im pulling my hair out over this bike.

Well as recently purchased this 1100LTD hoping I would at least get a season of riding out of it before I would have to work on it. Turns out I was dead wrong, I have only ridden this bike home from buying it and it hasnt run since. I called the guy who I bought it from and he thought it was possibly the pilots. I cleaned out the pilots and that didnt work. I then completely rebuilt the carbs. The only thing the bike will do is turn over and once in a while it lets out a sputtet. Now it wont even turn over at all, its a brand new battery and the headlight is going strong. Ive also noticed that the rear turn signals dont work and the front ones dont blink. I have also seen a cut wire but im afraid to mess with the electrical stuff just yet. What the next course of action I should I take? I was thinking of creating that power relay from wiredgeorges website. I do have a manual and I will be going through the electrical system next.

Things I have noticed also
I saw that there was spark.
When i changed the plugs they were fouled out.
Turn signals dont function properly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I wish I had someone around me who knew more than me so I can enjoy riding instead of trying to figure out whats wrong with the bike.

just checked the battery and it was at 12.25V which should be good right?

I admit, I really stink on troubleshooting, but if you have spark are you getting the proper amount of fuel? You mentioned that your plugs were fouled out. Where they fouled from too much fuel (i.e. is it flooding so bad it cant start) or from oil?

what would cause it to foul from oil? I cant be fuel because everything in the fuel system is working properly.

Leaderone wrote:

what would cause it to foul from oil? I cant be fuel because everything in the fuel system is working properly.

Oil fouling can happen due to bad valve seals, piston rings, or both....along with the ever-popular combination thereof.
Next question I would have is:
How, EXACTLY, do you know everything in the fuel system IS functioning properly??
Not knocking your knowledge or anything of the sort.....but it may help the gifted among us help you with some info on what has been checked/changed/pulled off/thrown away or clobbered in frustration.

Well this is the stuff ive done in the fuel department

Rebuilt carbs
Sealed the tank
Checked the petcock
New air Filter
New inline fuel filter
New fuel lines

Is the anything else fuel wise i could be missing?
The floats in the carbs looked good and I changed the mains to 125 and the pilots to 40.

If I had a weak spark would the bike not start? I mean it kinda sputtered for a while and now it wont even turn over, it just clicks when i hit the starter button.

Hmmmmmmm..............

Well, obviously, we got to get it turning over before anything else. Get the battery on a charger overnight and let'er cook. ASSUMING no internal problems, that SHOULD at least get it to spin over...(If not, well, got starter circuit troubles....)
If you can get THAT far, a compresssion check is in order. Yank all the plugs and check compression across all four cylinders. Specs are in the manual.
Keep in mind it takes a correct fuel/air mixture, acceptable compression, and a healthy spark in order to achieve combustion and by extension, smooth running.
Seems like basic advise, but got to start from square one, sometimes. Perhaps the more learned and/or gifted can chime in here as well.......

Post edited by: indykaw77, at: 2007/04/24 06:30

Sounds to me like an ignition problem.. if it won't turn over.

I second the battery charging! A 1amp charger for 12 hours will probably be good, eh? Oh..and are you sure the electrolyte levels are all good?

check the battery with a load tester fisrt, second check the fuses and fuse box, may have a issue there,

I would also buy a new set of plugs once you get it to turn over again

If it is just clicking when you hit the starter, it could be a problem with your starter solenoid.

Recently all i got from my bike was a click when i hit the button. To see if your solenoid is bad, you can bridge its 2 connectors with a screwdriver with the key turned on (careful of the big spark) and it should spin up the starter. If it does, you need to replace the solenoid.

I'm gonna say the same thing I just said in another thread. Many "odd" electrical and starting problems can be traced to either loose wire/connections or a bad ground somewhere in the system. Bad grounds can be a bi#ch to track down.
Good luck

ronjones wrote:

I'm gonna say the same thing I just said in another thread. Many "odd" electrical and starting problems can be traced to either loose wire/connections or a bad ground somewhere in the system. Bad grounds can be a bi#ch to track down.
Good luck

Or in my case, trouble shooting the wiring only to find that the operator (me) incidently turned the run/stop handlebar switch OFF and it wont crank when it's off. DOH