Bad Cat?

[OlBandit]

went on a run yesterday with my new bushtec trailer, my gas mileage went way down, to about 23 miles per gallon. Had a friend behind me said all he could some was rotten eggs. So I'm wondering if the cat is bad, anyone know anything about the cat, other than it is not good in the first place.

 

[eagle1]

goggle this problem, black smoke comming out exhaust,eng. temp hotter, loss of power while driveing uphill, smell like rotten eggs. if your state doesn't have annusl insp's for
bikes, why not cut the CAT out. talk to your dealer i'm supprised your motor isn't pinging with the load of the trailer. ask the dealer if if install a tunner, & eliminate the CAT will this VIOD the warrenty?
if he says yes, go to another dealder & ask him , seeing how you may well have a bad cat (smell)
they might say its ok. just advice here. if you find a tunner you like , tell the dealer you will let him
install it & tune it for you if when you do so it won't void the warrenty. as mant have said , the warrenty is mainly up to the dealer, with HMO comapny's imput. more thinking here... you may have a bad O2 sensor, go to NAPA they have a universal 1/2" drive sensor socket, & remove both O2 sensors & look ay them. don't forget to put anti seize on the threads, when i pulled mine on my '09 t/g it looked like there wasn't any anti-seize on the senoors. hope this helps. roll-on and throttle-up

 

[screwball]

How much weight was in the trailer?? Are you and wife 'normal size'. You may be expecting more than our stock Tri can produce. In any case, if the Cat is bad you should still be under warranty, take it back to the dealer. Tell him about the smell, if you are blowing black smoke you are running too rich that could explain the smell. Pulling a very heavy trailer could explain the bad mileage.

Good Luck

 

[trikermutha]

Dont let the dealer know about the trailer hitch or your warranty will be most likey voided..

I pull a escapade trailer and have no problems...

 

[OlBandit]

ok, it is a bushtec roadstar, trailer weighs 125 lbs empty, i put about 100 lbs in it, gross weight is 350 lbs, so it is not a big trailer. Today went on a 300 mile ride without trailer, got some octane booster got 39 miles per gallon. Tomorrow going on 250 mile ride with trailer, will compare mileage results and report back tommorrow night with them.

 

[msocko3]

ok, it is a bushtec roadstar, trailer weighs 125 lbs empty, i put about 100 lbs in it, gross weight is 350 lbs, so it is not a big trailer. Today went on a 300 mile ride without trailer, got some octane booster got 39 miles per gallon. Tomorrow going on 250 mile ride with trailer, will compare mileage results and report back tommorrow night with them.

The trailer will kick the crap out of your mileage every time, depending on the speed I'm running and if I'm bucking a head wind I can count on a 12 -15 mpg loss.

 

[OlBandit]

I'm am back at home now. Yesterday, one of our bikes had a clutch problem, so we stopped at shenandoah harley davidson and I spoke with the Service Manager about my mileage problem, and he told me that their trikes normally get 40 miles per gallon or better without pulling a trailer. I bought some Octane Booster and tried it to see what happened and yes the mileage jumped up to 39 miles per gallon, of course I was only running about 35 miles per hour the entire length of Skyline Drive (109 Miles). This morning I put my 225 lb (total weight of trailer) trailer on the back and came home with it and you guess it I only got 25 miles per gallon, now I know it did not help when I was riding the interstate at 75 to 80 miles an hour. When I got home and pulled in the garage there was a heavy smell of gas on the left side of the engine and the rider that was behind me called me on the cellphone and told me that he still smelled rotten eggs.

I am gonna call the local harley dealer and see if they can look at it, it really seems that under a load, dont matter with or without trailer, the mileage goes way down.

I'll let ya'll know what the dealer has to say and if anything was done to it.

Ride Safe and Enjoy!!!!!

 

[screwball]

Wife and I have never gotten 40 mpg with either trike. 35 to 38 IF we keep it under 70mph. 30 to 33 above 70. Sort of like my F150 Keep it under 65 I get 18 mpg. Over 70 and it drops to 12 on the driving computer. Ditto the '04 Thunderbird.....

Guess we all just gotta slow down. :laugh::laugh::laugh: