I have a S&S Shorty E on a Big Bore - Dual Plugged Shovel and the previous owner said he had a hard time starting it cold,the problem turned out to be no fuel in the float bowl,so after a complete dis-assemble I found that the float/needle and seat would stick.This was caused by wear
groves in the float pin .The soft brass/bronze pin had groves from years of use that would cause the float assy to bind.The fix was to polish the pin along with flipping it over and reinstalling it so that the float did not ride on the groves.The float no longer sticks allowing the needle valve to properly work and now with fuel it fires right up all the time !

 

Good tip!