[jtleafs33]

I've read a few posts here and there about this but didn't see a discussion thread, so here goes.

Is anyone else experiencing throttle lag on their Challenger? Seems like there is a lot of dead space before the rpm's pick up, like it's a guessing game every time I take off from a stop as to when the roll-on is going to begin. The big issue for me comes when downshifting, I can't blip the throttle at all.

When I had the Scout, I wouldn't rev-match every shift, but if I needed to shift quickly I would, and nearly all of the time going from 2 to 1 I like to blip it.

On the Challenger, going from 2nd down to 1st, I'll give the throttle a big twist, and nothing, no blip at all. Either nothing at all, or I'll sometimes get a delayed response where I've blipped it, but then the rpms will surge a bit later.

This is my first bagger so I'm sure there's some adjustment to be made in riding style, but this doesn't feel quite right.

 

[IndianAZ]

First thing I would check is your ride mode. It's a setting on the main screen (you pulldown from the top). It's either Rain, Normal, or Sport. Try setting it to Sport to see if that changes things for you.

 

[TechRider]

Do you have the Stage 1 flash? I've read that might have an effect on it as well. I notice a small spot but nothing like some people talk about but I bought my bike with the Stage 1 installed.

I've only been riding for a couple years but I've never understood the "blip the throttle" argument. Some people have said it's for rev matching. If you look up the history of how it started, it was due to how poorly tuned the early carbs were. It sounds like its become one of those, "we've always had to do this so I'm going to do it too" situations. Especially on the challenger. The RPMs change very quickly with the throttle and don't lag like other bikes I've ridden. If I'm downshifting when reducing speed, I just give it a little throttle at a constant level then let out on the clutch and it's nice and smooth.

 

[jtleafs33]

I haven't had any Stage 1 work done to it. I did that to my Scout and regretted it, I like the sound of the Challenger stock and don't want to mess with that.

I love the Challenger, it's a great bike. I wanted a well-mannered touring machine that was mild in every way, and so far she fits the bill. Very easy to ride. However, in some ways it feels like driving a moving van compared to the Scout, but maybe that's just how a big bike is going to be.

I know some of this is that she just needs to limber up, the Scout took about 5000 miles to really break in, but I just want to make sure there's not a bigger issue.

 

[TechRider]

From what I understood, the stage 1 flash was only with the air intake. I'm not sure how much that would change the sound but there are reports of people getting it without the air intake. If that's the case, hopefully corp will find and fix the issue.

I can't comment about the size. I went to it from a VTX1800 and it feels so much lighter than the 1800 did.

 

[TheGrish]

I haven't had any Stage 1 work done to it. I did that to my Scout and regretted it, I like the sound of the Challenger stock and don't want to mess with that.

I love the Challenger, it's a great bike. I wanted a well-mannered touring machine that was mild in every way, and so far she fits the bill. Very easy to ride. However, in some ways it feels like driving a moving van compared to the Scout, but maybe that's just how a big bike is going to be.

I know some of this is that she just needs to limber up, the Scout took about 5000 miles to really break in, but I just want to make sure there's not a bigger issue.

I don't know how many miles you have on your bike, but mine did that for the first 500 miles. I'm used to having very responsive throttles and this one was hard to figure out at first at traffic lights. I would either launch too hard or almost stall. When I brought her in for the first service there was a new flash (not Stage 1) and a check of the throttle bodies. I have not noticed any hesitation at take off since they did that work. Once in a while the bike would stumble when coming to a stop and seem to almost stall. That also went away after that initial service.

 

[jtleafs33]

I don't know how many miles you have on your bike, but mine did that for the first 500 miles. I'm used to having very responsive throttles and this one was hard to figure out at first at traffic lights. I would either launch too hard or almost stall. When I brought her in for the first service there was a new flash (not Stage 1) and a check of the throttle bodies. I have not noticed any hesitation at take off since they did that work. Once in a while the bike would stumble when coming to a stop and seem to almost stall. That also went away after that initial service.

Thanks! Sounds like I just need to mention it to the dealer when I get the 500 mile service done.

 

[Smoothbassman]

Yeah, I noticed it a little at first. But I put the stage one on my bike with the thunderstroke pipes and now she runs like the wind!! After 5000 miles this summer she's fully broken in. No lag in standard or sport mode.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

 

[Moe1962]

Nice day out today so took a visit to my local dealer since my throttle lags in all modes. I now have almost 1500 miles on it, so it should be broken in. The throttle lag wasn’t really a big deal until today. Decided to take a twisty road home and it has two steep curves back to back. Downshifted, got in the corner, hit the throttle on the other side and nothing. Almost dumped it. I got lucky and nothing was coming the other way, so was able to stand it back up, into the other lane and then the rpms went back up. Dealer said they never heard of the lag, but another Challenger owner was there and said his does it too in all modes.

 

[reinie]

I'm not a Challenger owner yet but I hope the 2021 models have all of these issues corrected before I start really looking next Spring.

 

[TechRider]

I don't know if this is what you're talking about but I've noticed this: Sometimes it seems like I have to rotate the throttle a lot farther to get anything. The times I've noticed it is when I've started my bike with my hand on the throttle, maybe twisting a little.

 

[sandspur_]

Some of the bikes being sold now, haven't had the reflash issued 6 months ago. This is an engine update and not ride command. It reminds me of the saying," reinventing the wheel", because it has already been diagnosed and a remedy applied. Either the dealers don't check for it during PDI ( joke) or they missed the notice completely.

 

[Mr.Xtreme]

I know this is a Challenger post but on my chieftain I run sport mode all the time but every now and then we get this lazy throttle what is mentioned here
Twist it about 1/8 th of a turn snd nothing
Its like its lazy in tour mode
Shutting all off then back on again and its back to normal
Definitely something is up with the ride command ride modes which is handed off to the newer ride command platform

 

[Moto_Max]

With these new bikes and their computer systems. It takes up to 2k miles of breaking in for it to learn your throttle habits. Having it in sport mode will always give you the crispiest throttle response. But it does still need to go through it's learning experience first. It will get better with time.

 

[Moe1962]

Only reason I wasn’t in sport mode is because my Girlfriend was on her bike behind me and not as aggressive in corners as I am. I’ll be alone the next time I take that road and see what she does.

 

[JFeisty]

I don't know if this is what you're talking about but I've noticed this: Sometimes it seems like I have to rotate the throttle a lot farther to get anything. The times I've noticed it is when I've started my bike with my hand on the throttle, maybe twisting a little.

Same here. After I started making sure I'm not giving it any sort of throttle, even in the least bit, while starting (and for 10-15 seconds afterwards) I have not had a single instance of the horrible throttle lag I would previously sometimes experience.

 

[Baron58]

With these new bikes and their computer systems. It takes up to 2k miles of breaking in for it to learn your throttle habits. Having it in sport mode will always give you the crispiest throttle response. But it does still need to go through it's learning experience first. It will get better with time.

The Bosch ECU does not learn your habits. Throttle lag in the Challengers is do to not having the latest ECU update and or not having the throttle bodies synced correctly. A large number of dealers are selling bikes that were affected by these issues and never bothered to check them. These issues were fixed late March early May but many dealers did nothing.

 

[jtleafs33]

After 600 miles, she is still lagging in all 3 modes. Sport mode feels the best, but even in Sport mode I can't manage a quick rev-match when I need it. She has also cut off a few times at a stop and while coming to a stop, which I think should make my opinion more worthwhile when I talk to the dealer about it.

I'm taking her in for the break-in service Saturday, and will discuss it with the shop. I appreciate all the information given here, so I can ask about the flash and throttle body sync issue and sound like I know what I'm talking about.

 

[TechRider]

Good luck! Report back what you find out please.

 

[Moto_Max]

The Bosch ECU does not learn your habits.

Where did you get this information? How do you know?