Hey Everyone,
I am working on the carb of '88 XLH883 and am looking for feedback on what I think the problem is. The bike had been running fine but one day it was hard to start and wouldn't maintain an idle. I noticed that the Fuel Overflow line coming off the carb was continuously draining fuel on to the pavement when the fuel line was on so I pulled the carb and disassembled it. The insides weren't overly dirty (the bowl had a little residue on the bottom but otherwise there was no build up) however I am going to hit the entire thing with carb cleaner this evening and blow everything out with some canned air.

I am not a mechanic (I just play one on the weekends ;]) but from my research it seems like this issue can be caused by a couple of main problems: a hole in the float and the needle not setting properly. I haven't yet submerged the float in gas to see if it has a hole in it but I examined the needle and outside of some carbon residue it doesn't look deformed or anything. What should I be looking at to determine if the needle is 'bad'? Is there anything else I should look at that could potentially be causing this problem? It is probably worth noting that when I pulled the air cleaner off it was host to a bunch of unsavory stuff (straw/hay, grass, etc) because the former owner used to store it in his barn so it is possible something may have got sucked into the carb.

Finally I am looking to purchase a rebuild kit (just the gaskets, o-rings, etc but not new spring, jets, and so on) but the only kit's I've been able to come across are kits that also include parts for an accelerator pump which I don't need. Is there a kit out there that caters to the non-accelerator pump style carb? This isn't a huge deal but I'd rather not pay for something I don't need.

Thanks for any help you might be able to give me!