My barn find 1978 Iron Head Sportster won't start. Need advice.
#1
My barn find 1978 Iron Head Sportster won't start. Need advice.
The barn find/survivor 1978 iron head Sportster I bought May 18 (and posted about it on this site) wont start. The bike hasn't been ridden or started in 38 years but it only has 5500 original miles on it (or 8900 kms.) It isn't seized but it needed an ignition switch because the previous owner couldn't find the keys. So installed a new one. It was a cheaper made in Taiwan one that I got from an independent motorcycle. Once the new switch was installed and since the bike never had a battery, I briefly hooked up booster cables from my truck just to see how the electrics were.The lights worked,. signals, brake light and horn all worked now after being hooked up.I finally decided to give the start button a press. All I got was a click from the starter. I tried it few more times and the clicks battery intermittent. I figured I should get a new battery at that point. I took the booster cables off and went out to get a battery..I trickle charged the battery all night and it's fully charged now. I then installed the battery and turned the ignition switch. NOTHING HAPPENED. I mean nothing, no lights, horn or anything that worked just a short time ago when I boosted the bike. Did I blow a fuse, or a relay, or did I wreck the ignition switch? Keep in mind, it's not that the bike doesn't start, it does nothing at all. I thought maybe the battery was messed up, so I tried boosting it again with my truck, I got nothing from the boost either. I feel the ignition switch is the culprit here but it is brand new, but I also hear theses made in Taiwan ones aren't the greatest. What do I do here?
Last edited by kewlthing; 05-26-2019 at 10:57 PM.
#2
Did you do any of the pre work and cleaning several of us suggested in the other thread you started ? Fluid changes , cleaning cables & ALL grounding points? and NEW battery ? Have you even opened the points plate to see whats in there, changed plugs or the plug wires ? Jumping alone isn't going to do it.........
#3
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Land of the Free, Home of Jack Daniel's
Posts: 46,829
Received 21,547 Likes
on
8,467 Posts
Did you do any of the pre work and cleaning several of us suggested in the other thread you started ? Fluid changes , cleaning cables & ALL grounding points? and NEW battery ? Have you even opened the points plate to see whats in there, changed plugs or the plug wires ? Jumping alone isn't going to do it.........
You will also probably have to rebuild the carb.
#4
Did you do any of the pre work and cleaning several of us suggested in the other thread you started ? Fluid changes , cleaning cables & ALL grounding points? and NEW battery ? Have you even opened the points plate to see whats in there, changed plugs or the plug wires ? Jumping alone isn't going to do it.........
#6
The truck wasn't running at first but then I started it for a brief while. I accept the fact that something might have burnt out but what typically burns out in an instance like that? I'll try cleaning all battery ends tomorrow too.
#7
Trending Topics
#8
have a relay that resets itself once a shorted electrical problem is fixed. Is that a fact or did I get erroneous information?
#9
#10
OP: Multimeter and wiring diagram. Start at the battery. Work forward, cleaning (and possibly repairing) as you go. Eventually, something will be at 0v that should be 12v.