Hello all; I recently bought a custom hardtail bobber chopper with an XLH 883 Sportster engine on it.
The bike had been repossessed by a bank and had been sitting in storage for years with gas in the tank. I replaced the fuel tank, carburetor and battery but still cannot seem to get it to run. In turns over fine, the cylinders have compression, and the spark plugs are sparking. Also I have replaced the choke and throttle cables.
It feels and sounds like it wants to start when I hit the ignition but it just won't start.
Also note that I have not inspected the breather bolts as of yet or changed the gasket from the intake manifold of the carburetor, and whomever built this bike removed the VOES system and had put a rubber boot over the vacuum valve on the old carburetor.
This is my first time working on a Harley, so I'm still learning a lot.
Thanks!

 

have you verified that fuel is leaving the carb? Maybe a shot of starting fluid just to see if you can get the engine to fire. If you hear it fire you know your carb isnt flowing right. if you have compression, and spark the only thing your missing (aside from timing) would be fuel. I would see if you could force some fuel in past the carb and see if it kicks a couple times, if it does focus on the carburetor.

 

Try a shot if starting fluid. If it starts off that then you have a fuel delivery issue. Was the petcock replaced?

Also.....when you turn it over a few times and it doesn't start, remove a spark plug right away and check and see if it's soaked with fuel....could be flooding if so.