Okay, so, I got this 2001 Sportster 1200, right? It was a good deal, found it on one of those online motorcycle listing sites. There were a bunch of them, actually, over 500 if you can believe it. I was browsing through, and this one just caught my eye. It wasn’t the cleanest, but it had potential, you know?
First thing I did was give it a good once-over. Checked the tires, brakes, lights, all that basic stuff. It started up, which was a good sign, but the engine was making a bit of a racket. Nothing too crazy, but definitely something I needed to look into.
Digging In
I figured I’d start with the easy stuff. Changed the oil and filter. The old oil was pretty nasty, so I was glad I did that. Then I moved on to the spark plugs. They were pretty worn out, so I popped in some new ones. Still had that knocking sound, though.
Getting Serious
Next, I decided to tackle the carburetor. Took that thing apart, cleaned all the jets and passages. It was pretty gummed up. Put it all back together, and wouldn’t you know it, the engine ran smoother, but that darn knocking was still there. It idled better though, that was a plus.
At this point, I was getting a little frustrated. I pulled off the primary cover to check the clutch and primary chain. Everything looked okay in there, no obvious signs of wear or damage. Put that back together, still no luck.
The Culprit
- Checked the pushrods. Adjusted them according to the manual.
- Checked the lifters. Seemed fine.
- Finally, I decided to take a closer look at the rocker arms. Bingo! One of them was loose.
Tightened that rocker arm down to spec, and fired it up. The engine purred like a kitten. No more knocking! Took it for a spin around the block, and it ran like a dream. Man, was I relieved. All that work finally paid off.
So yeah, that’s the story of my 2001 Sportster 1200. It was a bit of a headache at times, but I learned a lot, and now I have a sweet bike that runs great. Just goes to show, sometimes you gotta get your hands dirty to get things done right.
