No Power???

[ml504]

I have had the front of my bike apart for the last month changing out bars, running wires internally, and also made some brackets that sit the front of the gas tank about 3 inches higher than normal (for a stretched look). I put it all back together today and the bike has no power whatsoever.....when I take off it is like taking off in third gear....thats how bad it is. What could be the problem??? I had the speedo and all that disconnected, does something need to be reset somewhere? It is a 2005 1200 custom. Any help would be appreciated...

[nutsy]

i dont know much about this but did u make sure both plug wires are on?

[ml504]

Yes that was the first thing i checked.....i also noticed that the headlight looks rather dim, but it did not hesitate starting at all....

[skooter]

A power drain could possibly have something to do with it. I'm not familiar with the '05's though.

[ml504]

Also I noticed that after examining both plugs, they had a "gassy" smell to them as well as the oil....I did leave the petcock in the "on" position ( I usually turn it off) for this period of time it had not been run.....but would that cause it to lose so much power, making it unridable or is it maybe something with the electrical (explaining the dim headlight, but no battery hesitation on startup)? I made no changes to engine, exhaust, air cleaner....only looks enhancements.

Thanks again, matt.

[rbuier]

I fouled out my back plug last month. It had no problems starting but it was running like crap. Exactly as you explained, like I was taking off in third gear and the rear cyclinder wasn't even getting warm while the front was hot. I cleaned the plugs and it ran fine for one trip. After work I went to my bike to go home and it was fouled again. I bought new plugs and it's doing fine now. I'm new to HDs and I'm guessing it's just me learning to use the enrichner and all. Hope that helps.

[collinsb]

I fouled out my back plug last month. It had no problems starting but it was running like crap. Exactly as you explained, like I was taking off in third gear and the rear cyclinder wasn't even getting warm while the front was hot. I cleaned the plugs and it ran fine for one trip. After work I went to my bike to go home and it was fouled again. I bought new plugs and it's doing fine now. I'm new to HDs and I'm guessing it's just me learning to use the enrichner and all. Hope that helps.

Overuse of the enricher is very common among new riders.

[bud095]

be easy with the choke i dont hit the throttle till after the choke is off.

[ml504]

That is exactly what mine is doing....the front cylinder is hot while the back one is not even warm.......the ends of the plugs were definatly bad looking....could that be it?? I mean it runs horrible! Pulling out the rear plug and it reeked of gasoline!

Also, is smelling a little gas in the oil normal?

Thank you all for your help.....

[BobbyB]

You should not smell gas in the oil. Leaving the petcock on can cause gas to wash down the cylinders and end up in the crank case diluting the engine oil. If this is the case, you need to change the oil. Try changing plugs and see if it is fouled plugs. Probably that is what happened.
Bobby

[pquirk]

You should not smell gas in the oil. Leaving the petcock on can cause gas to wash down the cylinders and end up in the crank case diluting the engine oil. If this is the case, you need to change the oil. Try changing plugs and see if it is fouled plugs. Probably that is what happened.
Bobby
I'm not so sure about that, better check. He said he's got an '05, there was a thread awhile back on this where someone stated that the petcock on the newer Sportys has to pull a vacuum for fuel to come through so it doesn't matter if you leave it on.

[Moved On]

You should not smell gas in the oil. Leaving the petcock on can cause gas to wash down the cylinders and end up in the crank case diluting the engine oil.I agree that the oil shouldn't smell like gas, but leaving the petcock on shouldn't cause a problem. The petcock is vacuum operated (been like that for several years), so if the engine is not running it is effectively off.

Did you have the gas tank off all the way? If yes, did you hook the vaccuum line back up to the petcock (it seems like you did, because it sounds like it ran for more than a few minutes)? Is there any way that the VOE switch became disconnected? Could you have shorted out one side of the coil? Sportsters fire both spark plugs at the same time, if one plug wire was disconnected then neither plug should fire. If one plug wire (or plug gap) were shorted, then just the other plug would fire. Does the headlight seem to be normal brightness before you start the bike?

Gazza

[ml504]

No, the tank was not off and I didn't have to disconnect anything. What is the VOE switch? I only disconnected the wiring for both switch housings, blinkers, and speedo. The gas smell wasn't very strong at all, and I may be worrying over nothing if everything is fine after I clean the plugs.

Now that I think of it, right before I took the front apart, I had a hard time starting the bike and I remember that I flooded it out trying to start it....maybe that is when I fouled the plug??? It will be tommorrow before I can clean them, but I am almost certain from these posts, that the plug is what my problem is.

Thanks,
Matt

[GOTWA]

ml,

I would go with the plugs first as has been said. Like Gazza and someone else said, the vacuum petcock should not be an issue here.

If you're new to HD, stay off that choke! The dealer and the manual give poor advice on the use of the choke. You should NEVER need to pull that choke all the way unless it is is to start it and even then it should be rare.

I started my bike at 26F the other night with the choke half way out. Let it run literally like 15 seconds, pushed the choke in and just used the throttle lock nut to warm up the bike. Just crank the throttle a little and screw it in to hold it in place. Even at that temp I didn't need to run with the choke out at all. The only time I have it even slightly out is if the bike sits somewhere for a while and gets cold and we take off before I have a chance to warm it up. Even then I only use it for a minute or so. Screw all that "all the way out for a mile, half in for three miles" crap.

Stay off that choke as much as you can. That is probably the number one killer of plugs.

[ml504]

Problem solved.....the rear plug was fouled, cleaned it up and it runs perfect now. I am going to change the oil tommorrow just to be safe about the gas mixed in. I hope no damage was caused by running it if in fact the gas had broken down the oil.....bike runs perfect though, so I hope I'm ok.

I have to learn to back off the choke, that is my problem it sounds like. Thanks everyone for the replies, the information on this board is priceless!

[hagar71]

if u messed with the carb...make sure its connected fully. my gasline got in the way just lil and the was no compression at the intake and cause huge problems like u describe.

[Moved On / My Own Choice]

if u messed with the carb...make sure its connected fully. my gasline got in the way just lil and the was no compression at the intake and cause huge problems like u describe.

I'm guessing since he fixed the problem in 3/05 and has not been back to this thread, he's PROBABYL got it sorted out now ;)