[Big Tom Callahan]

Hello all, I am super new here and new to riding in general. After visiting LA and watching tricked out choppers and viclas going down the boulevard, and finding some cool pics of my dad riding in the 70's, I went on a quest once I got back home and bought my first and only bike {7k miles 2006 Softail Deluxe, 2 into 1 Exhaust, and Thundermax ECM} This was back in Fall of 2021.


My first ride was a life changer. I never knew how much fun I was missing out on. However, I have been stricken by gremlins with the bike and have had little to no help from local dealerships on fixing it as they "do not work on bikes equipped with aftermarket tuners, OEM ECM modules are on backorder". I am trying to take things into my own hands and fix the bike up nice and this forum seems to be the place with helpful knowledge. So far I have only gotten to ride the bike ~6 times, and I have been left stranded on the side of the road 4 out of those 6 times.. Pitiful, I know LOL

SO! This riding season, I am on a mission from GOD to make this bike work. It is such a beauty and has such a nice engine sound, I really want to make it ride as good as it looks.
If anyone could point me in the right direction for where to find or post a thread on this tricky bike situation, I am up to describe in detail the weirdness going on and take in all the help I can get.
I just want to RIDE! LOL

Thanks for reading,
Brendan "Big Tom" Callahan

 

[Mark44]

Welcome to this forum, Tom! Whereabouts are you from on the wet side of the Oregon Cascades? I'm from the same side of the Washington Cascades.

7k miles is pretty low for a 17-year-old motorcycle, so there should be many miles left in it. What kinds of problems did you run into that left you stranded by the side of the road? Regarding the lack of dealer support, some of the members here live in Oregon, and they might be able to suggest some reliable indy shops that could help you with the things you aren't able to tackle.

 

[rootintootin]

Welcome.

Judging by the winged bar and shield medallion on your tank, your Softail Deluxe is actually a FLSTNI Heritage Special Nostalgia model. If you look at the VIN on your frame, the 5th and 6th characters should be the letters JD. If they are something else, then you have some other model.

Ronnie's Harley-Davidson | MODEL INFO (onlinemicrofiche.com)

That is an online copy of the parts book for your bike. Practically the same thing the dealer uses in their parts dept. But these online copies have been known to show errors on occasion, so don't get in any arguments at the parts counter. If you plan on keeping this bike, you should hunt up an official Factory Service Manual. Especially if you want to do your own wrenching.

You say pipes and ECM have been changed, but do you know of anything else? A Thundermax system seems like way overkill for just a set of pipes. Since you say the stock ECM is on back order, I take that to mean you didn't get one with the purchase? If a set of pipes is the only modification, you might be better off with the stocker.

Did the prior owner have these problems you are experiencing? Did the bike sit for a long time before you got it? 7K miles spread over 17 years isn't even 10 miles a week. That isn't even enough to get the bike up to operating temperature.

You ought to be knee deep in studying the Thundermax system. Have you been to their website? They have lots of info scattered all around and they do provide some tech support.

 

[bigbadal]

What forest of Oregon are you from?

 

[Big Tom Callahan]

What forest of Oregon are you from?

Not much of a forest per say LOL, but yeah I do live by Salem the capital, near enough to Silver Falls and about an hour from Lincoln City, and the Oregon coast.

 

[Big Tom Callahan]

Welcome.

Judging by the winged bar and shield medallion on your tank, your Softail Deluxe is actually a FLSTNI Heritage Special Nostalgia model. If you look at the VIN on your frame, the 5th and 6th characters should be the letters JD. If they are something else, then you have some other model.

Ronnie's Harley-Davidson | MODEL INFO (onlinemicrofiche.com)

That is an online copy of the parts book for your bike. Practically the same thing the dealer uses in their parts dept. But these online copies have been known to show errors on occasion, so don't get in any arguments at the parts counter. If you plan on keeping this bike, you should hunt up an official Factory Service Manual. Especially if you want to do your own wrenching.

You say pipes and ECM have been changed, but do you know of anything else? A Thundermax system seems like way overkill for just a set of pipes. Since you say the stock ECM is on back order, I take that to mean you didn't get one with the purchase? If a set of pipes is the only modification, you might be better off with the stocker.

Did the prior owner have these problems you are experiencing? Did the bike sit for a long time before you got it? 7K miles spread over 17 years isn't even 10 miles a week. That isn't even enough to get the bike up to operating temperature.

You ought to be knee deep in studying the Thundermax system. Have you been to their website? They have lots of info scattered all around and they do provide some tech support.

5th and 6th letter on VIN are J and D, so does that make it a Deluxe? Hmm, understandable about the parts book and service manual, I can get right on those.

I bought this at my local motorsports dealer, they knew nothing of the previous owner or previous mods. It most likely sat in a garage somewhere for a long time, as it looks rather untouched and only a few cosmetic things. That being said, it came with the 2 into 1 pipe and thundermax already installed with no other parts aside from furnishings supplied, those are the only mods I believe it has. The first dealer I took it to said the ECM was fried after some trouble starting it up one day, and no other OEM ones are available at this time.

I actually sent the ECM to the manufacturer to replace the module and they said I should be good to go after I got it back weeks later. THAT SEEMED to do the trick and I was happy for a ride or two more. After that, randomly, there was sputtering, loss of power while holding acceleration, the engine dies thereafter making me end up rolling down the highway without power, starts up again and rides for a couple miles, then won't stay on for more than 5 seconds or so, slowly draining battery as I keep trying to keep it going. This example is from the last time I rode it a few months ago.

 

[Big Tom Callahan]

Welcome to this forum, Tom! Whereabouts are you from on the wet side of the Oregon Cascades? I'm from the same side of the Washington Cascades.

7k miles is pretty low for a 17-year-old motorcycle, so there should be many miles left in it. What kinds of problems did you run into that left you stranded by the side of the road? Regarding the lack of dealer support, some of the members here live in Oregon, and they might be able to suggest some reliable indy shops that could help you with the things you aren't able to tackle.

Thank you for the welcome! I am located by Salem Oregon. Juuust close enough to some really nice roads to ride, like Silver Falls area and the Oregon coast.
I just posted a lengthy description on this thread explaining what happened with the bike. I hope it can shed some light on what might be going on. It has a been a hell of a first bike experience LOL

 

[OldDog124]

Hello all, I am super new here and new to riding in general. After visiting LA and watching tricked out choppers and viclas going down the boulevard, and finding some cool pics of my dad riding in the 70's, I went on a quest once I got back home and bought my first and only bike {7k miles 2006 Softail Deluxe, 2 into 1 Exhaust, and Thundermax ECM} This was back in Fall of 2021.


My first ride was a life changer. I never knew how much fun I was missing out on. However, I have been stricken by gremlins with the bike and have had little to no help from local dealerships on fixing it as they "do not work on bikes equipped with aftermarket tuners, OEM ECM modules are on backorder". I am trying to take things into my own hands and fix the bike up nice and this forum seems to be the place with helpful knowledge. So far I have only gotten to ride the bike ~6 times, and I have been left stranded on the side of the road 4 out of those 6 times.. Pitiful, I know LOL

SO! This riding season, I am on a mission from GOD to make this bike work. It is such a beauty and has such a nice engine sound, I really want to make it ride as good as it looks.
If anyone could point me in the right direction for where to find or post a thread on this tricky bike situation, I am up to describe in detail the weirdness going on and take in all the help I can get.
I just want to RIDE! LOL View attachment 275239

Thanks for reading,
Brendan "Big Tom" Callahan

Welcome from sunny Florida, nearly the other side of the world from you 😁 Enjoy the forum, lots of good advise and expert mechanical members.

 

[rootintootin]

5th and 6th letter on VIN are J and D, so does that make it a Deluxe?

That little $20 nameplate on the front fender makes it a Deluxe. Of course, you could get that nameplate from the nearest Harley Davidson boutique and install it on the front fender of any bike and call it a Deluxe. And you wouldn't be the first person to come up with that idea. If you went to the parts counter at the dealership and said you wanted so and so part for a 06 Deluxe, I can guarantee you would get a blank stare out of the parts dude or dudette. Then they would ask you for the model designation.

That JD buried in the VIN is shorthand for what model it is. If you went to the link provided above, right at the top center of the page is the official model designation. FLSTNI. I don't see anywhere it says Deluxe. If you can decipher that, you know just about everything about that motorcycle. At least the way it came from the factory.

Once someone has had time to rub their dickbeaters all over the motorcycle, parts start changing. Then the pretty shiny chrome pipes the bike came with are gone. Or maybe the stock ECM gets replace with something more better. If you're lucky, you buy from the original owner and get a box full of takeoff parts that were replaced down through the years. Or maybe the second owner who got the parts and hasn't gotten around to selling them yet.

Did you get the Owner's manual with the bike? Every bike came with one. If not, then you should be searching for one of those too. It would be especially important for you, since you don't have a long history of motorcycles in general or Harley Davidsons in particular. Basic operation, maintenance, specs. Lots of good info in one. Most of the time, those get lost. Left in a drawer somewhere. Bike gets sold and it's not important to the sell, so who will notice?

32534-11* ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE, BASE LEVEL - DOM/INTERNATIONAL ONLY*

386.99

32534-05A ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE, BASE LEVEL - DOM/INTERNATIONAL ONLY

429.65

These are 2 OEM ECMs for your bike. The one on top is from that parts link I gave you before. They sell parts online. Notice that the part ends in -11A. If something has been superseded, Ronnie's only shows superseded parts numbers, not the original number.

The bottom number is from another online dealer that shows the original number. That is the number for the part that came on the bike when it was brand new.

Usually, when a part has been superseded, the original part is no longer available.

They both have prices, so that means they have something to sell. Or they can order it. Otherwise, they would show the price as 0.00.

Mods on a Harley can be visible or hidden. You can't look at the motor and tell what parts have been changed inside. Lots of people like that stock look, but don't think twice about hopping up the power to wow their friends and riding buddies. Nothing worse than getting spanked by what looks like a stock 60 HP Harley when you have put all that time and money into your ride.

 

[rootintootin]

I had to look that Viclas thing up. Never heard of it before. But I've led a pretty sheltered life.

 

[Mark44]

I had to look that Viclas thing up.

Me, too. Seems to be a SoCal lowriders thing.

 

[rootintootin]

There is a magazine. Maybe online only. Vatos and Viclas.

 

[rootintootin]

.... does that make it a Deluxe?....

Well. nothing like talking out my adz. I guess you and lots of others do have a Deluxe. Even if it's not the official name. If you haven't looked around here, in the Softail forum, there is a sub-forum for Softail Deluxes. But there are only 92 pages or slightly over 1800 posts in it.

I read a few posts and I like the other name for the bike. Skunk.

 

[ironworker40]

The Softail Deluxe is definitely a model. What makes it a Deluxe you ask. The vin as discussed.The nameplate on the front fender also the trim on the front fender. They have the bar and shield on the windshield as previously mentioned, I have not seen this on any other model. Some other things different from other Softail's are the bar around the seat like the panhead's had, the tail light / blinker setup and the air cleaner should say Deluxe, which yours does not. Factory white walls. They also had the lowest seat height in 2006 of all the big twins. This is a 2006 Deluxe which I purchased new.

 

[kbf98520]

Welcome from the coastal forists of Washington. From what it sounds like your experience level with Harleys is nil. You probably ought to get with a good independent service tech.