I recently got a 1964 XLCH that was sitting for 8 years and was successful at getting it going last fall (I put new plugs, new wires, as well as new condenser and points in the magneto, changed the oil) without too much difficulty.

However, in the last few weeks the bike is giving me more difficulty when kickstarting. I just changed the kickstarter bushing to eliminate the skipping that was happening and put in fresh transmission side oil (same weight as in the Oil pan). Is it possible that new plugs would be a good idea after a fall/winter or riding? I can push start the bike quite easily in 2nd gear.

The bike just turned over 50,000 miles last night in it's 50th year of life.

I also noticed that the bike is sputtering once in a while at constant speed but accelerates great.

Any tips on helping the starting issue and the sputtering issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Hi from the UK and welcome to HDF. We have a section dedicated to Classic Ironheads, it would be worth calling in there, to see if anyone can help you. Most members in this section are riding much more modern Sporties!

 

Go to this forum:

www.xlforum.net

Lots of Ironhead owners over there with centuries of combined knowledge.

John

 

Ironhead's are cool. I had a 72 XLCH and rebuilt it from the ground up. For the sputtering, gotta know what carb is on it. Being a 64, any previous owner may have changed it. Find the make & Model number and then we'll go from there. Put 1oz of Carb/Injector cleaner in a full (2.4 ga) tank. That should clean out the jets and help with the sputtering. But depending on what carb is on there, it might be rejetting that's needed. The point/condenser ignition system needs adjustment quite a bit, as in high maintenance. I would strongly recommend looking for an electronic conversion for the breaker point. When the points are out of adjustment the dwell is off making it hard to start. Let me know what happens.