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More trouble Hard/Won't start

7K views 17 replies 5 participants last post by  SoothSayer 
#1 ·
Alright, gave it the POOGs treatment, and I did find some gunk in the system, but I'm still having very hard/wont start condition.


Seems to be getting worse the more I run it. Bike will crank but won't catch, backfires through the exhaust, if I put a charger on it, crank it like a mother sometimes it will go... I had it running for a few minutes, turned it off to close the rear storage door, now it won't refire again. Not even with the gas cap open, so I don't think I'm still dealing with POOGs.

I've not done anything with the carbs on this bike yet, because it's been starting great. Plugs are NKGs and not new, but in good shape.


Other items (yesterday, earlier today), will start right up.

Carb jets? Something else? Supposed to have left for the Blessing 20 minutes ago. :(
 
#2 · (Edited)
Are the plugs Iridium? If they're the copper kind, replace them asap.

How is your battery? With older plugs, and a charge of under 12.3v (bike off) you'll have a hard time starting it (will dip under 12v when bike turns on).

Edit: Also thinking stuff could have loosened up in the tank, and got stuck in the carb jets. I'd check your power situation first, and then look into some seafoam directly in the carbs.
 
#6 ·
Got time? Load up the carbs with seafoam for a day or 2

Don't have time? Manually check and clean the jets

Also, check your petcock maybe you forgot to set it back to 'ON' :p Worse things have happened.

I still highly suggest the Iridiums, not to solve this issue, just to make you and your bike happier in the end. :)
 
#8 ·
Would probably take a good 20-40 to check and clean the jets, and that's if you happen to have something on hand to poke through them. Some mentioned guitar string?
 
#9 ·
So... I realized I had left a plug wire off. D'oh! Put it back on and she fired up right away. So off I went. Went over to my buddies an hour out. Great ride, strong... But started to stall at idle right at the end of the trip.

No biggy, turned up the idle adjust a bit. Went to take off for the blessing. Bike won't idle ir idles high, no matter where I set it. Then I start to lose pwer. No throttle, bucking, just won't go. Stopped at logans, hopefully once it cools it will run again and I can get home. Never shoulda went this far out. Stupid!

Gonna tear these cartbs down as soon as I get home, unless y'all think there might be something else
 
#10 ·
Stalling at idle could be low battery. Check the charge?

It could be the carbs, but it could also be the lack of charging. Also, check your ground connections!
 
#14 ·
Ok. So let her nap for 45 minutes. Cleaned the main ground by the battery, it wasn't in very good shape.

Fired up reasonably easily (cranked strong) so I headed home. Power was back and she ran smooth, but still would not idle cleanly, I had to hold the revs up a bit almost from the get go. It got progressively worse as I rode... after about 45 minutes it would stall almost as soon as the load was off the motor... I had it die on me 30 feet from a green light right turn while I was still going about 15-20 mph.. that was entertaining. Got a little more difficult to restart as the ride went on too, but it always caught with a little gas and futsing.

Basically same symptoms, getting progressively worse. I have little doubt another 20 minutes of riding would have had it bucking and stuttering again under load.


I can get a voltmeter for it to monitor, but it was still cranking pretty strong, if it's got power to start its got power to run right?
 
#15 ·
I can get a voltmeter for it to monitor, but it was still cranking pretty strong, if it's got power to start its got power to run right?
Definitely use a multimeter and check the battery's charge, and the charging system using slims guide (stickied under Eletrical)
 
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