Thanks in advance for any advice or solutions. I have a 1999 883 sporty with 16k miles, stock except for 1.5 inch exhaust pipes. The bike was running great, then I stopped, and the bike wouldn't restart. After sitting for 5 minutes it fired right up. Several days later it happened again. I bought this bike 8 months ago and have put 1500 miles on it. Sometimes it will start right up and go but if you turn it off it will not refire and backfires. I have taken the plugs out and cleaned them and checked for spark when this happens, good spark. I removed the carburetor, cleaned the jets, replaced the vacuum slide due to the backfiring and showing signs of being burnt. I did a compression check on it and both cylinders are hitting 92 psi. Any thoughts? super desperate!!!

 

And the choke cable will not stay out on it's own, if that helps any.

 

is there any smoke?

 

Tighten the plastic knurled retainer (or metal nut) where the cable passes through the bracket just slightly and it will stay out on its own.

Your problem sounds like it may be ignition related. You might be able to recreate it by heating the ignition module with a heat gun.

Also, it was not uncommon for the timer cup to hit the pick up slot in the module and overheat/shut down.

 

Backfiring out of the carb, which burn the vacuum slide. Im thinkin there is plenty of spark, maybe not enough air getting in there.

What size jets did you put in, and what pipes are on it?

 

Well I finally figured it out fellas, it was the ignition module. Bought the Dynatek 2000i ignition module and quite simply installed it with heat shrink butt connectors and it hasn't acted up since. I highly recommend it because it is programmable for different upgrades. Thanks for the help fellas!