Hig, don't feel all alone on this. I had this issue when I first got it in Nov 07. It only got better after tightening the exhaust nuts on the engine, but I had gone through the recall and changed the plugs. It is still prone to do it and I've had the same response as you. I think it only happens to the few here on the forum as if it was prevalent I believe that Victory would address it head on. But since it probably only happening to a few bikes, of which are riders that post here, they are not concerned. I mentioned that it happens to those who post here because it makes it a bigger deal to US but not to  them. I'm on a mission to work through this and believe it is a vacuum leak on the intake side or an exhaust leak somewhere. You will get a zillion responses from creditable sources that will either encourage you to forge ahead or discourage and make you sell the best riding bike on the planet.

I've heard everything from sensors to relays, to circuit breakers to S1L1/L2 pipes, to commanders, etc, etc, etc, and it still exist among those who has had any combination of the above redone. I'm still waiting for the perfect solution, but we are told that doesn't exist either because Victory motors will pop and die at some point without warning. Fortunetly, mine refires and it has become second nature to me whenever it happens. When it happens with the wife unit I tell her that the bike has character and we move on to another subject.

My dealers solution is an upgrade in exhaust, but if it ain't running right stock, why should I spend money and it still don't run right. You'll find S1L1 and S1L2 with the same problem, so I really don't want to hear that I have to spend money to make it run right from the showroom. That alone has turned me completely off from discussing the issue with them, but will mention it from time to time just to hear them tell me to spend money for pretty sound pipes.

Best to you in your pursuit and hope you get absolute total resolution in your stalling problem soon so you do not have to be worried with it any longer. But if you do a search, the predominate subject second only to the oil threads is popping and stalling. 

Okay, some of us have been around this block too many times and frankly it is getting tiresome. I'm truly a shade tree mechanic as I have no garage to rip apart my bike and scatter parts about so I have to look at time and weather before I do anything, thus the lack of getting down to business. As I comtemplate the stalling and popping issue one thing keeps coming to mind; a leak, either exhaust or intake or both or even vacuum. So I dig out my manual and all the symptom we describe has one common thread as a potential problem to popping or stalling; a leak, either intake or exhaust or both or vacuum. Yet, we get on here and talk about EFI, mapping issues, pipes, etc. and many still have this problem. I look at the huge airbox and the things that are mounted to it and how it mounts to the engine, and vacuum hoses. But I have never heard anyone say they've done a shake down of this area, the airbox and intake.

So, who has looked into this and found any leaks or not? I think this is where the problems could potentially be and yet we look past it. I know I did with the exhaust and I had a major drop in the problem when I put a wrench to it. But I've not dug into the intake or vacuum lines. Could one of you expert wrenches that knows your stuff give me a little feedback on this as I know there is an absolute solution to this problem that will fix it once and for all. I cannot buy the fact that Victory motors just do it, or it is lean/rich mixture or EPA influence over the EFI deal, and all that other stuff. I know that Victory produces a motor that will run like a scolded dog and would never say this popping and stalling is good enough. It has to be some leak somewhere that can be remedied. Anyone?

Appreciate the info ChickenMan from Tennersee, I'm going to look into that. I'm curious though as to whether there are many bikes with the same symptom yet different causes. Mine will die sometimes before I even move, it will flatten out (my term) as I roll on the throttle and ease the clutch out and it dies. Or as other have said, I'll pull the clutch in and it immediately dies. Then there are other times that I'll roll on the throttle from a stop and it will flatten out, stay running, cough and then run like a scolded dog. There are other times I'll have to sit there revving it to get it to run up and not shut off so I can take off. This is not every single time I stop, but it will do it several times in a city and traffic sitting environment. When rolling it runs and performs as it should. There is though a rare moment when it will pause for a nano second, no spudder or anything, just a flat spot.

I'm figuring that if it is in the switch or other electronic gizmo it would die and not start, or die while underway, or sputter more under way. But that flat spot I've mentioned has only happened about 4 times in 42,000 miles. I know of two times it happen on local long trips, though I can't remember when or where. But I distinctly remember it doing it on my way to Texas, in fact, it happened in Texas for that nanosecond, and then it just did it Saturday on the RedWing19 ride heading north on I-81. To me these kind of things will do it and mean business, like shut off and you have to refire while screaming 70mph down the interstate, it has not done that. My 22 year old GoldWing did it because the switch was worn out, and would do it if I hit bumps or something. I've hit some rough road with the Vision and it has been steady as she goes. It is always in that backdown, or takeoff range that it occurs making me believe it is atmospheric. If you think otherwise I will certainly look into replacing the switch, even on my own dime.

The Vision has enough character without it fartin' and belching all the time.

I hate it when I come back to reality.

Looking at the front tire today and it is shot, so I'll be bringing the Vision into the hanger and pulling everything apart soon. I'm going to check out my leak theory and see how it rides after that. If I still got the issue than I'll move into the gizmo area to see what happens. Mine only had the map and switch retainer recall, no circuit breaker per dealer. Thanks Po.

Higgy - 2009-05-18 2:27 PM

Thanks man for letting me know that I'm not the Lone Ranger!

Hey!  I resemble that remark! :-)

I had a long coversation with the tech at the dealer and he says ALL Victory '08 do does the pop, as well as Harley's, etc, because of the EPA forcing them to lean out the mixture. So it is blowing my theory out of the water, but my question is, not everyone claims there's does it, or do you 08er's? The tech says this is across the board for the '08 and he says his coversations with Vic resolves absolutely nothing. He is also the second person to say he thinks in is in the O2 sensors. I'm still going to shake mine down and eliminate any exhaust leak and work any issues from there. I still have a few weeks to go before I start pulling it apart.

I'm having my rear pulley supermaxed and I've decided to keep the E3's this time and not go darkside. I'm going to take my original belt and have it tested to see how many pounds it will take to break. If I had the money, I'd buy a new one and test it for break strength also. My guess is there would be very little difference. Sorry, this is a stalling threard.