Little history...the kid bought a 1989 sportster little while back that ran at that time. Shortly after it wouldn't start unless the battery was fully charged and he was told to replace the stator & now that is installed. My question is, can we try to start that bike without putting the primary cover back on to see if the stator was the issue? Will the chain assembly being loose be ok if the bike fires? I wouldn't want to drain the oil again if something else needs done inside there. The clutch basket looked fine where the magnets were set in. I assume the space between them was to send the signal for the electronics to fire the spark plugs at that time. I am new to working on these bikes and want to gain some knowledge. These are a little different from the dirt bikes and quads that I am used to.

 

By "wouldn't start" do you mean it wouldn't crank at all, or enough to start, or do you mean it would crank strongly without starting? That said, what condition is the battery in; new and fully charged, or of unknown age/maintenance, and are 'both ends' of the batt. pos/neg terminal clean and tight? All vehicle starting/charging system tests must begin with a known to be good fully charged batt. Otherwise, all such tests are virtually worthless.

 

You're fine...to start it with the cover off but keep in mind that it will sling oil everywhere.

 

^^^THIS^^^

Just don't rev it to 6,000.

 

Thanks! I just want to see if it will start to see if in fact the stator was the problem.

 

It would crank over great and just cough from time to time and never seem to fire when it should.