Sounds like the carbs are gummed up from the old gas sitting in them. Remove the carbs, disassemble, clean with a carb cleaner, and reassemble.
SOURCE: 81 yamaha 175 sat for
Clean the carb> remove the float bowl and soak the carb in de-natured alcohol for an hour. Then clean it with spray carb cleaner. Install a new spark plug, clean the air filter, get a can of spray starter fluid and give the air cleaner a shot when starting it. Check the crank shaft for worn bearings > Remove the left side cover then hold the flywheel firmly and lift up and down, left and right. If the shaft is not rock solid the bearing and seals will need to be replaced.
SOURCE: JUST BOUGHT A '73 XLCH
You probably need to adjust your valves. Ironhead Sportsters are equipped with solid lifters and must be adjusted with zero backlash. If one of the pushrods is adjusted just a bit tight and holds a valve open even slightly, the bike is almost impossible to start with the kickstarter.
To adjust the valves, the bike must be stone cold. Take the spark plugs out, raise the rear wheel of the ground, and put the transmission in fourth gear. Turn the engine over by bumping the rear wheel in the normal direction of rotation. Bring the piston of one of the cylinders up to top dead center on the Compression stroke. Pop the pushrod tube covers and check the pushrods. You should be able to spin both pushrods with your fingers. If not, adjust the pushrod so taht it's tight. Then back it off to where you can just spin it with your fingers. Keep in mind that on a Sportster, it's better to have the pushrods slightly loose than tight. Once you get that cylinder's pushrods adjusted, do the same thing with the other cylinder.
Now, once you get this done, starting your bike is simply a matter of figuring what works with it. I've always said that kickstarting a Harley, especially a Sportster, is a ritual. Some bikes like for you to milk the throttle twice, kick the engine through twice with the choke on and ignition off, then turn on the ignition and kick it. Other bikes seem to want only one milk of the throttle, one kick with the ignition off, and then kick it. Each bike seems to have it's own particular ritual that you must figure out to get reliable starting. I'd try milk the throttle once, put the choke on, kick it through with the ignition off once, then turn the ignition on and kick. If the bike spits back through the carb, you need to start all over again. If you get the engine flooded, hold the throttle wide open and kick until it fires.
One other thing about a Sportster. Did the old man you bought it from have a limp in his right leg? A Sportster is notorious for "slipping through" when you try to start it. The result is that all your weight comes down on your knee without any resistance. The result is your knee tries to bend backwards, the way it wasn't designed to do. This can tear ligaments and cartilage in the knee and it even has it's own name, "Sportster Knee". Be careful.
Ride Safe
Steve
SOURCE: 2003 Suzuki Katana 750 sat around for 2 years with
Hello and welcome to FixYa!
Yes there can be expired fuel on the bowl. You may want to clean it thoroughly as a first course of action. Please do check and replace the spark plugs and plug wires too for they can be worn out which may cause irregularities on current supply.
If the problem still persists, please do check the vacuum lines too. If you have disconnected or worn out vacuum hoses you'll have vacuum leakage. If that's the case, please have it replaced to resolve the issue. Wish you all the best on this and hope to get your bike back to it's normal running operation.
Hope this helps and thank you for using FixYa! Have a good one!
SOURCE: Honda, 80 elite with 41
First make sure that the bystarter is indeed functional: look at it, it should move when powered. Simple test to confirm that: remove the screws that hold the unit into the carb, and lift the choke slightly out of the carb body while cranking the engine : if it runs, then the carb is ok, choke is not. If necessary remove the air filter, put your hand in front of the carburetor to choke it even more and then start the motor.
If the engine dies even now then the problem is in the carburetor: either the idle is badly adjusted or the level in the bowl is too low.
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