My old man just picked up 2000 Wide Glide for his first bike. It's only got 4800 miles on it so it has sat most of it's life. When it's idling either warm or cold it stumbles, pops and backfires when it's given gas. I thought it was lean so after adjusting the idle a bit it's still acting up, do you think it just needs a rebuild or is there anything in particular that would cause these issues?

 

You might go to nightrider.com. Mine would do that and I adjusted the idle mixture to straighten it out.

 

I'll check that out thanks. I was going to get this kit and do it over the winter, I figured it couldn't hurt. http://www.cv-performance.com/carbur...cv-carburetor/

 

I have a 99 road king carbureted and it cough's when I am going 70 when its cold or warm
outside and on pulls.

 

hard to say...too many unknown variables to tell you much. How and where was it stored? Was it well cared for and just rode seasonally or was it rode hard for a couple of years and then pushed away in some storage shed and forgotten about...if it has been taken care of, then change the plugs and run some fuel stabilizer through it and try tweaking it again...if it still coughs and pops, pull and rebuild. If it has been neglected all these years, then just pull it and rebuild it.

If it were me doing this, I would just pull it and rebuild it and go back with a known good carburetor. One less thing to go wrong out in the boonies...

 

Be careful. Nightrider is a good site, but some info is outdated. Do not drill the slide! Your symptoms sound lean. Is that from a lean condition or a dirty carb? That is the question.

I would suggest you pull the carb and clean it. Pull the idle mix plug to gain access to the idle mixture screw. I know you said you adjusted the idle, but does that mean idle speed or idle mix screw? There is a difference.

You should pull the carb, clean it, and make note of your jetting sizes. Chances are you will move up a few sizes in jets but you gotta know your baseline is first and if the carb is dirty. It can look fairly clean but have old fuel residue in small holes and passages. This will affect how it runs and idles.

The other issue is the intake seals. If they dried out, they will leak and you will have lean symptoms. Time to do a little home study on removal, cleaning, and rejetting. YD

 

Replace the intake seals. They're probably cracked allowing air in and leaning out the mixture. See it a lot on older bikes.

 

It was stored in a garage all it's life, just not ridden much, the original owner had the stage 1 kit installed so I assume it has the larger jets. We replaced the plugs after draining out the old fuel and spraying seafoam through the carb. It runs much better with the new plugs and after the seafoam when riding but just idling it pops and backfires. I plan on rebuilding using the CV performance kit but it doesn't come with a new vaccum piston rubber and I am worried that is dried out.

 

More than likely crudded up from sitting.Probably got the greenish ethanol crust inside.Take it apart and put a kit in it.Go back together w/new intake seals.

 

If the diaphragm has a hole it probably would not run much above idle under load. YD