Hey all!​​​​

This is my 2nd post here so bare with me please.
I have a 2001 Sportster 1200, I bought it HEAVILY USED (MODIFIED & SKETCHY/DIRTY)
It has a custom exhaust, straight piped. CV Carb with if I remember correctly, 48 pilot and 185 main, mixture screw at 3½. Open air foam filter. It also has an Ultima Ignition.

I came to me with the choke cable old and crusty, unmounted and barely threaded into the carb. It seemed to run great like that though. About a week ago I was riding home from work. The bike was still warming up as I was only about 5 minutes into my ride. I started on a slight uphill climb and the bike starts sputtering. It kept sputtering for about 5 minutes at slower speed. Then when traffic cleared I was able to speed up a bit and the problem went away.
Now the bike is sputtering alot. It idles fine on its own but when I give it any kind of throttle it sputters, backfires (out the pipe) I've rode it around the block and it sputters, hesitates, backfires pretty much the whole time.

Since that happened I've cleaned the carb passages and jets. Tearing it apart I noticed that the float tab has a tiny notch in it from the float plunger hitting it. The slide top where the slide mates with the rubber diaphragm has a notch and burn mark..
I also changed the manifold boot (which was torn), changed the Exhaust gaskets, replaced all Vacuum plugs (it came to me without voes and all vacuum lines plugged) I bought a new Choke cable and relocated the bracket on top of the carb (only place it will fit, just barely)
It seems to roll through the throttle just fine with the choke on but when I push the choke back in and try to give it throttle, it sputters.
I bought a new intake manifold too because the one currently on looks like it was dropped. It has a very slight bend in it where it mates with the carb boot. However I haven't changed it yet because the bike was running fine before. Problems just kinda started out of the blue.

I'm lost. Someone please school me on what the problem is.
Thanks in advance!
-Kris

 

Baffles in the pipes?

 

Pulling the choke and it running better tells me it's lean. Check the carb again. I'd bet you'll find something off. Float height would be best guess, if it is truly clean. Intake manifold leak will do it too, they can come loose...do you know how to check for leaks?

 

Your jets are still dirty, requires further cleaning. Additionally replace the filter screen on your fuel petcock and check that any rust/debris is not in your fuel tank.

Remove the main & low idle emulsion tubes and make sure all openings are clean. Make sure the needle jet in in the correct way, easy to get in in backwards.

Additional information can be found here: http://sportsterpedia.com/doku.php/techtalk:evo:carb02

 

I'll check it again. I'm new to all this stuff but I'm pretty certain all the jets and passages are clean. I could see straight through the jets when they were out. I also shot carb cleaner through the passages to make sure I saw flow out of the other end (shot myself in the eye in the process, haha) however setting float height frightens me. When I checked it before, I just held it at an angle till the little plunger spring just barely made contact with the float tab. From there the float itself looked parallel with the edge of the carb.

I've read about checking for intake leaks with a propane torch but I've never tried it. I guess i should get on that one too

 

I also pulled the tank off, checked the filter on the petcock. Clean as a whistle despite my tank looking pretty shitty on the inside. Flow out of the petcock seems perfect. Flow out of the carb bowl via drain plug seems good too. I removed the emulsion tube from the main when cleaning. It was clean. Put the needle seat thingy in its proper orientation. I didn't know there was an emulsion tube for the pilot however. I just pulled the pilot out and made sure I could see through all the holes. Put o-ring, washer, and spring before installing the pilot.
I will go through it again though

 

You may also have some water in there somewhere, put some injector cleaner or Seafoam in the gas, it only takes a drop of water to clog up a jet, gas passes through the openings but water does not and will clog things up.

 

Water will stick around for more than a week? I'll grab some injector cleaner while I'm out tomorrow.
I read that link you sent me. Specifically the part that details proper spacing between carb bracket to cylinder head. I have no washers between my bracket to cylinder head. When I put the carb in the manifold by hand snugly, I still have about ½ inch of space between the bracket and cylinder head. When I tighten down my breather bolts I think its pressing my carb in too far. I put a brand new boot on that manifold. Only rode it around the block and its already starting to tear at the near where the throttle linkage is. Ill grab some washers along with a propane torch to check for a leak around there area tomorrow.
I appreciate all the input guys

 

Sorry, I didn't see your message before. No, there are no baffles in the pipe. I wake up the neighborhood at 5am on my way to work, haha.

UPDATE
I shimmed the carb bracket to cylinder head with 2 washers on each side. Re-seated the manifold boot. Used a propane torch to check for leaks around the manifold. No dice.

I have a extra carb in good condition that I'll swap out later today just to see if it is the carb. I hope it is *fingers crossed*

 

i mean it could be a carb issue but have you considered a spark problem? take a look at your plugs and plug wires. because it seems like you've done a through check of the carb.