I am new to the forum and new to harleys as well. I am nineteen and just bought my first bike a 1996 harley sportster 883 with ape hangers, short exhaust, solo seat, new rear suspension, taillight etc i LOVE it, and am currently turning it into a bobber however the other day i couldnt start my bike and after examining the bike over and double checking everything i didn't notice anything wrong I mean it had been a couple weeks since I rode it last but that usually doesnt effect it i tried starting it for about 3 seconds i get good compression my fuel lever is on all my bar controls are good tried using the choke to still couldnt get it.

I am fairly new to motorcycle so if anyone could give me some tips that would be awesome thanks

I WANNA RIDE MORE.....

 

Is the motor "cranking" but not firing at all? Even a sputter?
Sure you've got plenty of gas in the tank? Tried turning the petcock to Reserve?

 

check the easy crap first ! like he said up there ^ gas,petcock,then check battery for correct voltage

 

dead battery? does it turn over? another thread with to little info to make any kind of suggestions. tell us what it is doing.

 

take the spark plugs out turn it over "with spark plugs in the wires set them on the cylinders" and see if its firing, this is a starting point
if they are fouled get new ones, check all wires to the starter
check battery wires! yes they vibrate loose, mine ruined the battery because of this, it shorted out the terminals "melted them!" from arcing good luck ,as i am needing to rebuild my solenoid now just got my kit hope it works

 

have had this problem in the past cause of the "ignition kill switch"- the on/off ignition switch on the right handle bar. if you turn this off and forget that its off, the bike just wont start until you turn it on. my +2 had this problem when she picked up her bike from service recently... we usually just leave ours on but the shop had turned hers off. she could not start the bike- until I saw that the switch was off...
any chance that yours is off?

 

its cranking just like it usually does just not firing up, spark plugs were my first thought since its a 97' maybe they havent been changed in a while. I have plenty of gas however I may as well try turning it to reserve then i will go ahead and check my battery and plugs etc i checked all the easy stuff.
thanks for your suggestions!!!

 

I will go ahead and try this thank you for the tips!!