J&P Community

My new to me 2003 Sportster will not start.  The bike had been in storage for a couple of years.  Battery and sparkplugs are new and starter is good.  Air and exhaust still factory.  Bike will start and run fine after a small shot of ether and will restart while still warm but will not fire at room temp.  I have already replaced the slow jet with the stock size (carb adj. still sealed), all 3 seals on the intake manifold and tested the petcock with vacuum - ok.  Any ideas out there? 

wv,

 If the bike sat with gas in the carb, it is likely gummed up internally. I would take the carb off, and have it soaked in cleaner. Your local dealer, or indi will be able to do that for you.

Thanks for the input,

 I've already had the carb off three times.  The first time I cleaned everything up including the main and slow jets. Second time I rechecked everything I could think of, not a speck of crud anywhere and everything seems to move and work as it should.  Float level checked ok.  Third time I went ahead and changed out the slow jet because it is so small, I figured that if anything at all was left behind after the first cleaning that it might be enough to screw things up.  I was wrong, same problem.

It just seems strange to me that once started with ether it idles and runs fine with good throttle and everything.  once it is warmed up everything works good.  I've ridden it around the block a few times without a hitch but I know that once it sits for an hour or two it isn't going to start again.  Trying to take care of what I can by myself before involving the professionals but kind of leaning that direction more as time goes by.

couple of quick questions:

1 - how did it work before it sat for the couple of years? 

2 - when you are starting it warm, how much choke do you use?

3 - have you checked the timing?

 !. Unfortunately, I don't know anything of this bike's history before I got it. Aside from mileage -  Less than 3K miles.

2. My attempts to cold start have mostly been full choke, but I have tried everything.  To restart it while warm, no choke was needed or used.

3. Haven't really checked the timing but I wouldn't think that the timing could be too far off and run ok once started. (I obviously could be wrong)

Thanks

wv,

  It could be something as simple as procedure. That bike doesn't have a 'choke', it's called an enrichener. It doesn't close off air supply, it opens a circuit that introduces more fuel. If you are holding the throttle open at all on cold starts, it won't start right up, if at all............When cold, try giving it 2 or three pumps of gas with the throttle, pull 'enrichener' all the way out, then in a bit. Leave the throttle alone till it starts, then push the enrichener in a bit more. You can ride it with the enrichener out some, but get it off all the way as the bike warms up............

 Your description of how the bike runs sounds to me like a dirty low speed circuit in the carb. My recomendation is to disassemble the carb and soak it in the gallon carb cleaner available at your local auto parts store. Soak it overnight and blow (or squirt carb cleaner) through all the passages, concentrating on the low speed jet well. The carb is varnished up.  

 I took the carb apart for the third or fourth time, removed the jets and ran a torch cleaning tool through all of the openings to make sure that nothing was still in there. Then blew the best part of a can of carb cleaner through every hole I could find.  Put it all back together and then put a Steppenwolf sticker on the side of the bike.

The bike now fires right up and runs like a champ!  (Must have been the Steppenwolf sticker!)

Thanks guys!