DONS CYCLE WARE

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:

1. It has hardly been ridden
2. It has been meticulously maintained
3. it was just rebuilt 1500 miles ago
4. 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 bikes home and learned that you can save yourself a lot of aggravation 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 primarily for old Sportsters 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. How to clean motorcycle gas tanks

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 your fluids meet manufacturer's specs.

REMEMBER YOUR BRAKE FLUID. I have often found brake fluid that is full of water and crud. Note: different year Sporty's use different types! Check your manual and make sure that you use the correct brake fluid! There is a difference between DOT 3 and DOT 4!

11.Check your tire pressure. While your at it ,look your tires over really careful. 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 probably find that your bike runs. If it doesn't break out your new manual and start trouble shooting. 

When you get that bike on the road check out my Ebay store for great deals on your riding gear:
DONS CYCLE WARE GREAT- PRICES EXCELLENT SERVICE

NEED A PAIR OF QUALITY LEATHER SADDLEBAGS DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY YOUR SPORTSTER? XL SERIES SADDLEBAGS

WHILE YOUR HERE HIT THE I FOUND THIS GUIDE HELPFUL BUTTON.

GOT ANY IDEAS TO IMPROVE THIS GUIDE? I'LL BE HAPPY TO SHARE THEM WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO RIDE! JUST USE THE EBAY MESSAGE SYSTEM TO DROP ME A LINE.

RIDE SAFE

DON