I have 2001 Sportser 883. I rode it to work this morning and has no problems. Rode it the day before and had no problems. After work, flipped the gas on, pulled the choke and let it warm up. Then it stalled. Plenty of gas, only 47 miles in this tank. I cannot get it to start again, it just cranks but won't start. The plugs are firing fine and are clean. Battery read 12.18, which is lower than the 12.8 the Calmer manual I have says. The bike was fully serviced at a HR shop 1100 miles ago. I am hoping I am overlooking something simple. I only have 1100 miles of riding under my belt. There is no check engine light and no codes to read. The 15 amp ignition fuse is good. Not sure if I need to do a load test on the battery or go through the compression test next like the manual says.

Bike is stuck at the office and it's going to be 80 all week. Please help.

 

Whats the battery reading when you crank it?

 

U have a supply line to the petcock and a suction line. with out both you wont get fuel to the carb.Do you have spark at plugs?

 

Battery is reading over 12 when trying to start. I have spark at the plugs. My guess was fuel line, buy have no idea how it would be totally fine and then 8 hours later not be.

 

Pull the air cleaner and confirm that you are getting fuel.

 

I am really new to all this and need a pretty high level of detail. Do you mean the air filter when you say air cleaner? If so, do I need to take off the air cleaner back plate as well? When looking at the carb, how do I check to make sure it is getting the fuel it needs?

 

You did LOOK in the tank, right? Just to rule out that someone didn't siphon your tank dry.....

The petcock is switched ON?

Did the motor sputter as it shut down, or act like the ignition switch was turned off?

The Run/Stop switch is in Run, right?

Other than that you need to check the vacuum line that runs from the carb to the back of the petcock. Other than running the battery down from continually trying to start it, it sounds more like a fuel problem than an electrical problem.

 

Hey, where in NC are you? Maybe I can help you

 

get some carb spray/starter fluid, spray your air filter, try to start. If it does start you know you have a fuel issue.

 

@ Charley: Yes, check the tank has gas, fuel stem is ON (tried RES too). Set to RUN (it cranks but doesn't start). I think it was pretty sudden when it stalled, more like hitting the kill switch than running out of gas. The battery was reading 12.18 volts after trying to start it so many times, and dropping down to 9 volt when actually trying to start it.

@nc883, RTP.

I went and got a battery charger and charging it now. The battery was reading 11 volts which didn't seem like enough to start the bike. All the accessories and lights are working though.