engine wont start

[comanche]

Kicked the bike over on second kick, as usual, rode it to a friends house to get air in my tires. After I had the right tire pressure, tried to kick the bike over, and nothing. She wanted to start, but would not turn over, thought it was spark plugs, replaced spark plugs gapped at .025. I currently changed oil from a 50 to a 20w50. Battery is charge, checked fuel line and it is getting plenty of gas. Just recently tried to kick her over, but all I can get is a woof of air coming from the exhaust. The day before, took her out for 50-75 miles no problem. Any sugguestions? Oh yeah, live in Colorado and recently rejetted her with the lowest jett available for an s and s. I cant remember at this moment, one step below a 295 or 265, ****, I forgot. She ran good afterwards for about a week, untill she wouldnt start.

[unclepsycho]

Which carb is it? on what bike?
Start with the easy stuff first. Confirm spark, and fuel.
Spark is easy, just pull a plug, put it back on the wire, hold it against the engine and kick the motor over,.... but I bet you know that.
To confirm fuel, did you take off the air cleaner and look in the carb to see if it is actually flowing fuel??? maybe the jet is plugged. After a few kicks is it wet in there? if not, then fuel is not really getting into the motor.
I have held my hand over the mouth of the carb while the engine turns over will force more fuel thru the carb... it is near impossible to do that while kicking it over, so having a friend help would be nice.

Let us know what ya find.

[unclepsycho]

I just went back and looked... is this the Panhead with the S&S Super "E"??

I dont have an "E" yet, so I dont know about the exact jetting. but if it ran fine before, and no changes were made, then it has got to be spark or fuel...or both.

Good luck

[frisco-rigid]

Hi Com

In my experience, the woof is usually from 2 diff things with a kicker..
Only you will be able to diagnose cuz you're there..

One is tooo little "start-up" advance..
It wants to start but will give kinda a woof/stumble instead if it's toooo retarded at start-up..
Check the timing and make sure it's advance at Idle is No Less than 5* BTDC..

The other is A/F.. AND, that it's an S&S on a 74" Pan..
Often, the woof is from a tooo rich A/F at starting & Idle..
There is a smaller Inter jet--- .025..
It's in my S&S dealer catalog,, you hardly ever see it in an aftermarket catalog..
The fact that you need such small jets to use an S&S defeats the purpose of an S&S.. Well,, anyway,, your call..

Try this old trick for hard kick start----
If it is an E----Flood it with the Accel Pump with about 5 pumps..
Then open the throttle All the way and kick it through 5 times with Ignition Off to "clear it"..
Then close throttle and try to start Normally..

If it is a B,,, instead of a pump you have an Enrichener..
Pull up the enrichener and kick with Ign OFF and throttle closed about 6 times..
Then kick through, Ign OFF with throttle full Open, about 5 times (to clear),,,, then try normal start..
Some guys say leave ign. on while clearing just in case it wants to light but often it just woofs & wastes the waaaay too rich mix & ya gotta start all over agin..Try both ways,, whichever one works..

That trick is as old as the hills,, as old as Kick-Only motors have been around..

Something else--- be sure the Idle speed is a wee high for starting, like half to a full turn,, then simply reach down and lower it to normal idle speed..
That big Venturi needs some initial "starting" velocity to light off well..
You can buy a Longer Idle Speed Screw that you can adjust while astride or make one for about a dollar,, I'll send a photo of one if interested..

The 20-50 oil is Correct..
The .025" gap is just fine..

[Gas Man]

I have nothing to add after frisco's post. Other than... what a good post. Never heard of anything like his "as old as the hills" trick with the kick. Not saying much cause I simply dont know **** about those age bikes.

Brain fart... does it have points or some other type of mechanical ignition that could have failed?

[comanche]

Yes, it is has an S&S E carb, and it has points. I will check the jets, spark plugs, and the points. Thanks for the advice, I will see if I can get to it tomorrow. Hopefully, she feels like runnin tomorrow.

[comanche]

Thank you for the help, the flooding was a good start, and she almost started, but I believe I solved the problem. The points needed to be re-gapped.