Hello I am new here and need some direction. I bought a 2004 883 Sportster with 1000 miles on it from a reputable dealer in July 2004 but have had this constant intermittent trouble and need some direction . The bike is stock except it has screaming eagle 2 pipes and the carb (they said) was rejetted to accomodate the pipes . However the stock air cleaner was left on it when I bought it . Last Saturday I purchased the screaming eagle air cleaner thinking it neede more air to eliminate the popping . I was having trouble with oil and what I assume to be a little gas blowing back on side cover . When i made the change to the new air cleaner it seemed to go away for one day and only did it once . I constantly complained about it running what I considered to be rich because you could smell gasoline . Now last night I fired it up and took a ride . Now it is popping occasionally bwhen it does it blows a little gas spray out the bottom of new air cleaner on the case and pipes (very frustrating) . My question is should I change the plugs ( friends suggestion) or turn the screws to lean it out . I am at a loss now because everyone told me it neede more airflow because of the pipes that were put on it . It does run like a raped ape out on the road . I only get this problem when downshifting or reving up . Never but once in a blue moon when accelerating on road . I am open for suggestions ........

 

i replaced the harley plugs (champion) with autolite 4164 plugs, it helped out a lot, how ever it didnt completly cure the problem till i installed the se carburator. now its completly gone exept when stone cold.

 

The first thing to do is go to your dealer and buy the manual for your year/model of bike. Open to the carb section and study it. Take off the carb and remove the cap and bottom. Look in the manual and see what size jets your bike came with. When you do the 'Stage 1' hop-up you usually only need to go 1 size up. If your bike is popping on deceleration you need to increase the pilot or low speed jet 1 size. ie: 42 to 45, etc. Sometimes it takes awhile and a few changes. I "let" the dealer remove the baffles and 're-jet' my wifes '04 1200C because I was out of town and she wanted to pick it up. I did not like the way it ran and re-did the carb myself! They have their standard way of re-jetting and if it sounds good they let it go. Time is money. If the bike has only 1000 miles on it your plugs should be fine and I doubt if they are causing problems but for a few $$ buy a set of STANDARD Harley plugs. You do not need the fancy ones. Wasted money. The gas and oil your finding on the mufflers and engine case is called blow-by and they all do it to a point. Take the bike back to your dealer and ask them why your having problems!!

If you are going use the stock carb you need to understand it and know how to use it. IT'S NOT HARD TO LEARN. Sure you can go out and drop $400 plus and buy a new carb but isn't half or part of the fun being able to work on them rather than depending on the Dealer or someone else??

Look on this forum under carb mods and that will give you all the ideas you'll need. There used to be a site called World Wideglide (www:worldwideglide or something like that) They had a very good section on stock CV upgrade which I printed when I bought my first 1200 XL in '95.

Never be afraid to ask questions from the service desk. If they do not want to help you need to go to a different dealer. Competition in todays market is too great for the intimidation of old time thinking from some HD mech. and dealers. Good or bad, the motorcycle world has changed and customer service today is important.


If you have any more questions E-Mail me and I will try to help. This of course is only my opinion so everyone please do not start ripping me for it.

Harley's are a blast and I feel twice the fun when you can work on your own. I've never cracked open the engine but it may come some day to.

 

Curly,

You're getting good advice here, won't expound on it, but I will take a moment to welcome you to the forum.



Mac

 

Thanks Guys will try exactly that first . I would rather do all my own work because that is have the fun of it I think I always do all my own automobile work . It can be intimidating when the bike is somewhat new . But I figure at this point it already is screwed up I can only make it better. The dealer claims they did the rejet but if they did I cannot understand why they left the stock air cleaner on it after all it did need more intake air at that point . But again thaks for the advice and will post again when I get it fixed .

 

 

It's a 13 year old post.I would guess he probably resolved it by now.