HOW TO GET THAT NEW OLD SPORTSTER MOTORCYCLE ON THE ROAD
HTTP://DONSCYCLEWARE.COM
OK you just bought a old Sportster,Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki or whatever for a great price and the person you bought it from swears that:
It has hardly been ridden
It has been meticulously maintained
it was just rebuilt 1500 miles ago
It has just set in the garage,basement,shed,barn or wherever for "a while"
Sound Familiar? I have brought more than my share of old motorcycles home and learned that you can save yourself a lot of agravation by taking a few simple steps and spending a few bucks up front before you roar off on your new 1986 Belchfire 1300. I wrote this guide primarly for old Sporters but it applies to most bikes. Just insert carbs where I put carb and if you have fuel injection make sure that your filter is not in the pressurized side of the fuel pump. Here goes:
1. Buy a service manual.
2.Throw away the gas. Drain the tank, look for rust and crap in the fuel. Look at the last cup or so of fuel, is it full of rust, does it have water in it? If so take the tank off and clean it.
3.Drain the carb, look at the fuel that comes out of the carb, does it have rust or water in it? If so try running a little Methanol through it followed by clean gas. If the carb is flooding tap on it with a screw driver handle. If the float still sticks clean the carb. You may need to rebuild it. Put a cheap in-line filter on the bike this will trap some of the crud you didn't think was in the tank.
4.Replace the plugs, they don't cost much and they crap out pretty fast on my Iron heads.
5.Check out the spark plug wires, unless they look really good replace them. If in doubt replace them.
6.Replace your points and condenser. (Don't know the gap setting? See step one)
7.Replace the battery unless it really turns the bike over fast or you know it's new. When you pick up your new battery get a battery tender, you will need it. IMHO the charging system on the older Sporties is weak.
8.Check every wire and connection you can get to make sure they are clean and tight.
9.Check every nut,bolt and screw on the bike. Make sure they are 1. Still there 2. Tight. A lot of them won't be.
10.Change all fluids. I use Harley stuff. If you don't agree make sure that whatever you use meets your manufacturer's specs.
11.Check your tire pressure. While your at it ,look your tires over really carefull. Your life depends on them. If your tires are shot replace them. It's cheaper and easier than growing new skin after you dump.
Nine times out of ten when I bring an old bike in it has bad gas, bad plugs, sticking floats, bad battery or all four.
It is a lot easier to go through these steps with your tools handy in a warm well lit place than next to the road in the dark while it's raining.
After you go through these steps you will probaby find that your bike runs. If it doesn't break out your new manual and start trouble shooting.
When you get that motorcycle back on the road check out my on line stores for great deals on all your motorcycle gear:
Prefer ebay? : http://BARGAINMOTORCYCLEGEAR.COM
Looking for wholesale prices: http://WHOLESALEMOTORCYCLEGEAR.COM
Check out my YAHOO store for great deals on all your riding gear HTTP://DONSCYCLEWARE.COM
OK you just bought a old Sportster,Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki or whatever for a great price and the person you bought it from swears that:
It has hardly been ridden
It has been meticulously maintained
it was just rebuilt 1500 miles ago
It has just set in the garage,basement,shed,barn or wherever for "a while"
Sound Familiar? I have brought more than my share of old motorcycles home and learned that you can save yourself a lot of agravation by taking a few simple steps and spending a few bucks up front before you roar off on your new 1986 Belchfire 1300. I wrote this guide primarly for old Sporters but it applies to most bikes. Just insert carbs where I put carb and if you have fuel injection make sure that your filter is not in the pressurized side of the fuel pump. Here goes:
1. Buy a service manual.
2.Throw away the gas. Drain the tank, look for rust and crap in the fuel. Look at the last cup or so of fuel, is it full of rust, does it have water in it? If so take the tank off and clean it.
3.Drain the carb, look at the fuel that comes out of the carb, does it have rust or water in it? If so try running a little Methanol through it followed by clean gas. If the carb is flooding tap on it with a screw driver handle. If the float still sticks clean the carb. You may need to rebuild it. Put a cheap in-line filter on the bike this will trap some of the crud you didn't think was in the tank.
4.Replace the plugs, they don't cost much and they crap out pretty fast on my Iron heads.
5.Check out the spark plug wires, unless they look really good replace them. If in doubt replace them.
6.Replace your points and condenser. (Don't know the gap setting? See step one)
7.Replace the battery unless it really turns the bike over fast or you know it's new. When you pick up your new battery get a battery tender, you will need it. IMHO the charging system on the older Sporties is weak.
8.Check every wire and connection you can get to make sure they are clean and tight.
9.Check every nut,bolt and screw on the bike. Make sure they are 1. Still there 2. Tight. A lot of them won't be.
10.Change all fluids. I use Harley stuff. If you don't agree make sure that whatever you use meets your manufacturer's specs.
11.Check your tire pressure. While your at it ,look your tires over really carefull. Your life depends on them. If your tires are shot replace them. It's cheaper and easier than growing new skin after you dump.
Nine times out of ten when I bring an old bike in it has bad gas, bad plugs, sticking floats, bad battery or all four.
It is a lot easier to go through these steps with your tools handy in a warm well lit place than next to the road in the dark while it's raining.
After you go through these steps you will probaby find that your bike runs. If it doesn't break out your new manual and start trouble shooting.
When you get that motorcycle back on the road check out my on line stores for great deals on all your motorcycle gear:
Prefer ebay? : http://BARGAINMOTORCYCLEGEAR.COM
Looking for wholesale prices: http://WHOLESALEMOTORCYCLEGEAR.COM
Check out my YAHOO store for great deals on all your riding gear HTTP://DONSCYCLEWARE.COM
posted by DON at 5:42 PM
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