I have a 1984 Ironhead Sporty that wont idle.It sat in a barn for 2 years before i got it.The guy had the carb off for rebuild I put the carb on,cleaned the tanks put on new plugs,wires,fuel filter,petcock,got it running it just wont idle.There is no external adjustments other then idle screw which helps not.

 

I had a VW do that for awhile....the idle jet was clogged....

Rev. George.....Chattanooga, TN

 

I had a similar problem with my shovel. The guy let it sit for a long time. I had the carb rebuilt. Check you tanks for any rust? Do you have a in line fuel filter on it? If not get one. I would guess the carb has trash in it. Take the carb off, let it sit for a few days in carb cleaner then blow it out with a air hose.

 

does it run with the choke on, if so it's definately a cloged pilot circuit. Dissassemble the carb and remove all gaskets and rubber peices then soak carb in a bucket of strong carb cleaner. Follow that up with rinsing it off with carb spray like gumout, spraying through all passages, be sure to spray through both ends of the passage seperately followed by blowing it all out with compressed air.

Check for vacuum leaks, spray wd40 around the intake manifold joints with the engine running at as low of rpms as it can run at and listen for any change in rpms due to the wd40. It may also be worth resetting the ingition timming as well.