I dont think my sportster likes me... the old owner kept in in the basement and only rode it every now and then. Now that i have it i dont think i have been able to ride it more than 2 days in a row in the month i have owned it now. fix one thing, something else comes up.

Currently my bike seems to have fouled out ANOTHER set of plugs... i just put these in last week!!! and now it acting exactly like it did when the last set went bad.

my old post from before

well now it is doing the exact same thing... poping, backfiring, sputtering, hardly any power....

I could probably go and change the plugs again and it would run for about 3 days. But i dont want to keep band-aid-ing the problem.. brand new plugs shouldnt foul themself after a week. something has to be acting up.

anyone have any idea what could be causing this???

the other thing i noticed recently... my engine seems to have a good bit of valve-train noise. Like with my helmet on it muffels the exhaust, and allows me to hear the ticking of the valves clearly. it sounds almost like a car that is low on oil... ya know, when the hydraulic lifters arent getting enough oil to keep them tight against the pushrods, and you get that ticking noise... (i have not changed the oil on the bike yet, but it does have plenty, i was planning on changing it this weekend just to be sure.) I am relatively new to harleys, and especially to sportsters (dad has had the big touring bikes forever) so im not sure if these are supposed to have all this valve noise... like you can really hear the lifters and pushrods and valves with a helmet on. or if you put your ear to the head. I am hoping this is normal... because if not that could mean some serious problems.

IS it possible that just old oil and bad plugs could do this? like old thin oil isnt letting the lifters fill up as they should, so the valves are not working exactly as they should, which is effecting the way things are firing which is somehow burning out the plugs...

 

Noise is normal for the most part, what do the plugs look like when you remove them?
Definatly change all fluids, get new plugs and tune your carb.

 

ksoggs,

My 2005 XL1200R has had the valve train "ticking" sound since day one, and you're right, it is a little more noticable with a helmet on. I think it is a common noise on all of the the EVO Sportsters.

Your plug problem is a different issue. Since you bought the bike used, have you checked the jets in your carb? It sounds like you may be running overly rich. Do you have free-flow pipes/slip-ons and AC on the bike, or stock? If stock, maybe it was once jetted for Stage 1 but when sold, put back to stock pipes and AC and not re-jetted to compensate - just a guess, I know I'm "fishing" here. I would definitely look into the size of your jets.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

Thumper26

 

It was used...
the old owner had a TON of work done to it....
he knew nothing about mechanics at all, he took it to the dealer for EVERYTHING.

it was a 883C

he shelled out like $6000 to have the dealer do a full 1200 (buell jugs-pistons and thunderstorm heads) and add like every chrome accessory they could get their hands on... and have anything else sent out to be plated.

Basically, everything on the bike was done by a dealer. So i would have to imagine it was done right.

it has some new fancy shorty style exhaust, K&N conical filter "forcewinder" and a bunch of other mods.

about a week after i got it it started acting up like this, and plugs fixed it... till now...

dont want to keep throwing plugs in every week.

The first set of plugs came out all black and sooty looking... no amount of sanding and wire brushing would clean them up. replaceing them solved everything and it ran like a top for a week... then this morning started all over again, and i am guessing these plugs will be all black and sooty too now.

 

I think, and I may be wrong because that happens now and again, that your running rich.

Are you running with the choke partially open? Is the cable adjusted correctly?
As thumper said check the jetting. One week on plugs is not normal.

Don't know if this helps or not but I tried.
Good luck.

 

What kind of Carb?

If is a CV Carb, check for a leaky or torn diaphram in the upper chamber of the carb. If the vacuum doen't pull the slide up, it will pull a higher than normal vacuum on the fuel needle and it will run rich.

Good Luck,

 

Also, you might want to check your float for level and or sticking

 

That's interesting, Thumper26. I've seen this mentioned here on the forum before. I'm usually hyper over engine parts noises and I've listened to see if my 04 XL1200C (1600 miles) has a noticable valve train tick, but there's absolutely no noise from them. Maybe after a few thousand-more miles they'll get noisy and sound "normal."

As to ksoggs problem, sure sounds like it's super rich. Wonder if he's reached under there and tried readjusting the low speed jet or at least counted the number of turns from the bottom that it's currently set at. Good luck with it ksoggs, hope you find the problem--wouldn't want to change plugs that often!

 

Don't assume everything that was done, was done correctly...
Check the jet(s), adjust the carb (if ness.), check for air flow leaks.
Some dealers will put on/in, just what you (the customer) pay for,
if it is a good idea or not. Double check evrything. .....my 2cents