Hey guys,

My name is Dave, I'm from Atlantic beach , Fl. I bought a bastard child 79 ironhead last feb and spent teh last year tearing it down to the frame and rebuilding/chopping it. I rebuilt the tranny, new clutch, replaced the cylinders , added new KB pistons, had the heads done and spent countless hours wiring, painting, etc.

anyway i'm having some issues with starting, timing and plug fouling. first of all it did have a Dyna S ignition but for some reason it decided to die just when i was getting ready to first fire the bike up after the build. I went to the local indy shop and he gave me a points setup to try so I could tell if I was getting fire at the points. the points worked well but now i'm having problems getting it timed.

first of all, the starter, I'm not sure what the problem is but the starter just doesnt want to turn the engine over without a jumpstart from my car. I replaced the solenoid, put a new battery in and still no dice.

I set the static timing by gapping the points to .018 , getting on the front cylinder advance mark, turned the points cam to full advance and connected a test light and shifted the points plate till the light just came on.

I'm running an S&S super E carb and followed S&S directions to set it back to the stock settings

started right up and ran pretty well for a few mins. next day i went out and started it and it was running like crap, spitting, backfiring, poppin fire through the carb, fire out the exhaust and kept stalling out. I pulled the plugs and of course they were pitch black with carbon. so today i reset the timing again and fired it up, It was running but not well, front cylinder was running fine and got warmed up right away while the rear stayed ice cold even though it was firing. pulled the plugs again and the front was black and the rear was fouled with fuel.

I went to the shop and got 2 more sets of plugs and installed them, made sure the timing was set and tried to fire it up but all i got was a few pops out of the carb. as far as the starter I'm not sure whats going on there, if I crank the ignition it turns a few times but then makes noise in the primary like the starter gear isnt engaging right.

I tried to post some pics but it wasnt working so i'll post some links
before pics
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/harley2.jpg
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project1.jpg
teardown
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project18.jpg
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project23.jpg
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project27.jpg
rats nest wiring
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project52.jpg
cleaned up wiring
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project53.jpg
rebuild
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project42.jpg
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project47.jpg

 

rebuild

http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project56.jpg
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project61.jpg
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project62.jpg
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project63.jpg
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project65.jpg
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/project72.jpg

quick airbrush job on the tank
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/deviltankcc.jpg

finished
http://www.freakvillepcs.com/images/bastard1.jpg

 

Dave,
I have an 80 that I'm working on now and I had a similar issue with mine when I first picked the bike up last August. Have you re-built that Super E?Try shutting off the accelerator pump by turning the screw all the way in and see if that makes a difference. What make/model plugs are you using?
Nick

 

Welcome from VA!!

 

Pull your point plate and look at the advance unit. If one or both of the springs break it will do as you've described. Too much end play in the number two cam, or wear in the advance weight pivots will allow the springs to hit the point plate, and they will wear in two in no time.

 

Hey nick, I didnt rebuild the carb, probably should. I'm using autolite plugs, not sure of the number offhand. I also tried shutting off the accelerator pump but it didnt make much difference

 

the springs on the advance are fine, I just bought a new set of blue streak points and condenser, havent tried it yet though. If all else fails i may have to check the end play on the cams again

 

That could be part of your problem. The timing mark is at full advance, much too far ahead for static timing. Try centering the timing plate with equal amounts of slot on either side of the screws.