Hello,

I am new to this forum. I own a 2002 Sportster 1200 Custom. The bike starts fine and I keep the choke fully engaged while it warms up. It ends up dying before it fully warms up and the electric start basically dies until it cools down. It continues to do this and I am lost on what might be the cause. Thank you in advance for any and all advice.

Shawn

 

You don't need the enrichener/choke fully engaged until it warms up. You're possibly flooding the engine. I am off the enrichener on my bike within a couple miles.

Also, 1998-2003 bikes have faulty ignition modules that fail due to heat, that could be your issue as well with those symptoms.

Do you know what jets are in your carburetor? Last time carb was refreshed? Last time intake manifold seals changed? Checked your vacuum lines for cracks?

Nice looking bike, those are some impressive handlebars. It looks very well taken care of, good job.

John

 

Nice looking bike.

 

The engine dies before it's fully warmed up, and the electric start dies til it cools down. Kinda confusing.

 

Thank you John. I did have a gentleman look at the bike a couple of weeks ago. He told me the vacuum line had been compromised and he changed it out. I rode the bike after with no issues. When I went to ride it again after that, this issue started again.
Since I’ve owned the bike, I was taught to let it warm up, with the choke fully engaged, for about 5 min. Then it will be ready to ride. I never consider I could be flooding it.
I did some further research that leads me to believe that I may have a bad coil pack which is getting overheated and failing. It definitely seems electric. My local HD dealership has the coil pack in stock for $71. I’m planning on picking it up and changing it out to see if this is the problem.
Thank you!

 

You should be able to test your coil with a multimeter. It's one of the easier components to test.

John

 

Thank you. I think I’ll go that route first. I did see a few videos on that and it seems pretty simple. Do you have any other advice about the warm up process? I’ve owned the bike for 2 years and this has been my process from day 1. Unfortunately, I have very little mechanical knowledge when it comes to a motorcycle. I appreciate any advice you’d be willing to share!

 

I just warm it up for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, then ride off gently for a while. I find I can pretty much be off my enrichener within a couple miles. I have a 45 pilot jet, 190 main jet, and IMS set ~3 turns out with a basic Hammer 1250 conversion. I'm pretty conservative about my motor and only "get on it" after about 20 minutes or so, when the bike is fully up to temps, but that's just me, YMMV.

John

 

My start up ritual goes like this-

• Full enrichener then two full throttle twists.
• Start motor and let idle for 30 seconds or so.
• Go to half enrichener while I put on my lid and gloves.
• Close enrichener then ride away slowly.
• Stay below 2000 RPM for the first 5 or 6 miles.

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The choke doesn't need to be fully engaged. Just start with it fully engaged then push it in until it idles normally. As it heats up it will start idling higher so push the choke in more until it idles normal again. After a few minutes, ride it. Usually within a mile or two you can push in the choke all the way and it should be good to go. I live in a warm climate so in the cold it will take longer. I usually start my bike, then put on my gear, and by the time I'm done it's ready to go.