I know the title seems vague, but given limited space it's the basis of the issue.

A little back-story, so I'm new to riding. Bought my 98 Low Rider off my Dad who was unable to ride it anymore. After it having sat in his garage for two years, with out even being started, I managed to pry his fingers off the keys by telling him that at least it will stay in the family and get some use somewhere. I'm really excited to get out there and learn. Already have the Harley learners class scheduled, but in the mean time, I have been doing maintenance. I drained and replaced all the fluids, replaced the battery that was shot, new spark plugs, and, at the advise of a few people I knew from the Marine Corps, bought Seafoam and dumped the can in the tank. Everything was great, bike started immediately. So there I was, feeling pretty proud of myself. Next day, friend tells me to get a can of the Seafoam Carb cleaner, because it was probably pretty nasty. Read the instructions, did as it said, everything was still going well. Decided I would tune the Carb and take the bike out for a short ride. My street is not real busy, so I figured it's be a great place to learn clutching and shifting before I take it out on the road and stall at a red light.

Now we get to the issue, about a mile down the road, it stumbles and dies. I'm thinking I'm just a noob and stalled it out. It wont start. Checked to make sure I was in N, tried while squeezing the clutch, lifted the choke (enrichment circuit)....just the starter spinning. Pushed the bike home. Did a lot of research, cant really find the exact answer, but I learned a lot and tried a lot. So here's a list:

1-Removed the S&S Super E Carb, tore it apart, got some Chem-Dip and cleaned the thing. Put it back together, slapped it on, and still no dice. Checked the settings on the Carb with YouTube and manuals, to make sure I had it as close to factory as I could get.
2-Bought a master rebuild kit and did that. Checked the tune and even fooled around a bit with putting the screws in different positions than factory (did not tighten anymore then "lightly seated").
3-Checked plugs. Cleaned and gaped properly
4-Bought starting fluid. It fires up for about 1/2 a second and is back to just turning over.
5-This is where I think it gets a little odd/interesting. I was checking the fuel line again as well as the other wiring to make sure everything was where it should be, connected, and not damaged. When I disconnected it from the Carb, the Carb drained, of course, but when I was done and reconnected it, yes i turned the petcock on, the bike fired up with no starting fluid for about 2 seconds and then died and went back to just turning over.

I'm not sure what the issue is, but I feel like its a Carb thing. Bike is connected to the battery charger because I killed it while trying to get it to fire up. Hope I've given enough info. Thank you in advance for the help.

 

 

That's good to hear, I was worried id have to take it to the shop. I did siphon the tank before I started it, but I did notice the fuel today was still a little yellow. Ill drain it tomorrow and put all new in there. Thank you

 

You have two full cans of Seafoam in the tank?

AFAIK, that **** is basically ethanol. One can treats like 20 gallons, IIRC. Your carb isn't jetted anywhere near rich enough to run on ethanol.

Drain the tank, put in Your car. Try again with clean 91 octane.

 

No, one can in the tank and then Sprayed the other into the intake the next day. It ran through spraying the whole can and after for about 15 mins. Then about 10 mins into the ride after that, that it died. It was running fine with the one can in the tank for the day before. Does that change your answer? Also, I was reading that anything above 87 is pointless?

 

Hmm... I'm not sure if the Seafoam will settle at the bottom of the tank (assuming it wasn't shaken up good to mix) Filler cap on the right, petcock on the left, so depending on fuel level the Seafoam could have taken a while to make it to the left sode of the tank. Just a theory. When in doubt, always use clean, new gas.

Everything seems to point to a fuel issue. It sounds like the fuel line is unrestricted but I didn't see mention of the bowl. I'm not familiar with the S&S carb. Does it have a fuel bowl drain? If so, does it run out strong and continuous with the plug pulled? With the drain pulled and the petcock open, it should run put continuously until the tank os empty. If not, the float valve (or something upstream) is restricted or misadjusted.


As far as octane...it depends on the engine, elevation, and temperature. Mine runs fine on 87. Others get pinging with 93.

 

I cant get the drain off. Its stuck on too tight and was worried about damaging the bowl if i put it in a vice or used a wrench or something to get some extra leverage. When I pulled the fuel line off the Carb, the bowl did drain. I took the line off shortly after I put the Carb back on. that sounds confusing. let me clear it up. After I rebuilt the Carb, I left it off the bike while I was out of town for the week. It was in a sealed container while I was gone and the open holes on the bike were covered so nothing could get into either one. Point being, the Carb was dry. I put it on the bike, couldn't get it to start and wasn't getting a squirt of gas when I turned the throttle, so I disconnected the fuel line, and the the bowl drained the fluid. I was worried the float might have been set to the wrong level, but from what I'm reading on the interwebs, the float won't completely stop the flow of gas, only make it too rich or too lean, correct? I didn't change the level on it, that I know of, so I think if fresh fuel doesn't get it going, I was going to tear it all down and check that next. Before I screwed the bowl onto the Carb I measured the float and it seemed like it was within the recommended tolerance. I'm open to gathering a list of things to try in case one doesn't work. Thanks for the help

 

Every carb I've ever had, the float needle valve would completely stop gas flowing into the bowl at normal delivery pressures.

Fuel LEVEL (in the bowl) can affect mixture. Regardless of float adjustment, the valve should still stop fuel flow.

Usually the carb fuel inlet is above the fuel level in the bowl. Removing the line shouldn't drain the bowl. Again, with the carbs I've worked on. Never worked with an S&S. Any evidence of wet fuel in the throat of the carb after it sits with the petcock open for a bit?

 

S&S has them in line. The red line is the float and the yellow line is the needle. I won't insult your intelligence by explaining it, haha, I hope this helps with a better visual for you, but the throat is dry until I turn the throttle