I have a 1979 shovelhead, It has been sitting for probably 10 years. Points ignition, it has electric start but the teeth on the clutch shell that the starter gear engages are worn and broken so I decided to seal up the primary and kick it only. Fresh battery, flushed oil and gas and started kicking.....and kicking. It would show signs of life after 20 kicks or so but nothing promising. So I decided to dig deeper into the situation. I pulled spark plugs and set them to the proper gap, set the points to the proper spec. and then started kicking again. A little more life than before but not enough.... so I decided to take a look at the carb. It has a S&S SUPER "E". So I looked up a video online for SUPER "E" and I set it back to stock settings. NOW it shows signs of life every kick. Mostly just a few pops but sometimes for for 5 seconds or so but then it dies. Any ideas out there?? Thanks

 

another unhappy super E owner! just like me. maybe I have a defective one? try squirting the s%@t out of it until its flooded, not really but mine seems to need more fuel than I think it should to get it to start. but if I pull the enrichener up then it really goes into flooded mode.keep trying somethins got to be the combo

 

I forgot to mention that the carb was flooding the motor before I adjusted it. But after adjustment it doesnt flood motor anymore. also, If I choke it full it wont fart at all. But if I choke it half I get more life, if I choke it quarter of the way I get more fart out of it but it seems to die before it can get anything good going.

 

You sure it's firing both cylinders? Make sure of that, then retard the timing a bit, yank the air cleaner and have a buddy stand by with some gas in a squirt bottle. 4 slow strokes through on choke, no ignition....then ignition with the throttle WFO. If it's still stutterfarting and dying, do it again but hit it with the gas. You'll find out real quick if that "E"'s accelerator pump is the issue when only the squirt picks up the revs.

(insert safety disclaimer condescension here)

At this point, though, you should be cleaning the carb and replacing the points/condenser...coil-plugs-wires. Some things that "work" don't work enough.

It's a labor of love, though. Fight the good fight.

******EDIT***********

Man, I just looked at that picture of yours. That may be the sweetest Shovel I've seen on here, yet. That's what I was looking for when I traded my Dresser for the Evo I ride. You get that bike running and ride the wheels off it. If you're ever in the Baton Rouge area, ride up and the beer's on me.

 

ain't nothing wrong with a super e, you just have to learn what your scoot like in terms of cold and hot kick starting it is not rocket science

 

no Carbide you are right!, it is a labor of love learning how to and what your scooter likes.

 

Changed out the plugs lately ? Once they get all wetted up they love to misfire for some reason .

New plugs , battery at full charge , turn the gas on , pull up the enrichener arm DO NOT TOUCH the throttle and push her through one kick then turn on the switch and kick her again . If the bikes anywhere near tuned right it should try and hit . If she won't in 3 or 4 kicks turn it off and wait a minute before you try again , staying on the kicker is only going make you tired and pissed off .

 

I too must have a masocistic tendency, back in '95 I built my EVO chopper. The intent was simplicity so I ruled out a starter among other niceties. Mine is a bitch! Temperature, humidity and whether or not it has a headache all have to be factored in to come up with the procedure of the day.

It can take 1 to 20 kicks to finally light the fire. Yeah, I've retarded timing, cleaned and dried plugs. squirted starter fluid, checked for blue spark. I have found the best solution.

Ride it every f'n day and the S&S procedure works. (enrich, Ign off 2 kicks, ign on 1 kick or 2)

 

@ JOKER : Thanks, I will try that out. Making my brother come over later so he can learn something. haha. Thank you for the comment on the bike. Might have to take you up on that beer one day.

 

Thanks alot guys! I will try all of the above. I will get back to you with an update and hopefully a video of this beast shouting out its battle cry.