Hey Everyone,
I need a little assistance with starting my bike. I picked up a 94 sportster 1200 from my uncle and its been sitting for a couple years. I put fuel in it new plugs. It has a strong spark and is getting fuel but won't fire. I got a couple chugs towards the beginning but think maybe I flooded it now? The plugs are wet everytime I pull them. What should I do next?

 

Let your plugs dry out. Resist the urge to twist the throttle when cranking. If you can't get a bang out of it, check your timing.

 

+1 on what SHR said...

Put your bike someplace dry & well-ventilated, pull the plugs and let the ful evap from them and the cylinders. You can speed the process along by *carefully* directing some compressed air toward your spark plug holes to cause air circulation to speed evap). Same with your plgs.

Re-install the plugs, turn on the choke/enrichener, DON'T twist the throttle at all, and crank it. Let the engine pull the fuel it needs from the carb. Every time you twist the throttle you squirt fuel into the intake. If it doesn't start 5 - 10 seconds, start applying some throttle but dont "pump" it. Don't crank too long either or you risk damaging your starter.

If that won't do it and the bike was running fine before it was allowed to sit, I'd suspect your carb might need a going-over. Timing? Maybe, but if you were running OK before, that's less likely.

 

Thanks for the help fellow riders. I let the bike stand overnight with the plugs out so the fuel could evap. Then I also put in new plugs, turned it over it fired right up. But it does want to flood easy, I'm not used to such big shots of fuel everytime the throttle is opened. It runs a little on the rough side as far as popping goes. So I think a little tuning with the timing, valves, and carb she should then run true.