1994 XL883 completely stock except for pipes.

I bought this 3 years ago for the wifey. I have ridden it a couple times and put 110 miles on it the first year but it has been parked for the last 2 years. Time to sell. Important to note that this bike has never ran well for us since we got it. It acts like it has carb issues or the timing is off...dunno

Here is what I did...
Dusted it off and tried to start, fuel was sour.
flush tank and lines
new plugs
compression test 110 110
tear down carb and cleaned out every passage with torch tip cleaners and flushed with carb cleaner, blew out with air.

It starts and idles great but as soon as you crack the throttle open a bit it bogs and dies.

Tear down carb again, inspected diaphragm ok
Cleaned all passages again ok
Checked float level ok
Replaced intake seals and carb to intake seal

Start...no change. As soon as you open the throttle is bogs. Before it bogs down and dies I can see fuel spraying out of the main jet orifice past the needle. I can only assume it is not getting enough fuel to run.
If I hold my hand over the carb it will run better.
If I open the throttle and hit it with a shot of ether when it bogs, it picks back up.

Before I haul this to the dealer at $105/hr. does anyone have any suggestions?

 

Did you clean out the tank? Maybe it is pulling in some residual stuff from there.

 

Yup, removed it and drained it completely and rinsed with clean fuel.
The gas in the bike was stale and not burnable but it was not varnished at all

 

Put a S&S Super E on it.

 

Not a carb guy,but could you have the wrong size jets?
This could explain why it never ran well for you.

 

Still leaking intake manifold gaskets maybe ... sucking air?
Needle jet clogged, corroded or in bad shape? Has it been shimmed?
Idle mixture screw could be way off.

 

I agree Idle mixture could be off as well as jet sizes. Check your jet sizes, E Clip location including the washers and the Idle mixture screw setting. You can use the Dynojet document as a reference.

http://www.dynojet.com/pdf/8102.pdf

 

First, did you let it warm up before trying to give it gas, if not was the enrichener (choke) still on or off when you tried to gas it??? if it was warm or the choke was on I would check the main jet circuitry and make sure that the main jet is installed correctly also check the accelerator fuel pump circuitry (the fuel pump that sends in extra fuel when you twist the throttle), next check the float level..also I would replace the fuel hose and vacuum hose to the voes...also check that the voes is working correctly...what kind of exhaust is on the bike (does it have straight pipes)..when the bike idles does it sound "good"..

 

It's called a needle jet......

The little silver tube that sticks up into the throttle body. It sits on top of the main jet tube and the needle on the slide pokes down through it. Apparently it's possible to install this &$#@* thing upside down. I am fortunate enough have a pile of Harley parts laying about. I pulled out a old FXR carb and tore it down next to my XL carb and just *happened* to notice the difference. Once put back together the bike runs better than ever, actually a very fun ride except it is set up for my wife who is half my size.

First, thank you to all for the helpful advice.
Second, I would ask all of you who helped to please stand up and salute while I hoist my flag of stupidity. Geeze, I burned about 3 days on this...lol

 

don't beat yourself up to much on this one...about 3-4 times a year someone is on this forum who has done the exact same thing...