81 Liquifire/hard to turn over

[rmreid]

A friend of mine sold me his 81 Liquifire. It's been sitting a few years. It is really a lot of work to pull the rope on this compared to my 80 LF. Possible causes of an engine that seems very tight, to the point of not being able to get it started. Thanks for any advice or information. He said it's been that way since he bought it.

Randy

[harleysportster]

It could be several things, the easiest, a sticky recoil. The only way to find the problem is a tear-down of the engine.

[rmreid]

Yeah that is what I figured would have to be the next step. I guess put it on the list of "to be done". Thanks HarleyS.

[rjb]

I would pull the plugs and squirt some oil into the cylinders. Let it sit a while and try turning it over to see if there is any improvement. You could then check the recoil starter by removing it from the engine and pulling it to see if it is stiff. If it seems ok try turning the engine over by hand using the primary clutch and see how it feels.
Have you looked at the primary clutch? Perhaps it is stuck and dragging on the belt. This would make it difficult to turn over.

[rmreid]

I haven't had time to do much with it. The clutch seemed fine, belt wasn't dragging.