I was on my way to Born Free on Sunday and my bike died on me! Not too knowledgeable with my new (to me) Dyna. It's a '96 Wide Glide.

I was going about 80 on the freeway, no sign of any issues, when it started bogging out. I knew it was going to die, so i pulled over. As soon as i let off the throttle, the engine died. I tried to start it back up again. If it ran, it was only for a couple seconds or immediately die as soon as I rolled on the throttle in the slightest bit. Most of the time I would try to start it, it would backfire or make a grinding noise underneath the seat (transmission/starter area?)

It never had issues starting before, but I would occasionally get the backfiring. Sometimes I get a lot of backfiring when I let off the throttle at higher RPMs. I can't seem to find an answer related to the issues I'm having. Most people that post threads (on any forum) tend to not post what the final outcome was and how they solved the issue.

I have since cleaned out the carburetor completely, replaced the spark plugs (previous ones looked like they were old), and charged up the battery. I also made sure I was getting fuel to the carb. I am still having the same issues and don't know where to look. Any help and ideas would be appreciated!

 

It sounds like a fuel problem. You said you cleaned out the carb, how did you do this? Was it torn completely down or did you just use a can of carb cleaner. It just might be all gummed up internally causing the fuel not to flow or possibly a bad or sticky float and or needle valve.

 

I took the carb apart, and cleaned it with a can of carb cleaner spray. I took out the jets and everything, but I didn't remove the float needle. I just sprayed underneath the float. Maybe I'll remove it again and actually take that out this time... What would be causing the backfiring when I try to start it? My thought was that maybe it was flooding and the unburned fuel was exiting through the exhaust causing the backfire. I could be totally wrong, though.

 

Checking the charging system, the bike electrics run off the battery not the charging system. The charging system keeps the battery "charged".

 

If you feel the carb is well cleaned have you checked for a good spark? Could be a coil or ignition timing problem. If timing/ignition is not working you can get backfiring in the exhaust or carb. You only need fuel, air and spark so if you can eliminate these then you should be able to isolate were the problem is. When you changed the plugs how did they look? Were they black and sooty which would indicate a rich mixture, white which would indicate a lean mixture or a tan color which should be normal for a carbed bike.

 

I had to charge the battery because I killed it trying to start it repeatedly on the side of the freeway.



Now, this might be a dumb question, but when does the fuel pump actually pump fuel? I had a Sporty and it didn't have a fuel pump, so I'm not familiar with how it works. With the valve open, I turned the power on and switched to "RUN", but no fuel came out of the pet.

 

If the bike has a carb it does not have a fuel pump, only the FI bikes have a pump. If you disconnect the fuel line and open the petcock you should get fuel when it is in the On position as well as the Reserve position. If no fuel comes out the filter or screen on the petcock is clogged or the petcock is broken and will need to be replaced. As far as the plugs, they look pretty good. I would guess that the plug on the right is from the rear cylinder as that usually burns a little leaner than the front cylinder.

 

The petcock has a vacuum port, no fuel is going to come out unless you add an external vacuum source.

 

You said no fuel is coming out of the petcock when you switch the ignition to run. Did you undo the fuel line at the petcock? If so you could possibly have a plugged screen attached to the fuel supply. You can remove the air cleaner cover and twist the throttle and should see a spray of fuel going into the carb.

 

No fuel came out when I disconnected the fuel line and opened the petcock. Later on, before I connected the fuel line back to the carb, I tried starting the bike and gas came pouring out of the fuel line again. Not sure what that meant... I'm starting to think this may be related to whatever components are in the gas tank, since it has been pretty inconsistent with the flow from the pet. You are right about the spark plugs, though.

The only time I've been able to see the fuel flow from the pet is when I tried to start the bike, and even that didnt happen every time.

I do get gas to the carb, but maybe it's just spraying whatever is left in the carb from whenever the tank decided to give it fuel. I will check the tank components today after work.