1200 rpm, which is 100 or so above the recommended rpm. I think that makes it easier to launch the bike.

[PGlaves]

I have an 1150RT 2002 that has been stalling for the last year whenever I hit the bottom of a long hill and put the clutch to down shift from 3-2 or 2-1. This only happens on steeper hills of a mile long or so. I happens to me every single day I ride down a long hill to the ferry dock. It occasionally happens around town when I am down shifting from 2-1 going around a corner. The local shops can not duplicate it nor can they figure it out. It is a real pain and very disconcerting when I plan on accelerating after the down shift and instead have to coast to get it started. It starts immediately when I hold the clutch in and press the start button. Any ideas?

I suspect the bike is going slightly rich on that long downhill low power demand run. The idle drops off slightly with the sooty stumble and the motor dies.

As an alternative - it could have gone way lean on that low power downhill and the system is too slow to enrichen the mixture.

I would try to find a hill where I can duplicate this with a coast in stop at the bottom when it dies. Let it cool and read the plugs for white vs soot. Then you will know if it needs to be richer or leaner to cut out the nonsense.

[CliffWL]

Thanks, that sounds like a good idea. I have the hill in front of me every morning so that should be easy. The local shop turned the idle waaaay up and that did not help the problem at all, it just killed the same way at the bottom of the long hills.

[Rpstk53]

I wonder if water in the fuel tank is getting sucked in during a descent??
maybe add a bottle of isopropyl fuel drier and try it again.
Bob

[Panhead_Jim]

What rpm is your idle? I like to keep mine at about 1200 rpm, which is 100 or so above the recommended rpm. I think that makes it easier to launch the bike.

Amen, brother. 1200 is my number, too.

Is it possible this is electrical? Could there be a malfunction in the clutch switch-gear switch, or am I way off base? My old Harley pops and dies at the slightest hint of a stop when it's anything less than full hot. I know, I should be able to figure this out, but so far, way rich or way lean, it has the tendency to leave me kickin until it is full hot. Maybe you should just warm it up more before you leave the house.

[CTHalk]

Hello Jim, I used to have a 1964 FLH that was a great bike.....if I could get it started. It was always a bear to start, right from the original owner, through a couple of other guys, then to me. I would kick my guts out, and be all sweaty and pissed off every time I wanted to go for a ride. Once it was really warmed up, it was a one-kick bike. I did everything to fix it...checked timing, looked for manifold leaks, rebuilt carb.....just like all the other owners. I finally got pissed off, and sold it. The guy was coming to get it, and I checked the fuel strainer for water. It had gas. I took the bowl off. It was dry. What the what!?!. I suppose you want to know what the 'gremlin' was. There was a little casting flaw in the bowl....a little tit that stuck out. As the bowl filled with gas, and the float raised up, it would get stuck on the tit. When the bike was finally running, the vibration was enough to get the float to drop. When the bike was really warmed up, the bowl expanded just enough to let the float drop as needed. I was happy to have finally figured it out, but depressed as hell that the guy was on his way, and I am a guy that sticks to my word. The new owner is enjoying his one-kick Panhead. I am finally enjoying my R1100RT-P after replacing the tranny! My RT-P also did a stalling thing just like yours. I went to a LOWER octane fuel, added a can of injector cleaner, and within a tank or two, the problem disappeared. It might also be the fuel filter in the tank? Good luck, let us know when you figure it out. Regards, Hal. Oh, here's a link to pictures of my past bikes (Including the Pan). H.
http://halkct.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php

[pjamesb80]

I have an 1150RT 2002 that has been stalling for the last year whenever I hit the bottom of a long hill and put the clutch to down shift from 3-2 or 2-1. This only happens on steeper hills of a mile long or so. I happens to me every single day I ride down a long hill to the ferry dock. It occasionally happens around town when I am down shifting from 2-1 going around a corner. The local shops can not duplicate it nor can they figure it out. It is a real pain and very disconcerting when I plan on accelerating after the down shift and instead have to coast to get it started. It starts immediately when I hold the clutch in and press the start button. Any ideas?

CliffWL: Ditto! I have the exact same problem with my 2002 1150RT. It is driving me crazy. Did you ever get it figured out?

[Motor31]

My 04 1150RT is having a hard time starting, has a rough idle and frequently stalls along with hesitation on hard acceleration at higher RPM's. It kinda funny that there are others doing similar thing. Mine has been doing this and getting progressively worse over the last two tanks of gas. Gas from different locations and both places had high turnover in gas stock.

[rockosmith]

My '04 1150R with 71000 miles is doing similar things. I believe I have lost both primary coils and am only running on the secondaries. I will confirm this in the next couple of days when my two new primary coils are received.