I am a rookie! ... had many rice burners but First Harley.

My son upgraded to a Road King and passed on his old bike to me. I am now the proud owner of a 93 Heritage Classic Softail.

It runs rough and we assumed it is due to old fuel because it sat for about a year. I put a couple bottles of gumout in it and hoped it would clear up but it's still running rough after 2 tanks of gas.

I don't have a manual yet, but will soon. I'm an old time DIY backyard mechanic and will figure it out, but love these forums because you guys save us guys a lot of time and grief.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Being a 93 and having sat for a year, couldn't hurt to pull the carb and get a carb rebuild kit for it (not expensive at all) and you may want to experiment with a few different jets as well.

 

Does the carb simply pull out of the manifold? I do not see any clamps or bolts or anything. In addition to the rebuilt kit it needs a new choke cable.

Thanks for the help.

 

I found a pretty good article that said first thing to do before rejetting is to try adjusting the idle air screw. I followed instructions and drilled out/removed the factory plug and have tried adjusting it. There was some improvement but still runs ruff.

After reading some, they say if performance pipes and air cleaner are put on the carb needs tuned or rejetted. But asked my son if it ever ran good after the pipes and air cleaner were changed and he said yes... so based on that it probably doesn't need rejetted... right?

I called and it would be a week to 10 days to get a kit. They had some individual gaskets that would come with a kit and I got a float bowl gasket. I went ahead and took the carb off and pulled the pilot and main jets and cleaned them... they were cruddy. But, put it back together and still doesn't run right. It idles pretty good now, and seems to be pretty good through 1/4 throttle but sputters beyond that.

Do you still think I should get the kit? Could it be something else making it run bad?

 

I would still get a rebuild kit. You should be able to get one from a dealer that uses Drag Specialties. I would get one from them and you should be able to get it in a day or two.

 

Might not be a bad ideal to check for intake leaks as well. Just spray the intake flanges with wd40 or similar while idling and listen for rpm change. Jets could be partially clogged or accel pump could be weak/worn out.

Describe running rough in more detail if you can.

 

Thanks guys!

As noted in my last message I did have the pilot and main jets out and they were bad... green film on them mainly. I felt confident cleaning them was the problem, but no luck. I'm wondering if I should have cleaned the tubes better or something... where the fuel comes through.

As previously noted, it now seems to idle pretty good and even seems to run ok up to about 1/4 throttle... beyond that it just like sputters until you roll back on the throttle, then it smooths out again. If I take the RPMs up slow it does much better. Would that be accellorator pump? Main jet.

I will try that test for manifold leaks... I read that before but one guy suggested using starter fluid... and he said if it sounds better have a leak... that sounds scary.

I will also see if I can get a rebuild kit as suggested as I believe it also includes the manifold gaskets AND parts for the accelerator pump.

 

It might be worth it to just pay for a dyno run with a sniffer to see what's happening to your afr. A single run should only cost you $50-$75. Without the afr you're, pretty well, flying blind. With the afr you can tell if you're getting too much fuel, too little fuel or not enough air. Which is happening gives a good idea what's going wrong.

 

Did you change the spark plugs?

 

I had already pulled the plugs and they look normal. Not fouled and not white. I'm pretty sure if anything it is a lean condition as I never see any black smoke.

I also sprayed some wd40 around the intake manifold (as suggested above) and there wasn't any change in RPM.

I've been thinking and wondering how I would know if the carburetor is in it's proper position. For example, it only pushes back into the intake and can be moved around. If it were tilted the float would close and prevent the bowl from having adequate fuel to supply when needed. It has a screaming eagle air cleaner, but I'm wondering if the mount is the same as the original. For example, the air cleaner mount also holds the carb in position. It's tough without a manual... I know I need to get one.