SOURCE: Adjusting timing on Harley Davidson 1976 sportster
The advance timing should be 35° before Top Dead Center. This is how you find out which mark this is.
Get the rear wheel of the bike off the ground, remove the spark plugs, shift the bike into fourth gear, and remove the timing plug from the left engine case.
Now, take an ordinary PLASTIC DRINKING STRAW and insert it into the front spark plug hole. Do not use anything else or you stand a chance of it breaking and then you'll have to pull the head to get it out. The plastic straw will bend but not break.
Bump the rear wheel in the direction that it turns while riding down the road until the piston pushes the straw all the way up and just barely starts going back down. Look into the timing hole. You should see a timing mark. This is the Top Dead Center mark. Now, bump the rear wheel BACKWARDS until you see another mark. This should be the ADVANCED TIMING MARK. The piston should 7/16" down from top dead center.
On this model Sportster the timing is advanced by a mechanical advance mechanism. These units are notorious for wearing out and not contolling the timing very well. You must remove the breaker plate to inspect this mechanism. Mark the position of the plate before you remove it. If the pins and holes in the flyweights are worn, replace the unit. Replace it with a good needle bearing unit. Replace the points and reset the gap at 0.018 - 0.020".
SOURCE: bike wont start replace start solenoid.when
You didn't mention what year model your bike is so I'll just generalize my response. Since you said that you replaced the solenoid, I'll assume that your bike is a 1988 model or earlier.
Your bike has a starter relay if it still has the stock wiring on it. Harley has used a starter relay since 1965 on the first model of ElectraGlide. Usually, it's underneath the battery tray or the seat or around that area.
On the back of your solenoid, you have three wire connections. Two very large connectors and one small connector. Make sure your bike is out of gear (in neutral) and use an old screwdriver to short between the large connector that comes from the battery and the small wire connection. The starter should engage and try to start the engine. If the ignition switch is on, it will start the engine. The starter will turn using this method with or without the switch being in the "on" position. If the starter works using this method, the problem is in either the relay or the neutral switch. If the starter does not turn the engine over, the problem is in the solenoid.
Now, let's check a few things. The small connector on the back of the solenoid should have a green or pink (depending on year) wire on it. Using a voltmeter or a test light, make sure you have voltage at the connector when you press the starter button with the switch in the "ON' position. If not, follow the wire to it's source, the relay.
The starter relay can be one of several different designs used throughout the years. It could be a small plastic cube, a small metal can, or a round phonelic relay. The relay should have four connections on it. A "hot" wire, a wire from the handlebar switch, the wire going to the starter, and a ground. The ground may be through the case itself. On the older Shovelhead bikes (1984 and earlier) there was a small short black wire that ran from the starter relay to the transmission for the ground. This wire must be intact or the relay would not work due to lack of a ground.
When you turn the switch on, one of the wires to the starter relay should become "hot". When you press the start button, you should hear a slight click and another of the smaller wires should now be "hot" as well, the one going to the starter.
On some year (1972 and later) models, the neutral switch was wired in with the starter relay. This was to prevent the bike from starting while "in gear" by disabling the relay. You'll have to figure this one out for yourself since I don't know what year model your bike is.
Now, you said you had power to the solenoid when you pushed the starter switch. So, let's assume that the starter failed the first test to told you aboue. If so, the problem is still most likely in the solenoid. Inside the solenoid, there is a large plunger with a copper disc on it. When you depress the starter switch, the coil in the solenoid becomes magnetized and pulls the plunger towards the back of the solenoid. This does two things, it engages the starter drive with the ring gear on the outer clutch drum and makes a high current electrical connection. The copper disc makes contact between the two large connections on the back of the solenoid from the inside. This connects the battery to the starter motor through the solenoid. If the black phonelic plate on the back of the solenoid is cracked or the contacts inside of it are badly burned, it will not work.
Now, if the solenoid is working correctly and you are getting voltage to your starter, it could be the brushes or something inside the starter. This is indicated if the starter trys to turn the engine over but just can't. It won't have enough power if the starter field windings are bad.
I hope I've given you something here that will help you solve your problem. This is basically the electrical part of the starter system. There are mechanical parts as well. If you hear the starter turning but the engine doesn't turn over, you have a mechanical problem. You can either repost or you can contact me directly at [email protected] I'll help if I can. Good Luck!
SOURCE: how to remove starter on 1976 sportster
To remove the starter motor from you Ironhead, look at the rear of the starter motor. There are two "nuts" holding the end cap on. These are not actually nut but very long bolts. By removing these two bolts, you can pull the starter out of the starter drive housing.
But, the long bolts also hold the starter together. You have need to be careful when you take the starter out as it will fall into four pieces. The front bearing plate, the armature, the field windings, and the end plate with the brushed on it. If you're not familiar with fooing with starters, the brush plate can be confusing to get back on the end of the starter.
The starter on your '76 Sporty should be the Hitachi type starter.
SOURCE: valve adjustment 1983 Harley Davidson XLH 1000 Sportster
To adjust the valves on your Ironhead Sportster, first collapse all the pushrod tubes, remove the spark plugs, and get the rear wheel off the ground. Put the transmission in fourth gear. Now, use the rear wheel to turn the engine.
To adjust the valves, bring the front cylinder to Top Dead Center. Use a common plastic drinking straw down in the spark plug hole to make sure the piston is at Top Center. Make sure both tappets for the front cylinder are all the way down. Now, loosen the lock nut slightly and turn the adjuster to make the tappet longer. You want to make it just long enough so that you can't turn it with your fingers. Gradually back down on the tappet until you can turn the pushrod with your fingers. Lock the locknut down when done. Now do the other tappet.
Once you've done the front cylinder, turn the engine using the rear wheel until the rear piston comes to Top Center. Always turn the engine in the normal direction of rotation. Adjust the two tappet the same way as you did the front cylinder tappets.
When finished, put the transmission in neutral, lower the rear wheel, put the plugs back in, and close up the pushrod tubes.
These tappets set to Zero Backlash, none. Therefore this must be done on a completely cold engine. When the engine starts up and as it warms up, the cylinders and head "grow" due to the heat expansion properties of the metal. As they grow, you pick up valve lash and the valves will clatter a bit. This is where the old saying came from, "You can tell it's a Harley from a mile away by the way the engine sounds. You can tell it's an Ironhead from a half mile away from the valve clatter". If you get the valves too tight, when the weather cools down in the winter, you could wind up with a valve standing open just enough to make the bike impossible to start due to low starting compression. It's better to have the valves a bit loose and have them clatter than have them too tight making the engine difficult to start.
Good Luck,
Steve
SOURCE: 93 HD Sportster 1200 will not start!
Have you tried to bypass the starter button/switch? Use a heavy jumper wire to go between the starter terminal and the positive battery terminal. Turn the key to "On" position, make sure "Run/Off" switch is turn on. Make sure bike is in neutral. I've started guys bikes with coat hangers before when they lost had trouble with the starter button. If the bike starter turns over, you'll at least have a place to start looking for the issue. Also you said you checked the battery, what was the voltage?
Testimonial: "Thanks for the info. I tried your solutions, but bike will still not start. Do not see any pinched wires. When you push the start button the ignition circit pops and then resets. Any other suggestions would be great. Thanks for all your help phinfanls13"
3,725 views
Usually answered in minutes!
×