Sorry, but this is my first post so it's gonna be a long one but all help will be greatly appreciated.

My friend had/has a 74 Sportster XLH 1000 that hadn't been run in about a year b/c the starter went out. After he got it rebuilt, when you hit the start button, ithe starter click's really loud like it's trying to turn, but doesn't have enough power to turn the motor over. We were messing around with it one day and i decided to touch some jumper cables from my truck straight to the starter. As he would hold the button down i would hit the positive to the terminal, and it instantly started turning the motor over. so what part of the starting system would cause the starter to NOT get enough power to turn the motor? relay? solenoid? wiring?

Also, we used this method to just see if we could get the bike to fire up. i had recently cleaned the carb, and after we put it on, gas would pour out the end of the carb after a while of trying to start it. So it was obviously getting fuel. However, it just would not fire, so we replaced the coil, and the spark plugs. It still will not fire, i have just started tracing the wires to see if there is a problem there, but have been unlucky in finding a problem. i checked the point system and it has been cleaned and it not frozen( it moves as the cam comes around and lifts the contacts apart.)

What is the gap supposed to be when the contacts are apart?
Is there a wiring diagram of the whole bike online somewhere?
What should i check in reference to it not firing?

Thanks for the help guys, im tring to learn some of the mechanical aspects of harleys.
Thanks again,
John

 

Regarding not enough power to turn the starter over, have you checked the battery? It sounds like you may need to replace or at least charge your battery...

When you cleaned the carb, did you replace any of the seals? Something isn't right if gas is pouring out... Sounds like maybe the float valve is stuck open, or the float needs to be adjusted.

Have you checked to see if you're getting spark at the plugs? You can remove one of the plug wires, put an extra spark plug in the boot, ground the end of the plug, and crank it over to make sure you're getting spark.

I would also highly suggest ordering a service manual...

 

I forgot to say it has a new battery, but even with the new battery it just wouldn't turn over with the start button, its some kind of relay or switch on the starting system, i dont know what to try first.

The only seal i saw on the carb was on the bolt that goes up through the middle of the bowl, all the way into the body of the carb, it may not be the right carb for the bike, but it ran with it a year ago.

Im pretty sure the plugs are not firing, i did pull one out and ground it. The plugs are brand new too.