I bought a 02 XL that had a set of Samson shorties and a hypercharger on it. I was a little shocked at the lack of power that the bike had, and sometimes it will diesel. I asked an HD mechanic to look at it while it was in for a new tire. I was informed that it was never jetted from stock when the pipes and intake was changed. He recommended that it be done asap. Spark plugs were white. I am a little concerned that potentially some damage could have been done running that lean for who knows how long. Does anyone think that this could be an issue?

 

Tim: YES! It could be a big problem. Have a mechanic pull the plugs and look at the top of the pistons with a flexible optical device. He will be looking for cratering in the piston. The lack of power is not a good sign either. The rings in one piston may have already broken from the detonation occurring at higher speeds. Do what you can now. If your bike is a XL 883, this might be a good time to go to the 1200 cc conversion. You will cure all the above problems. ............ BC

 

Running lean can burn the exhaust valve and cause loss of compression/power. You should have your compression checked. If it's low you probably have burned exhaust valves.

 

Haveing it checked wont hurt at all! I have a 05 sporty and changes my pipes today with 1100 miles on it, and m stock pipes already were blueing.

 

Thanks for all the help. Motor was ok. I installed a Dynojet kit yesterday and that seemed to stop the coughing and wake it up.