crank crank crank pop crank crank pop pop crank crank crank crank crank....

that is all i get... i have a full tank of 93 octane (or what ever the premium shell gass is), and tried both the reserve and the main and both act identicle. tried with choke... tried without choke... tried with some choke....

ok a little history to helpout...
my bike is a 2001 883C with the buell 1200 conversion (thunderstorm heads and all, so it is supposed to be very high compression thus the high octane fuel)
i just bought it a week ago.
it fired up and ran like a top for a few days. (man did it run)
then one day it was kinda cold up here.. maybe 40's but i was itching just to tool around the block... so i fired her up and she ran, but instead of the usual glugglug glugglug glugglug glugglug of the harley.. i got glugglug glugPOP glugglug glugPOP glugglug glugPOP. upon feeling the exhaust i realized the pop was coming form the rear cylinder.

knowing that both cylinders share most parts (carb intake filter fuel)... it was likely something they didnt share that was acting up in the one. so i pull the rear sparkplug, and it is CAKED with black soot. so i take it and give it a good wire brushing, and take a little super fine grit paper to the contacts and pop it back in... i poped the other one out just to see how bad it is, and it is every bit as black and sooty. so clean it up too.. put them both back in, and fire it up. runs rough (still cold) but no more poping, and both cyl seem to be firing equally. well i walk away to let it warm up before my ride... and a fe min later i hear it die. go back out and start it again... by the time i get to the door it dies again... go back... and now it wont even fire... just cranks and cranks with a little pop here and there, an occasional cough, and a attepted fire now and then, but nothing close to running. choke doesnt do much tried to even give it a little throttle, nothing will get it to run..

what could it be???? i want to ride my new bike and it is not letting me!!!

 

Fouled plugs maybe? Change them out...

 

Id check the leads as well. try swapping them over to startwith, then new ones if that doesnt work. (start with the easy bits first)

Lev

 

If the plugs were sooty black, I would suspect something with the carb. If the plugs were oily black, then it may be some other problem.
First thing to check is both plug wires and what kind of spark do they give? Stick a screwdriver (round shaft phillips) into one of the wires and hold the shaft an 1/8 inch away from the cylinder head while turning the engine over with the starter. Do the same with the other plug wire.
Both wires should give a very bright blue spark and easily jump the 1/8 inch air gap. If they do, then I would suspect the carburator. If they give a weak spark, then something is wrong with the ignition system and that may be several things. I am not much help, but if an engine is getting spark and a proper fuel mixture it should start. Tuning (if needed) follows that to make it run smoothly. Good Luck...........................................pin iongear

 

ksoggs, I've got a 2000 883 with the same upgrade, & mine did the same thing right after I got it. rrrrrrrrr BOOM rrrrrrrr BOOM!!! Hell, mine backfired so hard that it blew over an empty 5 gallon gas can that was about 6-7 feet away. My wife thought I was shootin at the neighbors. LOL. I took out the spark plugs & wirewheeled them & still nothing. Put in new ones, & she fired right off. Hope this helps.
You aint kidding about these suckers running with this upgrade!!!! It's almost spooky fast. The first time I got on it hard, my butt puckered so tight, you couldn't have got a straight pin up my arss.

 

wow, you were right on the dot. i cleaned the plugs up all perfect... nothing at all...
poped in a new set for $3 and it fired right up and ran like a top.

i havent riden many harleys, but this thing sure aint slow by any stretch of the imagination.

I wish i knew all the performance goodies on this thing, but he put a few grand into the engine. Im going to see if i cant reach the guy who actually DID the work and see if there is any record of the parts on it.