Any H-D mechanics out there?

[Arnulf]

My 1200 Sportster is idling too high when I get home after a ride.....When I first take off it idles normally.....any of you H-D riders have any ideas why its doing this?

[swampdragon]

Honestly, no I don't know. Ignition module problem? Carb float sticking after warming up? Choke knob too loose and vibrating outward while riding?

Mine occasionally knocks and pings for a few seconds after I hit the kill switch. Not sure why it does that either.

What year is your bike? Does it have a stock CV carb?

[Corpsie]

Do you have to use the choke to start it? If not, it could be that the idle fuel screw is set too rich.

[swampdragon]

Do you have to use the choke to start it? If not, it could be that the idle fuel screw is set too rich.

Simple, yet good observation. I should have thought of that too.

[HDR]

Idle speed screw or low speed mixture adjustment?

Setting the low speed mix too rich is one thing that can do that, but I'd be more prone to say Idle speed rather than Idle air. Take a long ride, then adjust it. Too many start it and in a couple of minutes adjust it.

Be careful, when I used to work on them, I learned that incorrectly adjusting the carb was the first thing too many did. It could also be the low speed jet or pilot jet if some one changed it or changed engine components.

If the carb was adjusted in the cooler Spring weather, sometimes the engine will run faster in summer. That is idle adjustment, NOT idle mixture adjustments.
That works with S&S, Bendix, Linkerts, Tillotsons etc.

Remember better a tad rich than lean.

Depending on the carb, when the engine is hot, lean it to it stumbles, then go a couple of clicks back rich.


swampdragon
What you have going on is different. NC = Ft Bragg?

[swampdragon]

Yes, Ft Bragg, for the second time again now.

As far as "my" bike....it only does it occasionally. At casual cruising speeds and short runs, it never does it at all. But on hot days, or when I've been flyin balls to the wall every now and then...it knocks and pings and stumbles sometimes after I hit the off switch.

[HDR]

I used to live west of Bragg, a couple of miles from the Ranger station at the intersection of Manchester and I forget.. ;)
If I was still there I'd see what I could do.

Ain't a clown playing internet mechanic, mine is an 80 SuperGlide with S&S 4-5/8" wheels and 3-13/16" Axtell barrels, only work I did not do was the serious machine work as in bore the spigots etc.

Only thing running it hard ought to do is make the engine hotter when you shut it off. ;) What it's doing ain't right. It could be anything from the wrong heat range plug to improperly set timing, advance, etc.

What do your plugs look like?
http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/spkplghnbook.htm#We

[Arnulf]

Do you have to use the choke to start it? If not, it could be that the idle fuel screw is set too rich.

You know you may be right Corpsie......A couple months after I bought the bike...I decided to put some shotgun mufflers I had laying around for years on it.....less restrictive and a better sound....I turned the mixture screw out 2/1/2 times...Must be too rich...it has never fouled a plug....I had forgotten that I had richened it up after putting the pipes without baffles on it.

Yeah...your right HDR.....better to rich....than too lean and burn the valves.....is there any way to turn that mixture screw without burning your hand on that cross peice on the muffler?

Swampdragon....its a 02 with a cv carb.

[swampdragon]

HDR, I have a house south of Bragg in Hope Mills by the golf course. Haven't checked my plugs in a while. Probably a good idea. I'll check out your link too. Like I said though, it only does it once in a while. That's the confusing part.

P.S. I've rode a super glide, a night train and a fat boy. I liked the super glide the best by the way. alas, my budget could only handle a sporster myself at the moment. It's great in traffic and good on gas and pretty damned quick though, so I guess that's a plus, even if "some" people think they're a "bitch bike." ha.....

arnulf, mines an 01

[HDR]

swampdragon
Actually my budget wasn't that high. I bought this one in 92, prior owner needed cash for outstanding fines on his cdl.
Probably paid less than you did for yours. Bought parts for a year or so and then rebuilt the powertrain.

I buy older bikes because buying a new or "newish" ones would be a waste of a good engine, so why throw away all those good engine parts. ;)

Been riding since the mid 1960s and this is my first swingarm and electric start... ;)

[swampdragon]

Damn Gran'pa! How's your kickin' knee these days?

My next purchase just may be an older model as well. Would be fun to fix up. Got a boat to work on at the moment though, so it will be a while...

[HDR]

is there any way to turn that mixture screw without burning your hand on that cross peice on the muffler?

Longer than normal and weirdly bent screwdrivers? ;)

I have a couple of really weird looking wrenches, one tightens the rocker box nuts on an ironhead sporty. The other is for two of the bolts that hold the heads on a pre-Evo big twin, the two between the barrels. Better is to use 12 points, if one can find them in 7/16-20 UNF.

The best way is to screw it in all the way then back it out what the factory recommends, then fire the engine and adjust. Get that from a manual.

Be real careful about bottoming the screw too hard or risk ruining the carb.

Damn Gran'pa! How's your kickin' knee these days?

My next purchase just may be an older model as well. Would be fun to fix up. Got a boat to work on at the moment though, so it will be a while...

Knee does me just fine.. Last person I kicked with it said so.. LOL

Lots of folks that work were you do have bad knees ala being one of the two things that fall from the sky..

btw, never judge a man by the winter in his hair, judge by the spring in his ass..

;)

[Arnulf]

Longer than normal and weirdly bent screwdrivers? ;)

I have a couple of really weird looking wrenches, one tightens the rocker box nuts on an ironhead sporty. The other is for two of the bolts that hold the heads on a pre-Evo big twin, the two between the barrels. Better is to use 12 points, if one can find them in 7/16-20 UNF.

The best way is to screw it in all the way then back it out what the factory recommends, then fire the engine and adjust. Get that from a manual.

Be real careful about bottoming the screw too hard or risk ruining the carb.



Knee does me just fine.. Last person I kicked with it said so.. LOL

Lots of folks that work were you do have bad knees ala being one of the two things that fall from the sky..

btw, never judge a man by the winter in his hair, judge by the spring in his ass..

;)

Thanks for the input everyone.:up:
Yeah....Im gonna have to get creative and make a tool for adjusting the mixture screw....the last time I used a short scew driver and a pair of leather gloves...sizzle Ouch!
Yeah....HDR I got some weird looking tools from when I was riding and wrenching on my brit bikes...spanners....thats what the Brits call wrenchs....I had spanners that had little tits on the ends that went into holes in the hubs...to remove wheel bearings....some of my older tools were witwurth standard.....my 02 1200 custom is the first bike I bought brand new off the showroom floor....and it is also the first bike Ive owned without a kick start.:)

[Corpsie]

Thanks for the input everyone.:up:
Yeah....Im gonna have to get creative and make a tool for adjusting the mixture screw....the last time I used a short scew driver and a pair of leather gloves...sizzle Ouch!

For $35 they make a flat bladed screwdriver with 90 degree bend in it. You just rotate the handle to make the blade turn (no ratcheting). Any motorsports store should sell it or be able to order it.

BTW: I got sick of guessing about carb adjustments on my ATV that I ended up installing an O2 sensor and meter. :D

[swampdragon]

Fellow Harley riders gotta stick together. I learned something here too. Thanks for starting the thread....

[Arnulf]

For $35 they make a flat bladed screwdriver with 90 degree bend in it. You just rotate the handle to make the blade turn (no ratcheting). Any motorsports store should sell it or be able to order it.

BTW: I got sick of guessing about carb adjustments on my ATV that I ended up installing an O2 sensor and meter. :D

Thanks for the info on the screwdriver......and you are a clever fellow Corpsie putting that 02 sensor on your ATV.
On Harley cv carbs..the mixture screw is on the bottom of the carb in the back...and you can get a serious burn when adjusting the mixture....I know...I got one......my Triumph Bonnevilles always had the mixture screw on the side...and adjustments were easy.

Fellow Harley riders gotta stick together. I learned something here too. Thanks for starting the thread....

No problemo.:)
I luv talking motorcycles....Harley's and Triumph's and Nortons and BSA's and Beemers....etc :D

[HDR]

Fellow Harley riders gotta stick together. I learned something here too. Thanks for starting the thread....

Always have, always will..

It goes back to the days when us grandpas got a cheap thrill being felt up by every 4th cop we saw on the way to an event..
Or maybe it was them that got the cheap thrill.. ;)


"Harley's and Triumph's and Nortons and BSA's and Beemers....etc"

Ducatis are neat also.. ;)

[Arnulf]

I road thru town on my H-D yesterday setting off car alarms......:D

[swampdragon]

Mine's in the shop right now. (Not dealership) but a little mom and pop shop that always gets my business because they have a great attitude, actually care about what they're doing, and charge me very little, if anything at all sometimes, for their services simply because they love what they do.

I had a leak in my rear rocker box cover and wanted new gaskets installed. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that my rear cover actually had a tiny crack in it. No wonder the thing was leaking. Have a new one on order at the moment.

I had the dealer replace this gasket once before. It worked for a little while, then started leaking again. This time around, I skipped on the factory paper gaskets and am going with after-market metal ones instead.

Am also saving up for new wheels, and getting rid of my laced wheels.

[HDR]

When it comes to gaskets, James are good.

Helping others that ride is part of the experience. At least for those who know where to look for said help. ;)

Even when I had a business, I fixed quite a few for free, mostly friends or people I knew for a long time who needed a hand.

I enjoy working on Harleys. Some enjoy riding and others enjoy riding and working on them.

[swampdragon]

Glad you agree...James is what I picked....

[HDR]

they are the best, but they won't fix a crack.

[swampdragon]

they are the best, but they won't fix a crack.

No, I didn't figure so.:lool:


That's why I ordered a new rocker box cover too.