[leo_silvano]

Hi everyone

I recently had to change the front isolators of my 2009 xr1200 due to an accident. So I bought a pair of drag specialties isolators EE28-0033, which replaces harley 48463-04. When I picked them, I noticed that the rubber was a lot harder than the factory rubber. After the installation, with appropriate torques, vibrations increased a lot at running speeds, but almost disappeared at idle, when engine is hot. I want to ask if has anyone tried these isolators or recommends me to get back to the factory ones. BTW, HD has discontinnued the 48463-04, changing it for 48463-04A. I didn't notice which of these are the ones that came with the bike.

 

[JoeP]

Front Isolator? 48463-04? Can you point to it on the bike? I mean, I can find it in a Google search, but all I see are these rubber bushings.

Where you located?

 

[leo_silvano]

That's it, the bushings. But they are announced at jpcycles.com as "Front isolator mounts".

 

[streettracker]

Front Isolator? 48463-04? Can you point to it on the bike? I mean, I can find it in a Google search, but all I see are these rubber bushings.

Where you located?

That's it, the bushings. But they are announced at jpcycles.com as "Front isolator mounts".

"Isolator, front mount" IS the correct name that Harley uses for the part in the parts book, and yes it is the rubber bushing that Isolates the vibration in the front motor mount.

It is possible that the ones you bought are a harder durometer rating than the factory ones, BUT is it also possible that there is something else wrong with your bike. You said you replaced these due to an accident - for the isolator to become damaged I would suspect a pretty good impact. maybe something else is bend or damaged?

 

[JoeP]

I still don't know what a Front Isolator Mount IS (engine mount or something in the fork tubes?) or where Leo is from.

 

[leo_silvano]

"Isolator, front mount" IS the correct name that Harley uses for the part in the parts book, and yes it is the rubber bushing that Isolates the vibration in the front motor mount.

It is possible that the ones you bought are a harder durometer rating than the factory ones, BUT is it also possible that there is something else wrong with your bike. You said you replaced these due to an accident - for the isolator to become damaged I would suspect a pretty good impact. maybe something else is bend or damaged?

I still don't know what a Front Isolator Mount IS (engine mount or something in the fork tubes?) or where Leo is from.

I'm located in Uberaba, Brazil.
As streettracker said, it is actually the rubber bushings that goes under the engine, bolting it to the frame.
The inner fork tubes were also damaged with the crash, and they were changed. I took the bike to 2 harley mechanics and they said the frame is perfect.
The vibration is strong in the handlebars and is felt also driver's footpegs, but my wife says that she doesn't feel it in the passenger's pegs.
I did some tests accelerating the bike and vibration almost isn't felt on the back part of the frame, as well as on the 2 exhaust mounts on the right side.
Some people told that the stator could be misplaced and vibrating (I don't understand anything about the stator instalation).
I think that's it, your opinions will be very appreciated.

 

[Saint]

Harleys are known for their 'good vibrations' (heck, the Beach Boys wrote a song about them..)

Do the vibes smooth out once you are underway? How are the tires? Any modifications to the bike from stock? Specifically something that might transfer engine to frame motions?

 

[leo_silvano]

Harleys are known for their 'good vibrations' (heck, the Beach Boys wrote a song about them..)

Do the vibes smooth out once you are underway? How are the tires? Any modifications to the bike from stock? Specifically something that might transfer engine to frame motions?

Well, there is an annoying vibration when I am at highway speeds, like 55/60mph, which was not supposed to be there. Tires are good. Days ago I was on the road and, about 60mph I pulled the clutch until idle and vibration was gone. The only modification I could mention are the drag specialties isolator mounts.

 

[leo_silvano]

I saw some cracking on the right unit of DS rubber mount (there are 2 mounts underneath the engine), which isn't normal. But I'd like to ask something: is it possible that with the crash something went abnormal within the engine or transmission? It was a front crash about 10 mph. Gears are switching normally, and engine seems to rev normally either.

 

[Jeff B]

Bike is fine at idle, bike has vibration about @ 60 mph, once clutch is pulled in rolling that fast vibes go away. Leads me to believe that the new stiffer isolator is the culprit. You could try slowly bringing it up the rpm range that replicates 60 mph and see how the engine behaves. Chances of a problem inside your engine due to a 10mph impact is highly improbable. Comp sprockets have been know to come loose on big twins but I have never heard about a problem like that with a Sportsers. I to have a similar vibe, seems too after my crash. Some homemade upgrades contributed to my vib since I have changed back to the stock parts, vibe is still present but barley noticeable. I suspect the lower motor mount is wooped due to excessive wheelies on my part. My vibe is never at WOT but a cruising speeds between coast and throttle.

 

[leo_silvano]

Bike is fine at idle, bike has vibration about @ 60 mph, once clutch is pulled in rolling that fast vibes go away. Leads me to believe that the new stiffer isolator is the culprit. You could try slowly bringing it up the rpm range that replicates 60 mph and see how the engine behaves. Chances of a problem inside your engine due to a 10mph impact is highly improbable. Comp sprockets have been know to come loose on big twins but I have never heard about a problem like that with a Sportsers. I to have a similar vibe, seems too after my crash. Some homemade upgrades contributed to my vib since I have changed back to the stock parts, vibe is still present but barley noticeable. I suspect the lower motor mount is wooped due to excessive wheelies on my part. My vibe is never at WOT but a cruising speeds between coast and throttle.

Thats by biggest suscpiction. I'll try changing it, than I post the results. Hope it works.

 

[leo_silvano]

Hey people, let me tell you what just happened. I fuelled with regular 87 octane gas (there was about 1/6 of the tank with Petrobras "Podium" 95 octane gas), and the bad vibrations disappeared, even with the Drag Specialties mounts! After the engine got hot there was an increase in vibrations, specially around 2000/2500 rpm, but not like before. There was also a little pinging when accelerating too hard. So I'm discarding the rubber mounts. Some threads on sportsters foruns point to the MAP sensor. Has anyone had this kind of issue?

 

[JoeP]

So, by vibration you mean engine pinging.

It may sound subtle, but there's a big difference.

 

[leo_silvano]

So, by vibration you mean engine pinging.

It may sound subtle, but there's a big difference.

It pings only on hard accelerations. Not a very beautiful noise coming from the engine. Vibrations are felt more at 2000-2500 rpm, and a little bit on other rotations. Those symptoms weren't there before the accident, so I think they share the same cause.

 

[JoeP]

So... could it be engine lugging you are experiencing?

 

[leo_silvano]

So... could it be engine lugging you are experiencing?

I try using correct gears all the time. I can say pinging does occur by lugging. But what bothers me more than this pinging is the fact that for some reason vibrations simply disappeared, and then returned.

 

[leo_silvano]

Well, as the engine is running rough, I decided to pull the spark plugs and see how they were, and it seems that the rear cylinder plug has a much stronger spark than the front one, as the pictures show. I tested the front spark wire and it seems ok. There are no DTC codes in the log. I'm posting a picture of the plugs and hope for opinions.

 

[Jeff B]

Iridium plugs, Looks lean on both. How old are those plugs? They look very new. You should be brown - tad dark. The pining is an indication the timing is to advanced or your way to lean and she is getting hot causing pre detination

 

[leo_silvano]

Iridium plugs, Looks lean on both. How old are those plugs? They look very new. You should be brown - tad dark. The pining is an indication the timing is to advanced or your way to lean and she is getting hot causing pre detination

The plugs are new. They are in the bike for about a month. And I agree with you that the leanness is causing both pinging and roughness. I changed the originals for the Iridium and the problem was attenuated, but still there. I'm just figuring out where to look. Maybe an intake leak? I saw some tests people do to search for leaks in the intake with WD-40 or propane. I'll try those tests. BTW, thanks for your help until now.

 

[Jeff B]

An intake leak would make you run lean. When my Road King was new it had a pinched intake leak it ran so hot when it finally went I had to pull over the pipes were glowing orange. Using the WD is a perfect idea it is a bit messy, the propane can give you a false positive if it gets into the TB. Using a long thin 1/4 rubber hose can help you direct it where you want a lil better. Hope its something dumb. You'll figure it out your taking one step at a time