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New to Harley Davidsons and to motorcycles in general. I have a 1999 HD Sportster 883 with 7900 miles on it. I know really nothing that was done to the bike as it was my wifes fathers that had passed away and has been sitting for 2 1/2 years. Ive taken it upon myself to learn off of it to get it to riding quality again. Ive been running into several issues, some that I've learned and fixed and some that ive been trying to find info on but cant seem to pinpoint it. At its current state, I've gotten the bike to start and does idle. It seems to me that the bike may have a fuel mixture issue and is running too rich? It has an aftermarket intake on it (Hura-something) and screaming eagle pipes. New spark plugs became black after i let it idle for awhile. Ive read about doing a "re-jet" to the carb but, learning as i go its all confusing to me. Wondering if you guys could shed some light on this, been reading everything i could find. I will try to attach a picture of the bike as well.
I apologize in advance if i left anything out that would be useful.
Heres what I've done:
- Cleaned out gas tank of old sitting gasoline and cleaned petcock and screen.
- replaced carb since old one has rust and junk it in (will rebuild later)
- replaced choke (old was broken and would not pull out)
- ran new vacuum lines and fuel line (old were dry rotted)
- replaced ignition (lost keys when he passed)
- changed oil and filter.
- Changed spark plugs (cleaned both boots for better connection.)
Do you have a Factory Service Manual? HD or Haynes or Clymer is fine for your needs. You can find one on Ebay.
I would replace the intake manifold seals for sure, you may have vacuum leaks, and they are 22 years old. It's easy if you already know how to take off the carb.
Do you know what jets came with your new carburetor? 45 pilot jet and 170 mainjet should be fine for your 883.
Your airfilter is a Kurakyn Hyper Charger. Popular "back in the day" but pretty dated now. Upgrading might bring the bike more into the 21st century, up to you. Lots of choices.
Screaming Eagle mufflers and those "H' style pipes give good flow, no need to change them at all. I run the same setup with the straight tapered SE mufflers.
There are some good tutorials over on xlforum.net that you can learn about tuning. Look for the Sportsterpedia section for in depth knowledge gleaned from many old experts.
Good luck. Keep us updated on your progress.
John
Last edited by John Harper; Nov 5, 2022 at 08:11 AM.
Do you have a Factory Service Manual? HD or Haynes or Clymer is fine for your needs. You can find one on Ebay.
I would replace the intake manifold seals for sure, you may have vacuum leaks, and they are 22 years old. It's easy if you already know how to take off the carb.
Do you know what jets came with your new carburetor? 45 pilot jet and 170 mainjet should be fine for your 883.
Your airfilter is a Kurakyn Hyper Charger. Popular "back in the day" but pretty dated now. Upgrading might bring the bike more into the 21st century, up to you. Lots of choices.
Screaming Eagle mufflers and those "H' style pipes give good flow, no need to change them at all. I run the same setup with the straight tapered SE mufflers.
There are some good tutorials over on xlforum.net that you can learn about tuning. Look for the Sportsterpedia section for in depth knowledge gleaned from many old experts.
Good luck. Keep us updated on your progress.
John
I believe in this carburetor its a 48 and a 170 jet, I did find info on the seals for the intake which I will replace and am looking for a cost effective intake to replace the one I have now due to messing the bolts up. I will look into the manual as Ive thought about getting one and at this point should just pull the trigger. Also any thoughts on the throttle not snapping back unless I loosen the cables? Im thinking worn out cables and possible throttle itself.
48 pilot is way too rich for your 883. Hardly anyone uses one that rich. You also have an idle mixture screw to adjust, but you need to research online how to do it. Idle/drop method is preferred.
I'd probably try lubing the cables, and leave the idle return cable slack. That one is a PITA to adjust IMO. Adjusting the throttle cable side is easy. Just twist to full throttle and adjust slack so throttle arm on carb touches the stop point. Like I said, I just leave the other cable slack as mine seems to interfere with snapback if not loose enough. I use Dri-Slide cable lube, but it's messy stuff if you're not careful.
Check you local craigslist for someone selling an aircleaner. Lots of good stock ones out there, or aftermarket as well.
John
Last edited by John Harper; Nov 5, 2022 at 01:40 PM.
48 pilot is way too rich for your 883. Hardly anyone uses one that rich. You also have an idle mixture screw to adjust, but you need to research online how to do it. Idle/drop method is preferred.
I'd probably try lubing the cables, and leave the idle return cable slack. That one is a PITA to adjust IMO. Adjusting the throttle cable side is easy. Just twist to full throttle and adjust slack so throttle arm on carb touches the stop point. Like I said, I just leave the other cable slack as mine seems to interfere with snapback if not loose enough. I use Dri-Slide cable lube, but it's messy stuff if you're not careful.
Check you local craigslist for someone selling an aircleaner. Lots of good stock ones out there, or aftermarket as well.
John
Thanks for the reply John I will change the jet to 45 and see how that goes, Ill also do the method said for the throttle cables. I will report back with my findings.
48 pilot is way too rich for your 883. Hardly anyone uses one that rich. You also have an idle mixture screw to adjust, but you need to research online how to do it. Idle/drop method is preferred.
I'd probably try lubing the cables, and leave the idle return cable slack. That one is a PITA to adjust IMO. Adjusting the throttle cable side is easy. Just twist to full throttle and adjust slack so throttle arm on carb touches the stop point. Like I said, I just leave the other cable slack as mine seems to interfere with snapback if not loose enough. I use Dri-Slide cable lube, but it's messy stuff if you're not careful.
Check you local craigslist for someone selling an aircleaner. Lots of good stock ones out there, or aftermarket as well.
John
As a follow up. Replaced intake-carb / carb- manifold gasket, got a new intake, replaced grips, added a choke relocation bracket and adjustment screw to fuel mix and to idle. Pulled plugs cleaned them off and then let her run. Checked plugs when she cooled down no black so I mightve gotten it adjusted correctly. But im hearing this knocking noise from what I believe is coming from below the oil tank. Also any two cents on a decent replacement gas tank as the tank is jb welded from a rust hole.
It has an aftermarket intake on it (Hura-something)
That's a real kick *** air intake. It looks like the Kuryakyn hypercharger blood groove design. I think its one of the best looking air intake systems on the market and I've heard nothing but good things. I'd buy one but they've been discontinued. I'll buy yours if you ever decide to get rid of it.
Also any two cents on a decent replacement gas tank as the tank is jb welded from a rust hole
Lots of used tanks for this bike eBay but I've also seen new custom peanut tanks for about the same price.
Last edited by redfarthammer; Nov 16, 2022 at 05:55 PM.
Reason: clarity
48 pilot is way too rich for your 883. Hardly anyone uses one that rich. You also have an idle mixture screw to adjust, but you need to research online how to do it. Idle/drop method is preferred.
I'd probably try lubing the cables, and leave the idle return cable slack. That one is a PITA to adjust IMO. Adjusting the throttle cable side is easy. Just twist to full throttle and adjust slack so throttle arm on carb touches the stop point. Like I said, I just leave the other cable slack as mine seems to interfere with snapback if not loose enough. I use Dri-Slide cable lube, but it's messy stuff if you're not careful.
Check you local craigslist for someone selling an aircleaner. Lots of good stock ones out there, or aftermarket as well.
John
Hi bro, 48 slow jet is that much big for 883 ? my 883 has 48 slow jet and 2 turns A/F mixture screw and 170 . of course plugs turned out black and can't idle and die in cold weather . yes it's big indeed. but 45 and 3 turns A/F mixture bike sneeze when i snatching even with 180 mainjet. what should i do ? maybe 48 slow jet with 1 1/2 turn A/F screw okay ? the rubbers at carb to intake manifold and manifold to engine seems fine. you can say "do it your self and watch what happen dumbass" but i can't spend any more to the spark plug to reading reasonable ratio of the A/F. already too much plug dead from me i'm very confuse for carb jets and set. would you help me about this bro?
Last edited by Gene O'king; Nov 18, 2022 at 02:53 AM.
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Left to me, 99 Sportster 883.
