QuestionQUESTION: hi mike.. my boyfriend has had a 1971 harley xlch and he bought it over a year ago.. and lets say he's only rode it twice. the "shop" that had it, kept ot for 9 months, and did nothing with it. just boarded out the engine. thats all. they sent it back leaking, wires barely connected ect.. so it was his money and time wasted away. they dropped the bike off, and once they turned it on. immeadiate oil leak. so they took it back to the shop, for yet another couple months. he even went down there for a surprize visit, and his bike was siting in the corner un touched. i cant STAND people who do that sort of thing!
he's literally replaced everything. (but the engine!) spark plugs, condensor, he cleaned the carburator and re-attched it, new gas tank, re-wired his entire bike front to back, and when he tried to start it, and it would just rev. (like a car does when the batterys dieing) and it would pop once or twice, but not enough to turn over. at first he would get no spark in the condensor, and when he did, the battery was to low to start the bike. and that thing will charge sometimes for a good 3 days! ( that shouldnt happen should it?) the guys on the forum say he should check his spark plugs and see if one is wet or not. but he said he did all that. he follows a service manual he got at the store. its the HD service manul for stportsters.
He's put so much time and effort into this bike, and he has no one to help him, but the guys on J& P. and even then sometimes they dont help. just make jokes and whatnot. plus out here their arent any harley shops that take that late of a model.
i came across your site and im hoping and praying you may have some tips for him. hes on the J&P cycles forum day and night waiting for what bikers have to say.. i was just curious if you could help me out any? im just really upset seeing him bummed out. espically this long.. its his only mode of transportation, he desirves to be on it.. thank you..
ANSWER: Sorry he is having so many problems with his bike. Probably the best thing for him to do, since he has so many problems, is give me a call. Might be easier than typing on here. He can call me at 937-354-3992 or on my cell at 740-360-9903 and I will be more than glad to give him all the help he needs
Happy holidays
Mike
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QUESTION: thats very kind of you to offer your number. i told him this morning about it, and he said he didnt want to be calling you and bugging you non stop. (he said he does that enough on the JP forum) i will save your number though. and i appreciate the responce time! it was fast!
he's been going over the JP forum, and the guys are now stating its a peice of crud cought in the float and flooded out the engine. so all the oil is off the cylendar walls settling into the bottom of the cases. Any ideas on this one? is it an expencive fix? any How tos? Think its the culprit?
if you dont wanna write the answer, let me know, and if you think this is it, i'll have my mike call you asap. Thank you so much.. with the holidays comming, i just want him to have a good one this year. and be able to have his bike. Thanks!!!
ANSWER: It not problem to call me. I dont mind. If he still wants, he can call me. Not sure where youa re located, but just rmember the time difference!
If he had a piece of crud in the float then the carb would be running over with fuel, so I dont think that is the problem. When the carb runs over it will go out the overflow of the carb.
First thing I would check is the battery to make sure its good. You can have a new battery and it still be bad.
Another thing to check is the ground strap for the battery as well as the positive cable. If you have a bad ground the bike will not turn over fast enough to start the bike.
Another thing to keep it srom starting is the pushrods are adjusted to tight. You have solid lifters in the bike and they need to be adjusted correctly.
Mike
by the way, I read some of the answers in the JP forum just to see what it was. The problem with it is most of the people on there answering you are just bikers, not mechanics and it seems like a few of them are taking wild guesses.
Mike
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QUESTION: thank you again for your qick reply! we are located in CA. so it is about a 3 hour difference. i agree with you on the J&P, honestly i'd rather trust a mechanic that specializes in harleys rather than guys who dont even own the certain type of bike, ya know? i used to own a 1969 rambler, an i wouldnt let anyone touch it who wasnt specialized in it. ok down below i did the talking for my mike with what he thinks is going on ect..i cant thank you enough for your help. if everything gets worked out, id love to send you some cookies for the holidays! haha.
reading over what you said,
the battery has been checked and it is charged properly.
he says the ground wire from the battery checks out, he has no suspicious loss of power, when motor does crank, it does crank at its normal RPM for which it should start. unless when the wires were redone, some of those grounds could be faulty?
the pushrods checked out for what the manual said. the overflow in the acclerator pump was cloged, the gas tank was covered with rust on the inside, and those mechanics didnt cover it with anything when they returned it. so he bought a brand new gas tank, net pet cock, new fuel line, new inline filter, cleaned out the carburator, cleaned out the overflow (which was extremely clogged) re-adjusted the float because it was a quarter of an inch off which makes him think thats what flooded out the engine, because the gas valve was on pror to the new tank work & when my friend came over, she saw a puddle of gas under the bike, so i assume that the gas washed down the cylendar walls and bled out the oil to the bottom of the crank.
when i was checking over everything on the bike i noticed i lost 2 quarts of oil out of the oil bag. but no puddles of oil anywhere. so not being sure, i topped off the oil bag. but still suspicious of where the oil went i lost.
i'm Wondering if emptying all the oil from the bottom of the tranny side, (since its an older bike, and theirs no blockage, just straight oil.) i should be able to drain out all the oil, remove the gas, remove the carb. fill up the oil tank, and with my kicker, cycle the oil back into the cylendar..?
When i pulled the brand new plugs after i started the bike, i get a few pops like it wants to start, i get sutty black deposit, indicating its running rich. they reek of gas.basically its all gas and no oil.
i pulled off the rocker box, & to my best guess they seem to be functional, their is oil in there and my push rods do have oil on them when i removed the covers, so i assume theyre attempting to work..? i just think theirs to much oil built up in the crank case causing the clutch to be gummy and not catch there for not engage the engine.
Due to the time change its already 5:30 here on a sunday, and i think its better to call you during the daytime. thanks for your help.
AnswerOk, since you know the battery is good, the bike is crancking and the pushrods are set correctly we will go on. Since you got a new tank, did you get it lined? If the tank is bare metal it will rust and you will run into the same problem. Check around at radiator shops and they should be able to line it for you.
I dont think you said anywhere if you know you are getting spark. So remove the plugs and while holding one against the head, turn the bike over. Are you getting a good spark?
On your oil loss. Your oil might be sitting in the bottom of the engine case. There is a check valve int he oil pump that is suppose to keep the oil from leaking into the case from the oil tank, but sometimes the weep by. When you get hte bike started, if there is oil in the bottom end, it will come out the vent of the motor. It doesnt hurt anything, just makes a mess. Always start the bike before checking the oil. the oil in the tranny and the oil in the motor are seperate. they both do not come from the oil tank. Smell the oil in the oil tank. If it has a gas smell then you have gas in it. I would drain it, but only put about 1.5 quarts back in. That will be enough to get the bike running and if there is oil in the bottom end the oil tank wont overflow.
There are several reasons for the fouled plugs. the plug wires are bad, coil is bad, points not set right and plugs not set right. If your jetting were off on the carb, the bike should still start, due to the fact that the bike runs off the air/fuel mixture screw when at idle. Once you come off idle it will run on the intermediate jet and then after 2500 RPM or a little higher it goes to the main jet.
Mike
