jeremya72
Member
Hey guys, this is my first post on this site. Maybe you can help me out. I have a custom bobber I built with a 97 softail motor. Stock CV carb and Harley ignition, open air filter and 2 into 1 pipe with HP power baffle. I've only had it running for about 700 miles now, still working out the bugs. Anyway, I got it on the road and ended up rejetting to a 45 and a 180 main jet. Bike ran great until just recently. I noticed it was running a bit lean in the midrange (like cruising on the freeway) and put a small washer under the needle, which really seemed to help. A few days later and it started spitting back out of the carb when riding and sometimes at idle too. The plugs looked lean again, like they did before I increased the jets when I first got it running. I had a really big backfire getting on the freeway one day and it hasn't really been rideable since. I replaced the slide and diaphram, which was torn by the backfire I presume, because it was fine a week before. No change. I increased the jets, no change. Seemed to have an intake leak, so I replaced all the seals (I ended up doing this several times), and no change, but I don't seam to be leaking around the seals anymore. Checked the compression, checked the pushrods and the valves to see if they were opening. Put in new exhaust seals. Checked the timing, checked the coil. The VOES is working correctly. I've got good fuel flow. I even put another CV from my buddy's bike on and no difference.
Anyway, I am stumped and don't know what to try next. Right now the jetting is back at 45-180 where it was running well before. It starts fine (kick only) and idles well, usually it even runs fine if you are using very little throttle, although I seem to feel a little surging even then. When you go to give it some throttle though, it starts spitting back through the carb and missing. Especially under a heavy load, like riding up a hill. If you power through this missing, it starts going well at higher revs, but still misses a bit. The plugs look relatively good, but the electrodes get white and the engine gets hot like it's too lean. Any ideas? Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to give all the info. I could. I am a pretty decent mechanic, but this is my first Harley and I'm stuck!
Anyway, I am stumped and don't know what to try next. Right now the jetting is back at 45-180 where it was running well before. It starts fine (kick only) and idles well, usually it even runs fine if you are using very little throttle, although I seem to feel a little surging even then. When you go to give it some throttle though, it starts spitting back through the carb and missing. Especially under a heavy load, like riding up a hill. If you power through this missing, it starts going well at higher revs, but still misses a bit. The plugs look relatively good, but the electrodes get white and the engine gets hot like it's too lean. Any ideas? Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to give all the info. I could. I am a pretty decent mechanic, but this is my first Harley and I'm stuck!