Hey everyone, I am new to Harleys and motorcycles in general. I recently got a '96 Super Glide and have a question.

When I first start it up when it has been sitting for a couple of days, it seemingly runs on one cylinder. You can tell because of how it sounds and because of the lack of power. If I reach down and put my hands in front of each exhaust pipe, I can feel exhaust coming from each pipe, however, you can grab the pipe coming from the rear cylinder and it is still cool to the touch whereas the front pipe gets extremely hot as it should.

If I let it sit there and idle for a few minutes, you can hear the second cylinder start intermittently kicking in, until it starts working normally. If I crank it up and start driving it immediately, the second cylinder will start kicking in much faster, until it starts running normally. When the motor is warm the bike runs great.

Any ideas what this could be? Thanks for any help!

 

Plug? A bad plug wire? A crack or something where the plug wire connects to the coil?

Guessing at the easy stuff first. If it's making any strange mechanical noises or if it's not an electrical issue - I'd get it checked by a good mechanic.

 

Put in new plugs after gapping them to the correct gap. When starting the bike use enough enrichner (choke) to get it started then push the enrichner **** back in a little at a time till it holds the idle. The over use of the enrichner will foul plugs. Keep us filled in as to whats going on.

 

Thanks. I'll check to see if the plug is fouled first.

 

Thanks.

Normally I will start the bike with the choke all the way out, and then drive it until it is able to idle with the choke pushed in without turning off. Sometimes this is after about a mile or two of driving.

 

On a 13 year old motorcycle, it could be a bunch of things. Could be plugs, plug wires and/or coil. On a motorcycle this old, I'd save a lot of headache and take it to a reputable dealer or independent shop to check it out. You don't want the thing to crap out on you when it's night and you're 100 miles from home. It will be worth a couple of hours of labor for the peace of mind.

 

its worth spending 50 bucks on plugs and wires before you send it out for an hourly rate.it most likely needs them anyway.change those out before taking it somewhere

 

ScottK-

When you remove the spark plugs, they should look about the same in color (burn).. If one is very white, or one is very Black (fluffy carbon) I would check the intake manifold for leaks..

Sometimes a leak there will produce similiar symptoms. And as it heats up can cause a leak to stop.

My '94 FatBoy I've had for 10 yrs & now has 130,000 miles on her.

My '97 R king I bought new & only has 78,000 miles on it.

They get better with age, like fine wine...

 

totally agree start with the simple stuff. Check the plugs. Ive got a 96. Age isn't an issue. Just keep up with the maintenance. Work backwards from the plugs and you should be right. Roll on. Ant.

 

Well it finally warmed up enough for me to check the plugs. I may live in South Carolina, but it has been pretty cold here lately!

All I have to report is that both plugs are very black.

I don't know if that helps or not, but I guess I could go ahead and change them. I noticed they were both Harley Davidson plugs... is it recommended to replace them with HD plugs or does it matter? If not, what type is recommended?