Just bought a Sportster, and am beginning to have problems
 

Hello Everyone,

I just purchased a 2006 Sportster 1200 Custom with 235 miles on it.

When you hit the start button the starter clunks and then hesitates for a second and then turns the bike over. I originally thought the battery was low so I trickle charged it all night and then performed a load test and it is fine. I was wondering how a bike with so little miles would have a problem like this. It doesnt have trouble starting it its just that initial turn over that it acts strangely.

The second problem is that from a low rpm or at idle, upon giving it a quick throttle change it will pop and shudder. Even a small blip of the throttle. I took the air filter and cover off and there is oil going into the carb.

I am wondering how long this sat because of the low miles and if it is going to have problems

Thank you all for the help

Jason

Would you be able to make a video of the starter noise? I'd like to get a better idea of it and I'm sure others would too.

That second issue sounds like it may be poor timing? I'm not too familiar with Harleys and how they're set up but for me a "pop" usually means some type of backfire. The only thing I can say about the oil is to check the level in the tank, I've heard if there is too much it will leak in to the intake.

Not driving a vehicle for extended periods is just as bad as beating the heck out of it sometimes.

Welcome to the forum! Wow, a 2006 with only a couple hundred miles on it...not bad!

Clean and tighten your battery cables on botH ends. I just had the same problem with my 2006 1200R. Tightening the cables fixed mine.

I've got an '87 Softail that will "pop" if I blip the throttle too quickly. I'm learning not to blip the throttle. I found that if I"roll" the throttle instead of blipping it it doesn't pop.

Seeing as it has been sitting, I would run Seafoam through a tank of gas and see if it starts running better.

Thanks everyone for the responses so far.

@TORQUEY Thanks for the welcoming, yeah and I got a good deal on it too haha, just hopping these problems are easy fixes

Below I am posting the pictures of the oil in the carb and the vid of the starting problem.

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...st/photo-1.jpg

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...ust/photo4.jpg

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...ust/photo3.jpg

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...ust/photo2.jpg

And heres the video:

http://s112.photobucket.com/albums/n...t=IMG_2171.mp4

@Rick7938 I tightened both cables and I have the same results.

From the looks of it, something is locking up inside of the starter. The back light on the speedo dimming way down is saying that the starter is pulling huge amounts of current, for one reason or another. I can also hear what sounds like the starter spinning at the same time.. pretty strange, especially because the engine fires up immediately after that along with a similar clanging noise. The clanging may be the drive gear popping out to engage the flywheel and a similar sound comes from when it pulls back away. Has the bike always done that?

Thanks for the response, I have only had the bike for 3 days, so I'm not sure if it has been doing this for a while or not. I guess it could have gotten some light corrosion on the bendix causing it to not actuate properly, maybe if I take the starter off and hit it with some WD-40 it will help.