Please don't try to kill me after this post. I'm a relatively new owner of an 87 hurricane. Also wayyyyy new to big bike riding (my last was a 250). I rode it home 1000 miles and about 2 weeks later left the ignition on by mistake for about 4 hours. Had to replace the battery, but ever since the bike acts like it's not going to start. And sometimes refuses to start entirely. (I've had to roll start it a time or two in order to get it home again)

Any ideas why this would suddenly turn up after killing the battery? Prior to the event the bike never failed to start with even the slightest push of the start button. I have the same problems everyone else seems to have (rattling cam chains, etc), but I also have really reduced low end power, especially below 3000 rpm and at cold engine temps, that I don't remember before the battery event.

Any ideas would be appreciated at this point. Oh, I'm also manual-less for this bike at the moment.

 

What is the nature of the problem, does the starter turns normally or is it always a bit slow?
In case it turns normally, I would start to replace the plugs.

 

Starter seems to turn normally. Obviously it slows down the more I try to crank it. Changing the plugs was my next course of action barring any other info. Only reservation I had was that it runs really smoothly at higher revs. I forgot to mention earlier that it sometimes starts right on time like usual, but more and more it's just not firing up without a lot of attempts. Will bad plugs contribute to that as well?

 

It doesn't sound like a plug problem. Does it run OK on full power, WOT?

 

If I can get it to start, it runs like a dream. It has really smooth and strong acceleration (with the exception of the very low end, like I said earlier), but I've also had a bit of a tendency to stall out if I sit too long at a traffic signal. But under power the engine feels fantastic. It's just getting it started that's the problem. This bike is also pretty heavily modded, or so I have been told. It has a stage 2 jet pack, a two brothers slip-on exhaust, and the +2 spokes on the back/ -1 on the front gearing adjustment. I'm ashamed to admit I have no idea what WOT is, however.

 

Do you use choke to start it and does it start easy on a push

 

Yeah, I've always had to choke it all the way down when starting cold. Since the battery replace, I usually have to choke it down even when starting warm, unless it has just stalled out at a light or something. Then it pretty much starts right back up. Roll starting will start it right up, although it has been obstinate even then all of a sudden.

 

Afresh setof plugs is a good start and check to see if the fuel pump is running when the motor is running by removing the left side panel. It should be slowly ticking

 

WOT is wide-open throttle. I guess you can go full throttle since you say the engine pulls fine. A few hints:

Change the plugs just to know they are good.

While I was doing this I would check that all hoses and electrical fittings are fine.

Measure the resistance of the coils and high-tension wires.

I would also run the engine and spray start-gas around the intake rubbers, to see if there are any leaks. In case the rpm goes up there is a leak.

Check that the vacuum diaphragms are OK and that the throttles move smoothly in the bores.

Measure the battery voltage on idle, it should be around 12.5 volts, climbing up to about 14 volt at 5000 rpm.

If above didn't help, I would pull the carbs and give them a good clean.

 

My bike had most of the same symptoms. But it had sat for 6 months, and the carbs were in bad shape. Might have to clean them.