Have purchased a 01 Sportster for a son (26) The bike was in need of rescuing, the man who had it abused it by the looks of it. i had Carburator rebuilt and am sure that it was done right but the son put it back on and the bike runs but you can not accelerate it. It will fall on it's face.

Forgive me I ride a Honda but know that Harley people are great also can anyone suggest what to do or to look at.

Thank You for your help.

Mike - Ringgold GA

I will be needing a new set of tires for this bike also and would love a suggested brand that others like.

 

What happens when he tries to accelerate? Do the RPMs increase? Does it just accelerate slower than it should, or not at all? Does it do it in all gears?

First thing I would check, assuming the carburetor was rebuilt and re-installed correctly, is the clutch adjustment. It could just be a slipping clutch.

 

Any other details?

How are the plugs?

What does it actually do when you try to accelerate?

 

Sorry I did not give more details, Bike cranks great and idles fine but when you twist the throttle it will not rev up. You can ride it at almost an idle but if you give it fuel the engine will not rev up.

 

Hi Michael

If you have had someone in the carb the first thing I would check is the carb diaphragm.

It may have got pinched when putting it back together, it only needs a pin hole or slight tear to give you your sort of problems...

 

Ditto on the diaphragm. If there's a puncture or tear of some sort, it'll allow air to escape when you open the throttle, so there won't be enough of a pressure difference to raise the slide and you won't have much more air flowing through the venturi than when the throttle plate's closed.

 

I would look at the diaphragm first, Shinko 777 tires. Both for about $160

 

+3 on the diaphragm, then the pilot jet. I just had 777s mounted. Don't know how they ride yet, but the reviews are good.

 

I use Pirelli Night Dragons and love them. Great in the twisties. I run a 45 low and 185 main jet. Don't need any tuner just a screw driver to set the air/fuel mixture screw. I have a 2000 XLH1200. That 01 is a great bike.

 

Any tire but original Dunlop replacements; their fairly narrow front tires (if your '01 has the original wheels) wiggle on tar strips and cracks worse than any tire I've ridden on. I replaced mine with Avons on both of my sportsters, and those track straight on every surface I've ridden on, better handling in general.

Some tire manufacturers recommend a higher air pressure than Dunlops, check their website about that for whatever brand you get. If you have spoke wheels, best to get new rub strips (like a thick rubber band inside that covers the spoke heads) and tubes - and I'd never get tubes with rubber stems, always get the heavy duty tubes with steel stems, they aren't even expensive at a Harley dealer, my local one anyway. Your '01 could have original tubes, be way too old to be safe now.

If you have cast wheels, replace any rubber valve stems, preferably with metal ones. I had a rubber valve stem break off on a cast wheel on a bike I'd just bought when I tried putting air in it, luckily in my garage. Hmm,that was an '01, too! Several years ago.

When you buy a used bike, all you know about tubes and stems are what the owner told you, if he even knew. You don't want to risk using 14 year old rubber parts.