Hi,

New to the forums, but having trouble with my bike.

Just bought a 1993 Sportster 883 on the 22nd of Feb. The bike has 6800 miles and was running good. The guy that sold it to me drove it from Honolulu to where I am in traffic so took over 30 minutes to get here. The next day I rode it, started up fine and let it warm up, then rode it for about 5+ minutes, on the way back home it started feeling like it was out of gas, then it died. I pulled over and it started right up.

The next day I rode it again. Rode for about 10 minutes or so and on the way back it died again. This time it wouldn't start back up. I pushed to a nearby apartment complex and parked it. Since it was really low on gas I went and got gas and came back and poured in 2 gallons. Noticed one of the plug wires halfway off the coil. Pushed it on and then tried starting it. It started right up, then rode it home. I let the previous owner know what it was doing and he came over to look at it. It seemed fine.

The next day (yesterday) I rode it to a friend's house. When I went to leave from my home to his, it was a little hesitant taking off at first, but then ran fine on the way over there. When I got there and turned it off it sputtered before completely turning off. When I was ready to leave at around midnight it wouldn't turn over. Left it there and went home with my wife. This morning went back over and checked the plugs and wires, the part of the wire connected to the plugs was really corroted, so went to the Harley store and they said just to clean them off with some steel wool but advised to change the plugs and add a carb cleaner to my gas called ChemTool. So I did all they said and tried to start it. Still wouldn't start, but it was trying to turn over, which is what it would not do previously. Would begin to start but die, like it wasn't getting any fuel or something.

Another thing I noticed is that previously when I would leave the fuel switch on some fuel would leak out, but now leaving it on nothing leaks out.

The guy I bought it from said it did sit for a while, not sure how long a while is. What I'm think of doing is draining the tank, changing the fuel pump and removing the carburetor and cleaning it and see what that does.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Congratulations on the new purchase, sucks that you're having issues with it. Your bike has no fuel pump, just the gravity feed from the tank into the carb. Your idea to pull and clean out the carb is a good one, I'd also check the interior of the tank for rust, and the petcock. I'm sure the much more educated folks will be chiming in here to help. GOod luck with it regardless!

 

I would replace your plugs if you haven't already
Try this, turn the petcock to reserve and see if it will fire.
Also check you make sure your coil has enough power running through it.
Check the fuel line going into the carb
Check the vac line on the petcock and make sure it does not have pin holes etc

The carb is super easy to pull apart just be careful. some carb cleaner will go a long way, also with your car off, make sure the seal is not old and rotted

I can tell you a 100 more things, just a decent amount of things to check first.

If you want to be froggy pull the tank and the carb and clean both, you can also take the petcock apart and make sure it's not clogged. There is a small filter on the top of the petcock that can be clogged

 

When I drain the tank to remove it what is the easiest way to drain it? Siphon or is there a hose I can disconnect to drain the gas?

 

To drain the tank, you will need to siphon off most of the gas, then pull the line running from the tank to the petcock. then you can remove the tank for cleaning, along with replacing the fuel filter. This is only a fix if you have bad gas. Since you just put in 2 gallons, this may not be your problem.

Before you do all that, I would turn the petcock over to reserve, and see if she starts. If the wires were corroded, I would replace them. If the plugs were corroded or are fouled, I would replace them. I would take off the air cleaner assembly, and look into the carburator and see if there is any varnishing (it will be purple). If there is varnishing, it will need to be cleaned out.

Good luck. Hope you get back on the road soon.

 

Went and tried to start it with it on reserve, but didn't start. Pulled the air filter off and noticed that the little needle inside the throttle body wasn't squirting any gas like I saw it do before when it wasn't turned on. Is it supposed to always squirt gas when you turn the throttle and the petcock is in the ON position?

 

Ok, drained the tank and pulled it off and removed the petcock. The tank is very rusty and the filter and petcock was full of rust. I am hoping that's all there is to it. I cleaned the petcock and filter and am going to get some distilled vinegar tomorrow and try that out for the tank. Hopefully after that it will be fine. Do I need to use a tank sealant after getting the rust out? Also, does anyone know if the vinegar really works?

 

I don't know about vinegar, but I would be sure to clean it thoroughly and then properly seal it. Why fix something only half way?

 

I would seal the tank, if you don't the problem will keep coming back...or you can just buy a new tank...

 

Without a doubt, seal it. I did it on my old Yamaha many years ago with POR-15 and it worked great.

http://www.por15.com/Fuel-System-Res...n/products/12/

You'll likely need to clean the carb out as well, but that shouldn't be too bad. The seller likely knew of the condition of the tank and sold you a bill of goods, IMO. I'd let him know the cost and aggravation of your troubles. While he's under no obligation to do anything, of course, he may have some compassion for the situation he helped place you in.